Imagine a World

***For my Lawnscaping Blog Hop Post, please click here or scroll down!***

"Imagine a world without toy dinosaurs, or camping on bedroom floors. Imagine a world without the magic - of why,  or a cape on your back that makes you fly. Imagine a world without spacemen and then… Imagine a world without gannappolasses which we all know is a cross between giraffes and hippopotamus’s. Imagine a world without crayons on the wall,  or Daddy’s 10 feet tall. Imagine a world without tricycles and bicycles,  or hot summer days with melting grape Popsicle’s. Imagine a world without Cowboys and Indians and then…Imagine a world without gannappolasses,  which we all know is a cross between giraffes and hippopotamus’s. Imagine a world without tag and baseball, or red rover come over and lemonade for all. Imagine a world without ferries and Santa Clauses, or bunnies and baskets and no good causes. Imagine a world without skinned knees and chins and then… Imagine a world without gannoppolasses, which we all know is a cross between giraffes and hippopotamus’s. Imagine a world without laughter and smiles,  or braces with wire miles and miles.
Imagine a world without fireflies and ladybugs, or arms reaching up for good night hugs. Imagine a world without children and then…You can imagine a world without gannoppolasses,  which we all know is a cross between giraffes and hippopotamus’s." ~Bob Densmore

Happy World Card Making Day, my crafty friends! I couldn't imagine my world right now without all the friendships I've gained by being a part of the paper crafting industry. Thank you!


I've got an one layer card today that features the sweet Butterfly Kisses stamp set from The Craft's Meow. I started by stamping lightly the butterflies in the background and then the silhouette image and sentiment in a bright pink. I finished the card by adding a touch of color with markers to the wings and flowers.

The Craft's Meow is celebrating with you this weekend by offering a coupon code for a 15% discount in the store! (This includes an additional 15% off of already discounted sale items.) Lisa doesn't do this very often, so now's your chance! All you have to do is enter WCMD2012 at checkout to receive your discount. The coupon will expire at 11:59 pm Pacific on Sunday, October 7th, so you must act quickly! Also, did you know that The Craft's Meow is a Pink Ribbon sponsor of Splitcoaststampers' 3rd Annual Hope You Can Cling To campaign for breast cancer awareness and support.

A Raccoon's Curiosity

**This is my second post for today, for more inspiration,
please scroll down to see two cards made with the Artful Delight October Card Kit**

The leaves are orange, the air is crisp and the raccoons' curiosity have them venturing out (only to be chased by little coon hounds and little hunters)...it must mean that it is fall! Lawnscaping is celebrating with a blog hop! You should have arrived from Janice's Blog (...you can find all links over at the Lawnscaping Challenge site!)

Truth be told I don't have any of the "normal" fall Lawn Fawn stamps, so I grabbed all my sets, laid them out and looked for an image that reminded me of fall. The cute little raccoon critter from Lawn Fawn's Critters in the Forest as my muse. He was stamped, colored and fussy cut before being placed on a stark deep orange background. All the color choices were influenced by the inspiration photo. The sentiment is a classic, from Sophie's Sentiments.

I purposely chose a lot of textured elements for a base to rest the raccoon on, after being inspired by the current Lawnscaping Challenge: Use Texture. I have a piece of birch bark, an embossed woodgrain slip of cardstock, some linen textured patterned paper and a piece of cool May Arts burlap.

I mentioned the season of fall brings out little coon hunters and hounds, my littlest received a black and tan pup from his grandpa for his birthday.

Here's some information about the hop: You have until Sunday, October 7th, at 7:59AM, EST, to leave comments on all the blogs to be eligible for a prize!  The winners will be announced on Monday, October 8th. More details can be found on Lawnscaping's blog.

Your next stop is Lenny!

**Please consider making a card (or few) for little Addison, you can read about her story here.**

Days of the Week

"Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday....Thurssssday, Friday, Sat-ur-day!"

It amazes me how the teaching style has changed, from what my boys bring home in the form of worksheets to how I remember being taught. There are so many cute little phrases and jingles. The Days of the Week is one that both boys learned in pre-school and I find myself singing that after I think to myself as to what day of the week it is (similar to how I still sing the alphabet song in my head when having to alphabetize something...it never fails!)

Have you seen the October Card Kit from Artful Delight yet? I seriously drooled when I opened the package, even though I say that every month. *This time I probably could have used a mop to clean up the mess!* I love the papers, both patterned and solid as well as the gorgeous embellishments. You can find a complete listing of the kit here! I'm not joshing you when I say that the value is phenomenal in this kit.

