Lily the fairy

Melissa from Pink Cat Studio has been running a contest for the last couple of weeks. She supplied this adorable digital image of Lily as a fairy. All I had to do to enter, was print it out and make a card with it.

While I was brainstorming some ideas for a card, my son came into my workshop to show me his latest loose tooth. Since the tooth fairy will be making a visit to our house sometime soon, I thought maybe we could surprise her with a card this time.

This was my entry for the contest...What do you think?
I colored her in with my Copics and then added some stickles to her wings and headband. A fairy has got to have a little bling - am I right?
To make the card base, I folded piece of whisper white in half and then sketched out a tooth shape leaving the fold on top. Then I cut it out and outlined with a light gray Copic marker.

That's it for me today.
I have a date with the couch and my brand new Stampin Up catalog!!
Check back tomorrow for a couple of fun announcements that I've been DYING to tell you!
Hugs,

I thought I'd change things up a bit...

and share a scrapbook page with you today. Last month I drew up a sketch for a 2 page layout and challenged the rest of the Green Tangerines design team to play along.


Here's the sketch I created...

This is the layout that I did...
The blue background paper is called Disco Ball Boogieboard by KI Memories. I've seen it around the store for awhile now and have been dying to use it on SOMETHING! I think it worked well for this layout.

Thanks for stopping by. Until tomorrow...

2 Challenges in one!

Earlier this month Monica gave the Hambo design team a Valentine challenge using a non-valentine image. When I saw what Carrie and Pam posted this week over on 3D design challenge, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I also made a card, but I'll share with you later.

Here's what I came up with... I just love this owl image and matching sentiment. He reminds me of the owl from Winnie the Pooh.
You know you want to make one!
Here's how...
Start with a square sheet of patterned paper. I used a 6 x 6 double sided sheet from SU's Bella Rose collection.

Fold in have as shown...

To help with my folds (because let's face it - I need all the help I can get!), I used my scoring tool to find the half way point.

Then I lined up the folded edge on the left side and scored on my half way mark.

Then I folded over the bottom left corner to my score mark on the right side.
Repeat with right corner to left side.

Then fold down the front.
Double sided paper really works nice for this project because you'll see both sides.

Now all you have to do is fill with goodies!

Hope my mini-tutorial was helpful. If you make one, be sure to send me a link!
See ya tomorrow,

Saturday Sketch Time

Here's Lauren's new Saturday Sketch! Now, before you look at my card, I need to explain myself.
It's been a crazy week! I love being back into the after-holiday routine, but it's taken all week to adjust. I've been swamped, in a good way, with projects for Green Tangerines, prepping for my class this Sunday and getting some things in order for a couple of fun announcements that I'll be making on the 15th.

Since I was short on time, I decided to bring my sketch with me to stamp club this week and modify one of the projects we made so I could use it for today's post.
Here goes....
Not crazy about it, but I'm hoping that the inside will make up for my lack of mojo on the front.


Here's the inside...

fun right?

We used SU's "Flight of the Butterfly" for this card and paired it with Kiwi Kiss and Riding Hood Red. I've always wanted to do one of these pop up cards, and now I have all kinds of fun ideas running through my crazy little mind!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!
Be sure to check out what the rest of the sketch team did.

Alicia, Dawn, Kim, Kirsten, Kristy, Maria, Kendra & Tamara
Have a super weekend. I'll be back on Monday.

Fool Your Family Friday

Now that the holiday gingerbread not available at Starbucks, my son is having withdrawls. And yes.....my children have inherited my addiction to Starbucks.

I flipped through my "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook this afternoon hoping to find something - voila!

GINGERBREAD SPICE CAKE

Nonstick cooking spray

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar

1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil

1 large egg

1 cup broccoli puree

1/2 cup carrot puree

1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt

1/4 cup molasses

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon grated orange zest

1 - Preheat the oven to 375. Coat a 9 x 5 loaf pan with cooking spray.

2 - In a bowl or zipper lock bag, mix the flours with the baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and salt. Set aside.

3 - In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sugar, oil and egg until smooth. Beat in the vegetable purees, yogurt, molasses, vanilla and orange zest. add the flour mixture and mix until smooth.

4 - Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake, 45 - 50 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in the pan before turning the cake out onto a rack to cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

See ya tomorrow with a peek at Lauren's new Saturday sketch!
Hugs,

No coloring needed...

Do any of you remember a set by Stampin Up called "Such a Tweet"? It was in a mini catalog ages ago and I regretted not getting it. My sister in law was thinning out her stamp collection to make room for more and I snatched this baby up from her. Yay me!It's been a loooong time since I've used a solid image that didn't need coloring in. What can I say? I'm in love with my Copics and practice makes perfect - still practicing....
For the peacock image, I used my Elegant Eggplant, Rose Red and More Mustard Stamping Spots.
I embellished with some of my favorite Doodlebug jewels that I also used on the card in my previous post. For the scalloped border behind the main image, I punched out two circles with my Marvy punch and attached them to the top and bottom. And no card of mine would be complete with using my pokey thing on it somewhere - hence the holes on the scalloped border.

Thanks for stopping by!
Be sure to come back tomorrow for another recipe to fool your family.

My 1st Bella and a little more about me...

Here's Kristina's color challenge for today....

