God Bless America

It's almost release day at Digiments, and today I get to show a card I made using one of the Digiments that will be a part of the June release. One of my favorite things is combining the digital aspect with regular stamping. I don't look at digital as an "all or nothing" approach. I think that it's fun to incorporate digital into a card (it's easy!), and if you're wanting to after that, you can always add some stamping too. It's just another way to add a little variety to life! And you still have today and tomorrow to download any of the freebies that you've seen and make a card with them. It's a win/win. You get something free, and a chance to win more stuff for free! Plus, Michelle is offering a "Doorbuster Deal" with this release, so be sure to check out the site bright and early Saturday morning. I love the song "God Bless America" and was so excited to use it on a card. My daughter requests I play this video on YouTube all the time, and she belts it out along with Martina McBride (one of my favorite singers ever). Just listening to that song always gives me the chills.

Digiment: Patriotism
Stamps: SU Love It
Ink: Colorbox Frost White
CS: PTI Pure Poppy, PTI Soft Stone, Random Blue
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Perfectly Paisley Embossing Folder, Buttons

Happy birthday, dear Mom!

So today is my Mom's birthday. This isn't her birthday card, I think that I actually got that mailed in time to her this year. My mom loves to garden and she loves flowers, and so I just thought I'd share a card that made me think of her and her beautiful flowers beds. I think she'd be content most days to be out digging in the dirt, watching her flowers grow, even weeding. I hope you have a great day, Mom!

Stamps: SU Botanical Blooms, SU Heard From The Heart
Ink: PTI Berry Sorbet, PTI Hibiscus Burst, PTI Plum Pudding, PTI Pure Poppy, PTI Raspberry Fizz, PTI Ripe Avocado, PTI Smokey Shadow, PTI Summer Sunrise
CS: PTI Ripe Avocado, SU Kraft

Summer Color Challenge

I had so much fun making this card!!! It was one of those cards that fell into place just how I wanted it to! On my friend Laurie's blog, she showed these cute flower pots that she made. She had a link to a tutorial for making the flowers. I knew I'd want to make the flowers someday. Well, when I saw the CAS challenge for this week (that was posted last night) and then saw the new contest digiment, I knew that it would be perfect to combine the two, and finally make those flowers!!! I don't have heart nesties or a heart punch, so I cut the hearts out on my cricut. Before distressing the petals, I stamped on them using the Background Basics: Text Style stamp. I added some score lines above and below the digiment. I am so happy with how this card turned out. I can't believe how much I love the look of Kraft.

Go grab your free Digiment to play along, and link back to the Digiments Blog. This week is your last chance to win all of the new Digiments. The release will be this Saturday, bright and early. And remember how affordable these are.....all 30 digiments for $20. Well, Michelle has something up her sleeve to sweeten the deal even more. More info on that later! Enjoy your Monday. I'm off to clean up my stamping space. It's so chaotic right now. If someone walked in my house and said they'd pay me $1000 to make them a card but I only had a half an hour to do it, I don't know if I could. It might take me that long just to find everything. The place is a mess!!!!

Stamps: PTI Background Basics: Text Style, Verve Petals and Stems
Digiment: Contest 4
Ink: PTI Dark Chocolate, PTI Raspberry Fizz
Cardstock: SU Kraft, SU Rose Red
Accessories: PTI Hibiscus Burst Button

Baby Shower!

So today my niece had her baby shower. I found this darling little bear image the other day, and decided to do a little "bath time" theme so I could use the bubble bath bear. My kids were at the store helping me pick the stuff out and they both wanted to get little baby clothes, "because baby clothes are just so tiny and cute." I needed to go with the bath theme, though, so I let them pick out the wash cloths!

Stamps: Hero Arts Alphabet, Dustin Pike Tubby Bear
Ink: PTI Berry Sorbet, Copics
Cardstock: PTI Berry Sorbet, PTI White
Accessories: My Timeless Templates: From The Desk Of

CASE-ing my Friend

My friend made a card this week for the sketch challenge on SCS, and when I saw her card, I knew I'd have to case it. You can see her card here. I really didn't change very much on the card at all. I used different colors, a different stamp for the circle part(only because I didn't have her "smile" stamp, and added an extra background layer. I would have left it with one layer, but I liked the look she had from her textured cardstock. I didn't have any textured cardstock, and mine was feeling a little plain so I just added another layer.
I hope everyone who has officially started summer is having a good one. And for those of you not in official summer status, I hope you're finding some time to play anyway. The kiddos and I have been having a lot of fun with no one's schedule to stick to but ours (with the exception of baseball). I have some fun projects I've been working on that I can't wait to share. Now I'm off to enjoy my Friday!