I worked on two cards with this month's sketch challenge. The first bold and "fierce" and the second subtle and refreshing. Every item (except the May Arts burlap string and ink) came from the October Card Kit. I hope you enjoy, and find time to play with the sketch too! (Check out the details here.)

(As posted about yesterday....please consider making a card (or a few) for Addison too, you can check out the details on this post! Pssst....new prizes have been added!)

Card Drive for Addison

There's a little girl that needs our help. Think of all the extra cards you have lying around, or all the opportunity to make fun, cute new ones!

From Kelly Bertram's Post:

Addison is a beautiful, athletic, and spunky 6 year old little girl and happensto be the daughter of one of my dearest friends.

On September 28, 2012 she was taken to the doctor for a reoccurring fever.  After blood work, they learned that she did not have a bacterial infection or virus as many would expect, but Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) of the T-cells. T-cells complicate treatment.  The doctors have placed her on a two YEAR treatment plan which began on September 29 with chemotherapy started on September 30.  I cannot imagine what my dear friends went through during those first 48 hours and the incredible fight they have in front of them.  
You can follow Addison's journey through her Caring Bridges page:
You'll need an email address and create a password.

Kelly is hosting a card drive for sweet Addison.

Her goal is to collect 104 handmade cards to give her one card per week for two years. 

More if possible!

She has two sisters Avery (5) and Ansley (2).   
All the girls love animals, the colors pink and purple, 
princesses and sports, anything cute or funny. 
Addison esp. loves the water, sports, bouncy houses and other athletic events she looks forward to doing again.

If you would like to help encourage her on her journey here are some guidelines:

• Cards can be anything cheery, encouraging, supportive, etc.You can include or incorporate kid-friendly jokes! Please avoid holiday specific cards so the cards can be used anytime over the next two years. 
• Cards can be for Addison or one of her sisters. Write the name of the recipient on the outside of the envelope. 
• All cards need to have a positive message in it for the child/family.  Please also sign your name and where you are from.  There could be a geography lesson in there!  Also, please don't seal the envelope, as the parents might want to preview cards before the kids see them.
• Please stick to just cards or lightweight things like stickers, etc. I will be delivering the cards to the family so no additional shipping costs will be incurred.
• You are welcome to send store-bought cards, but they will not be eligible for prizes.
• There is no need to send money with your cards. 
•  In each package, PLEASE include a piece of paper with your name, address, email address and how many cards you sent . This help greatly in keeping track for prizes!  For each handmade card you send, you will get a chance for a prize.  So the more cards you send, the better your chances; however, one prize per person.
• Please postmark cards by December 20th
• Winners of prizes will be randomly drawn on or around January 15 and notified on this blog and via email (if provided with cards)
• All cards can be mailed to the following address:

Kelly Bertram

P.O. Box 58156

Cincinnati, Ohio 45258-0156

Prizes:
prize #1:  $25 gift certificate to Simon Says Stamp
prize #2:  $25 gift certificate to Two Peas in a Bucket
praying there are more to come....Please feel free to share this card drive with others...

Thank you so much for your generosity.

I pray these cards will lift the spirits of the family and bring them little moments of comfort and joy during this difficult time.  

They have a very long road ahead of them and you can make it a bit smoother.  

I'm contributing to the prize pack, with a voucher for a custom blog design.

 Please, consider helping out Kelly and Addison!

Linen Roses

Three of my favorite smells:
1. Babies just after a bath
2. Crushed leaves in the fall
3. Grandma's Linen Closet

The roses are stamped in linen ink and I just remember the smell of my Grandmother's closet and the anticipation it brought when she opened it...it meant that we got to sleep over at her house!  The card featured this week CASE Study this week really inspired my creation today.

 I was drawn to the kraft and black, the tone on tone background and the pearls. I had a separate panel set to go but after I adhered it, the entire card just looked "off" so off it went!

***Enabling Alert***

Goodness, I really like being able to let you know about a giveaway! May Arts has teamed up with Stampendous this week and any comments left will enter you for a chance to win product from both companies! Please stop by my post featuring this cornucopia favor and let me know what you think!

Ms. Edwards

Humor me and let me tell you about a little dream I had last night.

I was somewhere, at a well-known crafty event, and thee Ali Edwards was there. For some reason, I was able to approach her and actually get to talk with her, and she was interested in the conversation. We chatted about her exquisite and fun stamp designs and then all of a sudden I blurted out: Well, Ms. Edwards, let me show you some of my stamp designs. Her eyes lit up and she looked at me with awe. Fast forward a year and here I was, manufacturing my own line of stamps and paper products...and the best part...barely being able to keep up with the demand of my line.

We all are allowed to dream, right? 

