BUGABOO OLDIE BUT GOODIE THUIRSDAY -- EGGBERT WINTER

Howdy folks!  It's that time of the week again for some Oldie But Goodie goodness from the Bugaboo DT at Catch the Bug.  Here is mine:

I know that today is Halloween, but I need to ramp up my Christmas card production!!  LOL  I used Eggbert Winter for my card.  I love this guy!  I use him quite often for my Christmas cards.  For today's card, I colored him in greens using alcohol markers, and layered the image circle onto a dark green card stock circle.  The Winter Whimsy patterned paper from Love Nicole, was also flanked with small strips of the same card stock, and the Recollections sentiment was heat embossed on another piece of that dark green.  It's not quite as dark IRL as it appears in my picture.  Snow HAS to have some sparkle, so I added Star Dust Stickles where I thought it would look nice.

*CHALLENGES*

Gem of a challenge Week #21:  ATG (2/2)

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #116:  ATG (3/3)

Word Art Wednesday Week #410- #411:  ATG (2/5)

The Holly and Ivy #59:  ATG Christmas

Cardz 4 Gals #108:  Something Beginning with "S" (snow)

Fab 'n' Funky #455:  Christmas

Simon Says Wednesday:  ATG (1/5)

Polkadoodles Week #43:  ATG (2/3)

Digi Choosday Week #44:  ATG (1/2)

CHNC #461:  ATG Christmas

Die Cuttin Divas #444:  ATG (1/3)

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge #534:  Winter 

Cute Card Thursday #606:  Christmas/Holidays

The Outlawz Festive Fridays:  Christmas

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #58:  ATG

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I appreciate it so much!  Be sure you stop on by the Catch the Bug blog to see what else is there for your inspiration!

Take care, and God Bless!  

~Marie~

CHRISTMAS WITH THE CUTIES -- PERSONALIZE IT

Hello all!  The new challenge at Christmas With the Cuties starts today.  We are looking for cards that are personalized in some way, and here is mine:

Our sponsor for this month's challenge is Di's Digi Downloads, and this adorable image is called Christmas Owls.  I colored the image with alcohol markers, used some Star Dust Stickles on the falling snow, and white puffy paint on the white parts of the hats.  This is my favorite thing to do with hats at the moment!  It just adds so much to the image!  I used patterned papers from a Love Nicole 12x12 pad, and the sentiment is from the Lawn Fawn set called Winter Owl.  Perfect fit for this, I'd say!

*CHALLENGES*

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #116:  ATG (2/3)

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #58:  ATG

Merry Little Christmas #15:  ATG (5/5)

CHN Patterned Paper:  ATG using patterned paper

Love to Craft #39:  ATG (5/5)

Mix it Up #30:  ATG (5/5)

 Cutie Pie #140:  ATG as long as it's cute (2/3)

613 Avenue Create #226:  ATG (4/5)

Gem of a Challenge #21:  ATG (1/2)

Crimbo Crackers #196:  ATG (1/2)

Cardz 4 Gals #108:  Something beginning with "s" 

Crafty Friends #121:  Embossing, wet or dry

Polkadoodles Week #43:  ATG (1/3)

Digi Choosday Week #43:  ATG (2/2)

CHNC #461:  ATG

Jingle Belles:  Rudolph and Friends (any animal)

The Outlawz Festive Fridays:  Christmas

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!  Please also stop by the Christmas With the Cuties blog to see what the DT has made, and to join in the fun!  You know you need more Christmas cards anyway!  LOL

Take care, and God Bless!

~Marie~

BUGABOO ANYTHING BUT A CARD MONDAY

Howdy friends!  It's Monday (again!), so that means it's time for another Anything But a Card post at Catch the Bug.  Here is what I made for the occasion:

I always have such a hard time with this kind of challenge, because I really just like to concentrate on making cards.  I suppose I can glue this onto a card at a later date though...  ;)  I *almost* went with making another tag, but I didn't want to do that all the time.  It had been awhile since I made a rosette, so I thought, "Hmmm, I'll do that!"  I picked a cute snowflake paper from the Love Nicole 12x12 pad called Let It Snow, and cut 2 strips at 1.5 inches wide.  I scored both strips in 1/4" increments, then glued both strips together into a circle.  I must say, I did have some difficulty getting this rosette to come together, and it is uneven in spots, but it will have to do, won't it?