Stamps: PTI Life, SU Delight in Life
Ink: PTI Hibiscus Burst, PTI Plum Pudding
Cardstock: PTI Lemon Tart, PTI Plum Pudding, PTI Regal Rose
Accessories: Martha Stewart Ribbon, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Chalk

Happy Mail

So I got a card from my friend last week, which was enough all by itself to put a smile on my face. Then to add to the fun, she'd included some top note die cut-outs! I was so excited to get to play with something new. Thanks, Jenni! And in case you are counting, this is 3 cards in a row that included my new Background Basics: Text Style set. I think I will definitely be getting a lot of use out of that!

Stamps: PTI Background Basics: Text Style, SU Botanical Blooms, SU God's Beauty
Ink: PTI Plum Pudding, PTI Ripe Avocado
Cardstock: PTI Ripe Avocado
Accessories: Top Note Die, PTI Plum Pudding Satin Ribbon

Beach Inspiration

It's Monday again, which means another free Digiment is available. You may know the routine by now, but for those who don't, it's easy. Download the Digiment, use it on a card or project, link back to Digiments and you have a chance to win all of the June releases. After not stamping much over the weekend, it was fun to work on this card last night. It is for the CAS challenge posted on SCS, which is to be inspired by Lands' End beach towels and tote bags. When I saw this tote, a card started forming in my head. I used the colors of the bag for inspiration and also stayed with a beach theme. I have had the Summer By The Sea set for a long time, but never used this particular stamp. I always thought the lady on the boat looked like she was deep in thought, even a little troubled. I loved using this Digiment to go with my lady that needs cheering up. Enjoy your Monday everyone! We're off to bounce on the trampoline, tire the kiddos out, and then come in for a little quiet time!

Stamps: PTI Background Basics: Text Style, SU Summer By The Sea
Digiment: Challenge 3
Ink: PTI Ocean Tides, PTI Smokey Shadow
Cardstock: PTI Ocean Tides, PTI Smokey Shadow, PTI Soft Stone, SU Kraft
Accessories: PTI Aqua Mist Buttons, Karen Foster Scrapper's Floss, Copics, Chalk

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #7

Here is the card I made for Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #7. Since I first started ordering from Papertrey Ink, their Ripe Avocado was the first color that I found myself having to reorder. I love that shade of green. On the other hand, while I don't dislike their Spring Moss, I just don't use it very often. Today's card uses both of my new stamp sets. It's so fun to play with new toys! There are so many gorgeous cards out there using the Friends 'Til The End set. This card here was my inspiration for this card. I changed the background, left off the brads, didn't add the leaf, and instead of coloring my flower, just stamped it onto paper and cut it out. Oh, and I added a button for the center of the flower. I'm trying to add buttons now, but I don't know. I got some scrappers floss that had been recommended to me. The way it is on this button, to me it just looks like I twisted an old rubber band through the holes. I still need to work on that I guess! That's all for today! Enjoy your Friday!!!

Stamps: PTI Background Basics: Text Style, PTI Friends 'Til The End
Ink: PTI Dark Chocolate, PTI Ripe Avocado
Cardstock: PTI Ripe Avocado, PTI Spring Moss, SU Rose Red
Accessories: PTI Hibiscus Burst Button

104 Days Of Summer Vacation

Phineas and Ferb have it made!!! I wish we had 104 days of summer. Well, even though we don't get 104 days, today is the last day of school, and I'm not complaining. Summer, here we come! Here is the gift for my son's teacher for the end of the year. I added the ribbon just to see if I liked it and my son saw it, told me it was cool and to leave the ribbon on. Since technically this is his present to give to his teacher, I wanted him to like it. So ribbon it is! When I asked Luke what his teacher's favorite color was, I have to admit I was kind of excited when he told me pink....you know I love to have an excuse to work with pink, but it's even better if the recepient actually likes pink!

Stamps: PTI Friends 'Til The End
Ink: PTI Raspberry Fizz
Cardstock: PTI White, SU Rose Red
Accessories: PTI Raspberry Fizz Ribbon
Timeless Template: From The Desk Of

Rose Red / Smokey Shadow

A few weeks ago on Split Coast Stampers, the Clean and Simple Challenge was a sketch. You can see the gallery of cards people made using the sketch here. I didn't make a card for the challenge that week, but I haven't been able to get those circles out of my head!!! I've been wanting to do a combination of rose red and grey for a while, too. Yesterday it hit me how to combine the circles and the colors. It took me a while to get it executed the way I wanted, but I'm happy with how this turned out. A little different style than something I might typically make but I had fun. The digiment is the "Challenge Digiment" for this week. You can download this digiment for free, make a card or project using it, and by linking it back to the Digiments Blog, you'll have a chance to win ALL of the June Digiments. I have been working with the new releases coming out in June, and I can't wait for you all to see them! Michelle has really created some great Digiments to work with. And next month there will be 30 released!!! You can buy individuals for $1.00, or get the whole release for $20.00. Talk about affordability!!! I love that these are fun, practical, and still affordable! Be sure to play along if you can.

