Good Examples

*warning* This post may get a bit long today, as I have something to share, so if you want to skip this part, that's perfectly fine. Scroll down and have a peek-see at my cards for today.

So yesterday morning, after I got up and settled down to have a gander around blog-land and check FB, I found something posted in the Coffee Loving Papercrafters group that piqued my interest. Amy T. posted about "Paying It Forward." Seems that Keren B. won a prize from the Coffee Lovers Springtime Blog Hop, and rather than having Amy send it to her, she asked that Amy take the cost of the prize and, literally, "pay it forward." So I stopped reading for a second to contemplate this RAK (random act of kindness). Pretty darn cool. Amy got a gift card from her local Starbucks and had, much to his delight and surprise, a barista pay for as many drinks as he could for the people behind Amy in line. Now, I had to run at that point to have a little surgical procedure done, (I'm fine, only a local anesthetic). My drive to her office was 45 minutes, which gave me plenty of time to contemplate what I had read on FB. Initially, I thought, "Starbucks??? That's nice and all, but Starbucks?" Then I thought more about it. Here's what I came up with. It doesn't make one bit of difference if you pay something forward at a coffee shop, a tollbooth, a church, or a charity. IT'S THAT YOU DO IT. That you actually pay something forward with no thought of getting something back, with only kindness in your heart, your wish being to make someone smile and with the hope that they, in turn, will also pay something forward. That's what matters. I was thinking about this as I left the doctor's office. Just two blocks away from there, I stopped at a Starbucks and although I paid for my coffee in cash, I told my barista to take the change from my $20 and pay for as many coffees as she could. (I did leave a tip from the dollars in my coat pocket) I didn't hang around to see how many people got to smile, but I sure was smiling while driving back home. Hmmm... Seems that Keren and Amy paid it forward to me as well. What's that old addage? Oh yeah, "One good turn deserves another." Thanks Keren. Thanks Amy. Thanks for reminding me to be kind.

Thought you'd like to hear about that. And now for today's cards. I actually started them all after I got home yesterday, and finished them up this morning. I'll try to keep this part a little shorter than usual, as I've kept you already. I've got three cards for various challenges. (And more pings going on in my head...) First up is this card that fits into Retro Sketches and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge. The challenge at SSSWC is 'things that fly' and there's a great sketch over at RS.

This is what I made:

I wish you could see this in person. It's really fun. Michaels white base, scraps of orange and black cardstock. A strip of arrow washi tape, also Michaels, and a chipboard sticker from We Are Memory Keepers. Some gold glittery dots, cut down to smaller sizes, and a die from SC with an Avocado Arts stamp embossed in gold. So much more fun irl.

Next up is a double whammy for Simon Says Stamp. I don't think I've ever played in all three of their challenges on the same day, but I guess it was time, or kismet, or something... Work it Wednesday has a "Spring" challenge, and the Monday Challenge is to use something that has a "B" in it. I chose Bunny. I owe a great big thank you to Miss Ardyth who was kind enough to send me a bunch of bunnies. Aren't they the sweetest little critters ever??! Love them, and thanks, my friend. Here's my card:

Lots of die cuts in this one. MB cloud, RC flower for the sun, IO bunnies, LF hills. The flower sequins are from Doodlebug, and stuck on with a smidgen of pink stickles. Scraps of blue and green polka dot. If you look real close you'll see a sentiment in the LL corner. It's from SC and says "somebunny loves you." 

Last one, I promise... This one is going over to Reverse Confetti for this month's SFYTT. 

Hope I did the sketch justice. All RC stamps and dies, except for the circle which is W Plus 9. Michaels white base and bits, scraps of green, pink and yellow. And a few green and yellow enamel dots from Simple Stories. That's it. I'll stop now. Happy dances everyone.

Finishing Up a Couple of Cards

Busy weekend with lots going on, including DH feeling under the weather again. I got a couple of cards started, some, (ugliness abounding) finished, (and not posting those...bleccchhh!), and ideas for others pinging around in my brain. Those that I started I liked, so only had to put the finishing touches on them today. It was fun. Cardmaking generally is though...