So the image is called Snowflake Penguin, and he is super cute!  I used alcohol markers in blues to match the paper (gray for the penguin of course), Star Dust Stickles on the snow and snowflakes, and puffy paint on the hat brim and pompom.

*CHALLENGES*

Merry Little Christmas #15:  ATG (4/5)

CHN Patterned Paper:  ATG using patterned paper

Love to Craft #39:  ATG (4/5)

Mix it Up #30:  ATG (4/5)

The Cutie Pie challenge #140:  ATG (as long as it's cute!)

Classic Design Design Team #10:  ATG

Crafty Animals #31:  ATG using an animal

Crafty Creations #401:  ATG

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #116:  ATG (1/3)

Word Art Wednesday #410- #411:  ATG (1/5)

Sweet Stampin':  Feature a Creature

Polkadoodles Week #42:  ATG (1/2)

Digi Choosday Week #43:  ATG (1/2)

CHNC #460:  ATG Christmas

The Outlawz Festive Fridays:  Christmas

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you were inspired by the DT creations for today, and don't forget to join us in the challenges!

Take care and God Bless!

~Marie~

PINK FOR THE CURE POST #2

Hello crafty friends!  I hope you all had a good Wednesday.  Thank goodness we're on the downward slide to the weekend!  

So, I'm back again tonight to share another PINK card for the challenge at Jingle Belles:

I have been admiring the ink blending onto colored cardstock technique for some time now, and thought this would be a perfect time to try it.  I used Worn Lipstick to add my shading around the edges of my PINK panel, which I always think leaves the sweetest highlight in the middle!  The SSS sentiment was embossed in detail gold embossing powder from Recollections, and I flanked it with 2 Martha Stewart punched snowflakes that I also embossed with the gold in several layers.  Don't they look like metal embellishments?  I decided to call this card finished.  :)

*CHALLENGES*

Jingle Belles:  PINK Christmas for the cure!

Christmas at Sweet Stampin':  ATG (2/2)

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #58:  ATG

Merry Little Christmas #15:  ATG (3/5)

Love to Craft #39:  ATG

Mix it Up #30:  ATG (3/5)

Craft Rocket #64:  PINK

Color it, Create it, Show it Off:  ATG (3/3)

Classic Design Design Team:  ATG

Creative Moments #178:  ATG (2/3)

613 Avenue Create #226:  ATG (3/5)

Gem of a challenge #20:  ATG (2/2)

Creative Fingers #172:  ATG (3/3)

Crimbo Crackers #195:  ATG (2/2)

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #115:  ATG (3/3)

Word Art Wednesday #408 - #409:  ATG (3/5)

Cute N Crafty #32:  ATG

Crafty Friends #120:  ATG  (2/3)

Polkadoodles Week #41:  ATG (2/2)

Digi Choosday Week #42:  ATG (2/2)

Penny's Paper Crafty #452:  ATG (1/3)

CHNC #459:  ATG

Winter Wonderland:  Merry and Bright

Penny Black and more:  Pretty in PINK

Simon Says Monday:  All Things PINK

The Outlawz Festive Fridays:  Christmas

Thanks for stopping by today, and I really hope that you'll get out some PINK and Christmas supplies (you probably have them out anyway, right?), and make a card for this great cause!  

Take care and God Bless!

~Marie~

PINK FOR THE CURE POST #1

Hey all!  It's October (halfway thru already!!), and it's that time of year to raise awareness for breast cancer research.  To help in the cause, Stef and Lauren over at the Jingle Belles blog host a challenge where they ask for predominantly PINK cards.  For every card linked up to the challenge, they will donate $2 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation!  Isn't that amazing?!  I didn't have the opportunity to participate last year, but this year, I want to help as much as I can!  So, here is card #1:

I had this embossed panel (made with a Tim Holtz Alterations embossing folder) sitting on my desk for some time, just waiting for the perfect card.  I think this is it!  I used Distress Oxide inks in Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick and Picked Raspberry and blended them on the panel in an ombre fashion.  After that, I used Star Dust Stickles on all the snowflakes, but the true shine and color doesn't show in the photo.  The sentiment is from the collaboration set from SSS and Clearly Besotted called Celebrate the Season.