Digiment: Irish Blessings Challenge Digiment
Cardstock: PTI Smokey Shadow, SU Rose Red
DP: Random from LSS, SU Rose Red Designer Series Paper
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Labels One Nestabilities, Offray Ribbon

It's a Makeover!

No, Stacy and Clinton aren't coming to my house. It's a card makeover! The Clean And Simple Challenge at Split Coast Stampers this week is to take a card you previously made and make it over. You can take a card that wasn't CAS and change it to CAS, or improve upon a CAS card you already made. Well, here is the card I changed. I thought it was especially funny to change it to "Clean and Simple" since the background paper was called "Dirty Laundry!" I find myself leaning more and more towards clean and simple cards as the style I really like making. I'm happy with how this turned out, and hope it inspires you to try a clean and simple card today!

Stamps: Verve Petals and Stems, TAC Sentiment
Ink: Colorbox Sunflower, PTI Hibiscus Burst, PTI Plum Pudding, PTI Ripe Avocado
CS: PTI Plum Pudding

Cards For Heroes Blog Hop!

This is my first time to participate in a blog hop, and I am SO excited! The first time I ever heard about Cards for Heroes was right before Christmas. My friend Susan was getting extra Christmas cards ready to send in, and I read some about it, thought it was a great idea, but didn't really follow through. Then a few months ago, she was getting more cards ready, and I decided it was time for me to make some cards to send in! I've been building my stash up, and everytime I get ready to send it, I think, "Just a few more." After finishing this card, I decided I need to send my cards in, so the people that I want to benefit from this will be able to. I am proud to be an American, and feel a debt of gratitude to all the military: past, present and future who protect our great country and help to make it as wonderful as it is. It is such a brave and noble calling that they have!

To go back to the beginning to view all of the blogs and get inspired, start at
Cards For Heroes Blog Hop Central.
To keep hopping along, visit Laurie at
Crazy About Scrappin.'

Stamps: SU The Free & The Brave
Digiment: Thank You For Everything
Ink: PTI Dark Chocolate
Cardstock: DCWV, PTI Vintage Cream
DP: DCWV
Accessories: Provo Craft Brads, Offray Ribbon

Ultimate Peanut Butter Bars Recipe

I am so glad it's Friday!!!! I woke up this morning craving peanut butter bars. Unfortunately my stash of chocolate chips has finally been depleted. That meant running to the store and all that goes along with that! We used to make these every Friday, and I practically had the recipe memorized. It's been a while since we made them, and today I knew I'd need the recipe. It took me a minute to hunt down my recipe card. It wasn't where it was supposed to be! Well, after a little searching I found it, and I'm posting it here for safe-keeping as well. I'm off to eat a little chocolate!!!

Sketch Challenge

This card is made using the this week's sketch challenge posted on Split Coast Stampers. As far as I know I don't need any graduation cards this year. Planning in case of a surprise, I decided to make a card I can use for a graduate if I need to, or hold onto for another occasion also. I added some score lines to the big white panel, but couldn't seem to get them to show up very well in any of the pictures. Enjoy your day!

Stamps: River City Rubber Works Sentiment, TAC Ship Collage, Cloud 9 Design
Ink: PTI Dark Chocolate
Cardstock: PTI Dark Chocolate, PTI Summer Sunrise
DP: Basic Grey

Great Friends!

Now, for all of you ladies (and perhaps gentlemen) who haven't given Digiments a try yet, let me tell you what's going on. Every Monday, Michelle will release a free digiment for you to use. Make a card with it, post in on your blog or to Split Coast Stampers, and link it back to the Digiments blog. By playing along, you'll be entered to win all of the new releases the following month! You can't go wrong. If you're at all intimidated by the "digital" aspect, this is a great way to try the digiments out and see how easy they are to use. And for those of you who are already hooked on the idea, to purchase any of the Digiments is only $1.00 apiece, or $20.00 for all 25 released this month. I'd say that's a really good value!
Now, this card has a story to go with it, that's really long. If you want to read on, here is the story: The other day I was lucky enough to meet up with a great friend for dinner. She's moved away, but was back in town for a convention so we were able to meet up for dinner and to chat for a few hours. It was so nice, but when I left I was really sad. She's the kind of friend that I will always miss living by, no matter how many years pass. Talking to her was like old times and I felt like she'd never left. So it was one of those bittersweet moments. The other day I was setting at my desk, unable to create, and I'll admit I was pouting. My husband asked, "Are you still pouting about your friends moving away?" He nailed it. Well, that same day Michelle emailed me this new digiment to try out. I almost cried. She just came up with the best possible sentiment I could have used to help try and break me out of this funk I'm in. I decided to use a color challenge and a sketch challenge, because I am needing that nudge to get my creativity back.

Digiment: Great Friends
Stamps: SU Pretty Petals
Ink: VersaMark
Cardstock: PTI Aqua Mist, PTI Berry Sorbet, PTI White
Accessories: Junkitz Flowerz, Ranger Clear Embossing Powder, Offray Ribbon, PTI Aqua Mist Button