Fellow BABE and dear friend Darnell, is GD at City Crafter Challenge Blog this week. Absolutely HAD to play along! The theme at CCCB is "washi tape." I think I made about, oh, seventy leven butt ugly cards, which you won't see here. Desperately needed some inspiration, so I hopped on Pinterest to get a little. More ugly cards by me from lovely pins. Nearly gave up, but thought, "oh heck, one more peeksie doodle, and if nothing 'hits', then I'll email Darnell and say sorry." Then I found this one....

*sigh*

Fell in love with it. I'm guessing you love it too (can I get an AMEN??!!). Then, after wiping the drool from my chin, and tears from my eyes, I saw the artist's name...yep. Lynn of The Mango Boys and Me fame. So I'm hoping she doesn't mind my CASE of her sweet, sweet card. Same, yet different.

I didn't pop anything up except for my little flower. Started with a Michaels white base, a piece of black cardstock, and another white for my panel. Cut the rectangle with an MFT die and added a scrap piece of gingham. Green polka dot washi, W Plus 9 sentiment and flower. Pretty easy. Thanks for the inspiration, Lynn!

Next card is for Time Out Challenge. They're celebrating their first birthday, and I thought a 'thank you' card would be appropriate because they've got a great DT, and always have fun challenges. I don't always get a chance to play, but I always enjoy going over and checking out the cards! Happy Birthday Time Out! The minute I saw their inspiration photo, a ping blasted my brain, and I knew exactly what my card would look like.

What do you see? I saw lots of white space with yummy colors. I kept my card pretty CAS.

An aqua base with a Michaels white panel. I used all AE stamps for this one from the 'Oh Happy Day' set. Several inks in colors similar to the frames, then some brown ink for the 'branchy' sentiment. Three white sequins and done. Poor lighting here, but they are actually pretty matchy-matchy. I'll stop now. It's a beautiful Monday. Happy dances everyone. 

Last Call

After my second card for the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop, I thought I was done. Then in yesterday's mail, I got a little package from PTI. And then I got a ping. It wouldn't leave my poor brain alone, so I had to make the card. Glad I did. It turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. If you want to play over at the CLBH, there's still several hours left to make and post your card. And if you don't have time to play, stop over there anyway and see the 400+ cards that have been posted. Incredible cards. Incredible card makers. Incredible Amy. It's been a fun week. I've loved every minute of it, and huge thanks and kudos to Amy Tsuruta for being the hostess with the mostess!

Glad I had the chance to play. Do head over...

These are my little goodies from PTI. I'd had my eye on this little coffee set for a couple of years, and am not disappointed that I finally broke down and ordered it. The (and sorry I can't remember who made them) papers are from Miss Geri, who won them, and shared with us all at the Lake House adventure back in October. There were tons of these 12x12s, and before we all left, Miss Anita cut them into 6x6s! What sweet friends they are! Don't know who made my sequins either. I can say the black ink is from Versafine, and the circle cut out was made with my W Plus 9 dies. I did pop the cup up with a couple of pop dots too. All on a Michaels white base. Looks Springtime-ish to me. 

Before I head out, I'd also like to play along at Addicted to Stamps and More, where the challenge is to go Clean and Simple. I hope this qualifies.

So. Think Spring, and Happy dances everyone.

Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop, Take Two

Okay. Now, I usually don't mind winter weather in Wisconsin. Really I don't. It's supposed to be cold. It's supposed to snow. If we don't expect that, then we are clearly living in the wrong climate zone... Here's what's bugging me today, however. It's not even 25 degrees, and after a morning snowfall of about 3" (so far, so good), it is now RAINING. What the heck is up with that???? And I have to go out. So not looking forward to that. Just hope the car doors don't freeze shut while I'm parked...Enough weather rant... So how is it by you?!

And onto take two of the Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop.