Several months ago one of my blog readers contacted me after I posted this card. She wanted the image and asked it I'd be interested in doing an image swap with her. I traded her for this bella image. Four months later, and I've finally gotten around to playing with it. I used SU's pink polka dot pattern from the Bali Breeze collection for the base. For the rest of the card, I used scraps of patterned paper from Doodlebug and Luxe. I colored the image with my Copics and added some of my favorite Doodlebug bling to the scalloped edge on the right.
I've had this little heart charm stashed away since July. It was attached to the zipper on a pack of mini highlighters I got at the Target $1 spot. See! I knew I'd use it for SOMETHING!

The sentiment is from a Stampin Up set called "Full of Life" - love love love that set.


If you aren't sick of me yet, you can read a mini-interview I did with Monica from Hambo stamps.



That's it for me today. See ya tomorrow

He's a she!

Remember this adorable cowboy image from the Hambo new release?

Well....I decided to turn him into a girl! I couldn't resist.All I did was braid some brown thread and poke it through holes that I punched above the ears.
And what what little cowgirl would be stylin if she didn't have a cupcake pink flocked cowgirl hat?

The patterned paper is by BasicGrey and the stars were cut out with my Cricut. To add some interest to the large star, I poked around the edges with my favorite piercing tool.

Hope you like!
See ya tomorrow...

Normalcy has returned!!

Happy Monday!
The holidays have passed, the kids are back in school and normalcy has returned - Yay!

Between friends and family, we had four birthdays to celebrate over the weekend and two birthday parties to attend.
The first party that we went to on Saturday was for a friend of my sons. She had her party at a roller rink - talk about a blast from the past!

We got her a gift card for a bookstore and I wanted a cute way for my son to give it to her.

I decided to make a roller skate of course!I used my buddy Lauren's free stocking template over at Papertrey Ink and then just added wheels, eyelets and one of those toe brake thingies.

You can see the other project I made with her template here.

Here's a close up of the wheels...

I used SU's Purely Pomegranate for the skate and embellished with a chocolate brown scallop circle and felt flowers on both sides.
To add some detail to the front, I used my crop-a-dile to add 10 pink eyelets and then laced some black grosgrain ribbon and tied in a bow.

Thanks for checking in. I'll be back tomorrow.

It's Saturday Sketch Time!

Here's Lauren's sketch for today... Here's the first card I came up with...
I used Pumpkin Pie for the base and SU's "Jersey Shore" patterned paper for the green background. The other patterns are from Scenic Route.

When I was done, it looked really plain, so I added some piercing with my pokey thing!


This was the second card I did...

I recently got this set by Kim Hughes and have been dying to use it.

I cut out a circle from the front of the black card base, embossed it with my Swirls folder and then attached the skull images with fishing line.

That's it for me tonight. I've got a monster migrane coming on...
Be sure to check out what the rest of the sketch team did!
Alicia, Dawn, Kim, Kirsten, Kristy, Maria, Kendra & Tamara

Fool Your Family Friday

Welcome to Fool Your Family Friday! BLUEBERRY OATMEAL BARS

"Crunchy and sweet, but full of spinach! Let the bars cool completely before serving so that the taste of the spinach has a chance to disappear completely."

Here's what you'll need to get started:

nonstick cooking spray
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/4 cups all purpose flower
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup butter OR margarine spread (chilled)
1 cup blueberry preserves
1/2 cup spinach puree

1 - Preheat the oven to 375 and coat an 8 x 8 baking pan with cooking spray.

2 - In a large bowl, combine the oats, flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and vanilla. Mix well.

3 - Add the butter and cut it quickly into the dry ingredients using two knives. The mixture will resemble a coarse meal and is no longer powdery. Do not over mix.

4 - Set aside about half of the oat mixture; press the rest of it firmly into the pan. Bake until lightly browned just around the edges, 13 - 15 minutes.

5 - Meanwhile, mix the preserves with the spinach puree in a small bowl. DON'T BE SCARED! I PROMISE YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO TASTE IT ONCE THESE BABIES HAVE COOKED AND COMPLETELY COOLED!

6 - Spread the blueberry mixture over the partially baked oat layer, then sprinkle with the reserved oat mixture. Bake until the topping is slightly browned, 20-25 minutes. Set the pan on a rack to cool completely before cutting into 12 bars.



Thanks for stopping by!
Be sure to come back tomorrow for a peek at Lauren's new Saturday sketch.

Hello 2009!

I can't believe 2008 is gone! Time sure flies when you're having fun!
Happy New Year!
I wanted to take a moment and thank all of my loyal readers who check in every day to see what I'm up to. I read each and every one of your comments and they all mean so much to me.

I started this blog almost 1 year ago in hopes of getting on a design team, getting published and making a name for myself out there in blog-land.

This year I was fortunate enough to be asked to be on three design teams which was a dream come true. Thank you Monica & Tim from Hambo, Lauren from "MyTime" and the crew from Green Tangerines. Working with all of you in 2008 was great and I'm looking forward to creating lots more together in 2009.

I'm also really excited to share that in May 2009, I will officially be a PUBLISHED STAMPER! I found out back in August, and figured it was okay to let the cat out of the bag now. I'll share more details on that when the publication comes out.

Thanks again to all of you who make this blog my "happy place". I've made so many new friends and am sending out {{{cyber hugs}}} to all of you!

Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2009