*CHALLENGES*

Jingle Belles:  PINK Christmas for the cure

Christmas at Sweet Stampin':  ATG or optional stars

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #58:  ATG or Sensational Santa

Merry Little Christmas #15:  ATG (2/5)

Love to Craft #39:  ATG (2/5)

Mix it Up #30:  ATG (2/5)

Craft Rocket #64:  PINK

Color It, Create It, Show It Off:  ATG (2/3)

Classic Design Design Team #10:  ATG

Creative Moments #178:  ATG (1/3)

613 Avenue Create #226:  ATG (2/5)

Crafts Galore Encore #68:  ATG (3/3)

Gem of a challenge #20:  ATG (1/2)

Crafty Creations #400:  ATG (2/2)

Creative Fingers #172:  ATG (2/3)

Crimbo Crackers #195:  ATG (1/2)

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #115:  ATG (2/3)

Word Art Wednesday #408 - #409:  ATG (2/5)

Cute N Crafty #32:  ATG (3/5)

Crafty Friends #120:  ATG (1/3)

Simon Says Wednesday:  Christmas

Polkadoodles Week #41:  ATG (1/2)

Digi Choosday Week #42:  ATG (1/2)

CHNC #459:  ATG

Simon Says Monday:  All things PINK

The Outlawz Festive Fridays:  Christmas

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope the rest of the week goes well for you all...don't forget to get out those PINK products and make some Christmas cards to help Stef and Lauren raise some money!   

Take care and God Bless!

~Marie~

BUGABOO FREEBIE FRIDAY TIME!

Hello, crafty friends!  I'm here today to share with you my make for the current Freebie Friday at Bugaboo...but first, let me show you a picture of this visitor in my craft room:

Isn't this pretty?  After asking a friend, I discovered that it's a Buckeye butterfly.  I honestly thought it was a moth, since it was flying around at night.  I'll tell you, I have seen so many more bugs lately than I really care to!  We have been working on replacing our siding, and there are all kinds of spiders living just under our roof! *shudder*  Just this evening, I discovered an orb spider nestled on the soffit.  I made sure it stayed put!  This week, I made a trip into the local urgent care facility for several spots on my left arm and upper chest area that looked like bites of some kind that seemed to be giving me some kind of reaction that was spreading like a rash.  They didn't know what bit me, but they gave me a prescription for some cream that seems to be working very well to reduce my reaction.  I hate bugs!

Ok enough of that, now onto my card:

This week's freebie is called flspookday.  I think these monsters look pretty friendly, don't you?  I don't think they would scare me one bit!  I printed this digi out to be pretty large (4 3/16 inches), so it was very easy to color with my alcohol markers.  I did have some trouble with Frankie's face, getting the 2 greens I used to blend, but I figure it adds to his "monsterness."  LOL  I added some sparkle to the image using Gelly Roll Clear Star pen on the stars and the sentiment.  The guys' eyes were all coated with Glossy Accents for that fresh outta the coffin/laboratory look.  Hehehe.  I don't have any Halloween themed patterned papers (GASP!), so I cut into a green glitter paper to adhere to the base, a miscellaneous brand of orange striped paper, and the black is from the Hopscotch Colorbok 12x12 pad.  DONE.

*CHALLENGES*

CHN Patterned Paper:  ATG using patterned paper

Love to Craft #39:  ATG (2/5)

Mix it Up #30:  ATG (2/5)

Color It, Create It, Show it Off:  ATG (2/3)

Classic Design Design Team:  ATG

Creative Moments #178:  ATG or optional Spooky theme

613 Avenue Create #226:  ATG (1/5)

Crafts Galore Encore #68:  ATG (2/3)

Crafty Gals Corner #200:  Halloween Colors

Fab 'n' Funky #452:  Halloween

Polkadoodles Week #40:  ATG (1/2)

Digi Choosday Week #41:  ATG (1/2)

Crafty Creations #400:  ATG (1/2)

Creative Fingers #172:  ATG (1/3)

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #115:  ATG (1/3)

Word Art Wednesday #408 - #409:  ATG (1/5)

Cute N Crafty #32:  ATG (2/5)

Crafty Calendar:  Autumn Colors/Halloween (1/3)

Simon Says Monday:  Fall/Autumn

Crafty Sentiments:  Halloween

Cute Card Thursday #603:  Halloween

The Outlawz Twisted Thursday:  ATG or twist of Dream or Nightmare

Well, that's all from me!  Thanks for stopping by my blog today, and make sure you take some time to pop over to Catch the Bug to see what the rest of the DT has made with the freebie, and to grab it for yourselves!  :)

Take care, and God Bless!