Have you popped by yet? Well worth the visit. Seriously. Sooo many fabby cards. I'm working my way through commenting on them all, and still have a way to go. It's amazing to see the variety of coffee stamps and dies, and the wonderful projects and cards that the participants have made. All this made possible by the incomparable Miss Amy Tsuruta! Wait till you see the lists of sponsors....Woohoo!!!

Decided to make a little something with Springtime colors. Something sweet and happy.

I'd stopped by the Sweet Stamp Shop, with the good intention of only 'window shopping.'. Somehow, and I'm not quite sure how, a couple of sets ended up in my shopping cart and then in my mailbox! Must have blacked out for a while. (hahahahaha!) Well, that's what you're seeing today. The "coffee" stamp is from their Coffee Town set. I stamped it in Versafine, then colored with various markers and added a K and Co. to go cup sticker in the middle. It fit really well. Die cut the panel with an MFT pierced rectangle die, then 'squared' it up. A scrap of the Twinery twine, an old, hoarded charm with a bling added, all on a Pebbles polka dot panel and a Michaels white base. And with that, I'm off. Happy dances everyone.

Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

I've got my giant mug of coffee sitting right here on my desk. My card is made and I'm ready to hop along! If you're curious as to what I'm talking about, you need to go and visit the incredible and fun place created by none other than these fabulous ladies:  Amy Tsuruta and Chaitali Narla -- A blog dedicated to coffee loving cardmakers called (what else???!) Coffee Loving Cardmakers. And there's a mega hop going on there. You've got to pop over and check it out for all the details.  A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! Seriously! Hmmm....is what I'm feeling right at this moment pure excitement, or the coffee buzz, lol?!! Probably both! Anyway...Go and see for yourself what I'm talking about! It's going to be a blast!! But before you go, grab a coffee...

They say, "In Spring, a young man's fancy turns to love.." Well, I'm not a man, and being a grandma, that pretty much tosses out the 'young' part too, however.... I am in love. Oh yeah...

There's just something about that morning coffee, isn't there?! Yum! I grabbed a large red scrap and die cut it with ME's sweet die. And the dp is from The BABES trip to the Lake House. Miss Geri was kind enough to share her goodies, and then, Miss Anita cut the papers into 6x6 size! How's that for some awesome friends?! I cut that with the sister die to the one above, also from ME. The coffee cup and sentiment panel are scraps too. I used a computer generated font, and the panel was cut with my MFT pierced rectangle die. PS coffee cup, which I fussy cut. I punched out a teeny heart in black then added some GA (which of course you can't see...!) All on a Michaels white base. So I'm headed over to link up. Hope to see you there!! Happy dances everyone.

So far, so good...

DH is feeling better today, so I spent a bunch of time in the craft room. And, man oh man is it a mess, lol! Not sure, but maybe I'll get around to cleaning it up today. However, I still have a 12" x 12" workspace open, so perhaps I can make one more card before getting to it. I've got a couple of cards for a few different challenges, so will stop yammering and get to them.

This first card was a ping card. An idea, suddenly and without warning, popped into my skull, and pinged around until I got it made. Couldn't help this one... I've used the sketch from MFT's Sketch Challenge 217 and the theme from The Card Concept Challenge, which is 'get well.' Love those bright colors in the inspiration photo, and have a feeling that they're sure to cheer anyone up!

I'm calling it a clean and layered card. Not too many layers and few embellishments.

Now I know that it looks like some polka dot dp, but it's actually the MFT Swiss Dots die cut in white. And yes, I did spend some time putting all those little colored die cut dots in place and in order. (I'm a little anal that way...) A yellow base, some vellum scraps cut with MFT Fishtail Flag dies, and an MFT stamp with Versafine ink. A little putzy, but I'll admit that putting all those little dots in place was a calm and soothing activity.