CAS-ual Fridays has this most amazing challenge going on: Toot Your Own Horn and it is all about creating a project inspired by your own blog header. It was fun to see the amazing samples from the design team, and extra special because a few of the members chose me to design their blog headers! So I couldn't pass up on the challenge and created a card inspired by my header. My latest design was a mix of my card making style: clean and simple with a few shabby elements thrown in. I have the tan frame, a bird, the lace border stitched to the card and secured with a staple and a pink banner.

***Royal Ribbonista Giveaway***

Head on over to the May Arts Blog this weekend and comment on the announcement of the Royal Ribbonista team for your chance to win four free spools of May Arts Ribbon, your choice (just make sure you follow the directions from The Ribbon Lady)!

September Celebrations

**Please scroll down for my Lil' Inker Designs
Blog Hop post!**

September is a good month to have a birthday. There's a group of gals gathering together today to wish Laurel a happy birthday! (For a complete listing, see Lynnette's blog.) I hope you have a very happy birthday Laurel, and many, many more. You are talented and so sweet!

Tomorrow we celebrate my baby's sixth birthday, I can't believe how fast the time has just slipped away!

Artful Delight's September Kit was just perfect for birthdays, and I took advantage of that and created two cards that feature the stamps from the kit. (There's still a few available here if you want to pick one up!) I hope you have a great weekend, we will be celebrating with carrot cake (the birthday boy's choice) and bike riding (he's getting a new bike!)

Freckled Owl

Owls are often depicted as mentors and teachers, but I love how in Winnie the Poo, he is scatterbrained and just plain funny, but still smart. Sometimes I thinkthat is the perfect description of me!

Today is the last day of the new release Blog Hop for Lil' Inker Designs! You should have arrived from Jen Del Muro's Blog. I made a fun little card that features many Lil' Inker Designs products, to showcase how well everything goes together!

I started by coloring and fussy cutting the owl of Birthday Owl from last month's release of the 2 Cute Ink line, then I stamped him onto a folded piece of orange cardstock minus the balloons and adhered my colored owl to the card base. I then die cut some balloons from Balloons Dies and added them, as well as banners from Stitched Sentiment Flags and the regular Sentiment Flag Dies. Each of these were adhered to the card and then I wrapped it with some May Arts burlap string. I finished the card with a sentiment from You're Invited!

I think that he's so cute, and I really like the look of a colored card base with a detailed colored imae and large blocks of white shapes. I think I'll try it again, I hope you are inspired! (Note to self: Next time move the freckles more to each side of his face, so he doesn't look like he's crying...)

Your next stop is the talented Emily! And remember...there are secret prizes along the hop so leave a comment on each stop to better your chance of winning!

Draculus and his Bat

When the boys were little, my oldest wanted to be Draculus (that is Cole for Dracula) in the worst way for Halloween. My mother, with her exceptional sewing abilities, made him a fancy black cape lined with red and a high collar. Honestly, he looked like a mini version of the real thing. Not to be outdone, though, she also made some cute little bat wings and ears for my baby, who was two at the time, so Draculus could have an entourage! Can I brag and say that they had the best Halloween costumes in the whole town?

Hasn't the Lil' Inker Designs release been just amazing? Today marks the fourth day of design team examples, and there is a hop to showcase them all. You should have arrived from Alyssa's Blog. I am lucky to feature the two other sets from Lil' Inker's Sugar Kissed Cottage Line today. The above card uses the vintage image and sentiment from Best Witches.

I colored her with markers, trimmed her out and created a clean and simple card around her! These will be so easy to whip up and send out to many friends for Halloween!

Next up is a card that features the sweet Carving Pumpkins set. This too, would be easy for mass production, because I simply stamped the image, colored and fussy cut it out and adhered it to a sleek white card base that had been simply embellished with a few strips of patterned paper and a fun sentiment from the set.

I'm the last on the hop, but please check out the store and check out these sets for yourself! And remember...there are secret prizes along the hop so leave a comment on each stop to better your chance of winning!

Life's Work

Life's work: Helping shape my boys into being the best they can be and loving them beyond belief. Supporting my husband in his decisions and being by his side. Making sound choices that have my parents still be proud of their baby girl. Being the best mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, co-worker that I can be. In a nutshell, that is my life's work.

It's time for another Skipping Stones Design Sketch Challenge, you can find the details of the challenge, see fabulous design team samples, and learn about the rules and prize over on the Skipping Stones Design Blog. We are featuring the Grunge sets this month and I used the tried and true and absolutely spectacular Grunge 1, plus I added a touch of Breathtaking Butterflies, Garden Kiss, and Sentiment Frames as well!

Please join us with your take on this challenge!