~Marie~

CHRISTMAS CRAFTS ALL YEAR ROUND -- CHRISTMAS ANGELS, WINTER ANGELS, OR NATIVITY

Hello everyone, and happy Tuesday!  I'm back on the blog today to share the card I made for the October challenge at CCAYR, but first I want to point out a change that Deanne has made to the challenge.  From here on out, there will only be one posting, at the beginning of the month.  All DT members will create for that post, and there will be no more reminder post.

So now that the business part is out of  the way, here is my card:

This image is so sweet, and it is Peace Love Joy Angel from Bugaboo.  I had made this ink blended background a week or so ago, with thoughts of using it for another type of card, but the more I looked at it, it just spoke "Winter" to me!  So with that in mind I pulled out the Hero Arts Hand Drawn Snowflakes background stamp (for the 1st time since buying it!), stamped it in Versamark ink, and heat embossed with Recollections Snow detail embossing powder.  I LOVE HOW IT TURNED OUT!!!  I colored the image to match the panel, cut it out using a Spellbinders oval die, cut the inked panel down using Spellbinders Card Creator A (largest die), and added small bits of shimmer using a silver Gelly Roll pen and Wink of Stella.

*CHALLENGES*

Cute N Crafty Christmas #18:  ATG

Christmas at Sweet Stampin':  ATG (2/2)

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #58:  ATG

Merry Little Christmas #15:  ATG (1/5)

Love to Craft #39:  ATG (1/5)

Mix it Up #30:  ATG (1/5)

Color It, Create It, Show It Off:  ATG (1/3)

Classic Design Design Team #10:  ATG

Crafts Galore Encore #68:  ATG (1/3)

Gem of a challenge #19:  ATG (2/2)

Crimbo Crackers #194:  ATG (1/2)

Word Art Wednesday #406 - #407:  ATG (2/5)

Cute N Crafty #32:  ATG

Simon Says Wednesday:  ATG

Polkadoodles Week #39:  ATG (2/2)

Digi Choosday Week #40:  ATG (1/2)

CHNC #457:  ATG Christmas

Simon Says Monday:  Get Ready for Christmas

Cute Card Thursday:  Sentimental

That's all for today!  Thanks for stopping by today, and please drop by the CCAYR blog to play along in this month's challenge!  

Take care, and God Bless!

~Marie~

BUGABOO NEW RELEASE TUESDAY -- FRAME IT COURAGE

Howdy friends!  Happy October to ya!  And with today also being a Tuesday, that means it's New Release day at Catch the Bug!  Here is the card I made with the new image:

This adorable new image is called Frame It Courage.  Alcohol markers were used for coloring.  I also used silver and gold Sakura Gelly Roll pens on the stirrups, the horseshoe and the little circle hanging from the saddle.  I used an old Papertake Weekly sketch (#103) to construct my card.  I'm so glad we can still access these great sketches!  They always help me out when I have no idea what to do with a bunch of patterned papers.  Speaking of, these patterned papers come from the 12x12 Colorbok "Hopscotch" pad.  The embossed panel was created using the Tiny Stars embossing folder from The Paper Studio.  The kraft colored card stock is from Recollections.  I did some distress inking around all the edges using Vintage Photo Distress Oxide ink.

*CHALLENGES*

CHN Patterned Paper:  ATG using patterned paper

Classic Design Design Team #10:  ATG

Creative Moments #177:  Masculine

613 Avenue Create #225:  ATG (2/5)

A Gem of a challenge #19:  ATG (1/2)

Crafty Creations #399:  ATG (1/2)

Creative Fingers #171:  ATG (1/3)

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #114:  ATG (3/3)

Word Art Wednesday #406 - #407:  ATG (1/5)

Digi Design Challenge:  2 or more patterned papers (1/3)

Cute N Crafty #32:  ATG

Tuesday Throwdown #441:  ATG (1/1)

Simon Says Wednesday:  ATG

Sweet Stampin':  Distressed (1/3)

Polkadoodles Week #39:  ATG (1/2)

Digi Choosday Week #39:  ATG (1/2)

Cute Card Thursday #601:  Sentimental

The Outlawz Monday Greetings:  ATG

The Outlawz Twisted Thursday:  ATG or use something beginning with the first letter of your first name (markers)

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!  I hope you have a great rest of the day, and don't forget to check out what the rest of the DT has created!

Take care and God Bless!

~Marie~