Did you know that the Lawnscaping Challenge is celebrating their 100th Challenge!? I was almost late to the party, but there's still a bit of time to play along if you go quickly!  Their theme, is 'birthday.' Made one to share:

Started with an aqua base, and added a Michaels white panel. Die cut LF stars out of scrap dp. LF stamps colored with Copics, and stamped in Versafine. And there you have it. Will let you go now, and I'm going to run to the bank. Have a great Wednesday. Happy dances everyone.

Skin O' My Teeth

Grandson has a birthday. DH has been 'under the weather.' Have had tons to do. Way behind in everything. Will get right to it. Made this card, and am squeaking in by the skin of my teeth for MFT's Sketch Challenge. Really wanted to get this done by Friday, but it just didn't happen. There isn't much time to play, but I'm going to encourage you to pop over to see all the delights in the gallery and leave a little love. Here's the sketch:

And this is my interpretation:

The stamp is MFT with Jeni Bowlin ink. (used more MFT stamps on the inside, which I didn't photograph...) Navy, orange and gray scraps all adhered to a Michaels white base. A bit of WoS on the "rays" and an LF die to make the wavy panel. Cut the letters and number with my Silhouette. Wait...did you hear that??? MFT stamps are calling my name again!!!! Just might have to do a little online shopping soon. Happy dances everyone!

Don't You Just Love This Blogging Community?!

The Card Making Blogiverse. Sometimes I like to stop and think of all of you out there and what a wonderful place this is. We're all "next-door" neighbors. It's true, though I couldn't run over to your house and borrow a cup of sugar, lol! But we are only a few letters typed away from each other. And it's a NICE place to be. Card makers should just run everything. Then the whole, wide world would be such a lovely place! I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you to you all for the encouragement, the kind words, and the friendships I've formed by being a part of this very special community. You're the best.

If you haven't had a chance to attend the birthday party for Anita, you can click HERE, and check it out. You won't be sorry, as we have two kinds of cake...birthday cake and beefcake...lol! And if you haven't popped in to say 'happy birthday' to her, it's not too late. You can visit Anita at mypapercraftworld.

I actually do have a couple of cards to share today. And I have to laugh, they started out completely different from what you're seeing here. I stopped thinking and let my artistic (hahahahaha, yeah Sue, Sandy and everyone who really knows me...but I can draw stick people...mostly) side take over. Well, however they turned out, they did. And I like them. (Is that a tacky thing to say?)

My first card is for the Fusion Challenge. Incredible colors in this photo. As much as I wanted to combine the photo and sketch, it wasn't in the cards (hahahahahahahahahaha...sorry...a little). Check it out:

If you look closely, you'll see gold on the teal wall. That's what I first saw. So I took my MFT Swiss Dots die and cut a scrap. I used it as a stencil. See:

All the papers except the Michaels white base are scraps. I used the brown and created a frame with two MFT pierced rectangle dies. 'Happy' is in the same brown and is a MB die. A PTI sentiment stamped in AE orange ink. The gold dots are inked with Delicata. I think the orange and gold strip is from SEI, but don't hold me to it.... 

The next card fits Tag You're It, #15, and as it so happens, CAS(E) this Sketch, #111. At least I hope it fits the sketch well enough at CTS. Let's have a gander at the inspiration found at these two fun challenges, shall we? Okie dokie then...

I drew inspiration from Donna's colors. And try as hard as I may, the little stamps weren't working for me today. And you can see I flipped the card shape for the CTS challenge. Ready?....

The base is Michaels white, and the chevrons are all scraps. Various sequins. A random scrap of ribbon. And the AE sentiment is from fellow BABE, Darnell! Thanks honeygirl, this is fast becoming one of my go-to sets for fun sentiments. I used an NBUS tag die from SC, and cut the tag out from the front panel.. The tag die comes as a set with 5 sizes! So far, I'm loving it! I popped up the tag just for fun. And as a nod to Miss D., this card was QAEZPZ! Happy dances everyone.

ETA:  Hannelie suggested I add this card to CAS on Sunday, where the theme is "chevrons." So if it's alright with the DT over there, I'll do just that! Have a great weekend!