Love, Noah

Here it is Tuesday and another challenge is starting at Sassy Cheryl's.  This week it is all about the hearts.   Working on getting all my Valentine cards finished and off in the mail next week.  This week Noah Is All Ears and blowing you a super sweet Valentine Kiss.  Isn't he the cutest thing in his Mickey Mouse Ears.

I love him and Sally dressed up like Mickey and Minnie.  I bought them in digital version and when Cheryl came out with them in rubber, I snatched them up.   So glad I did because they are no longer available in rubber.

I have been playing with my Elizabeth Crafts Glitter and stickers .  This heart is the negative portions of the positive outline heart stickers.  You use a transfer sheet to apply the left over portions of the heart and transfer it to the glitter paper.  That way you can get 2 hearts from each heart sticker - too pretty to waste any little speck of these.  I made the glitter background with the EC two sided adhesive papers and her marvelous super fine glitter in True Red.  Want more details, check out El's tutorials on You Tube.

Sassy Cheryl's Challenges are going to last for two weeks starting with today's challenge.  This week starts the "hearts" challenge and you will have two weeks to enter.  The design team will continue to post new Sassy Cheryl cards weekly on their personal blogs to give you some weekly inspiration, but you will have more time to make your project and enter it.  Check the blog here for the new schedule.  While you are there check out all the lovely hearts the design team has come up with.

So grab your Sassy Cheryl here and get busy with your design.  No excuses now, you have two whole weeks to complete your project!

I Love You This Much

Full Front View

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Closeup

Back View

Closed for mailing

Good Tuesday morning to you all!  It's Sassy Cheryl's Challenge Day.  Nela is our hostess this week and she is challenging us to NOT BE SQUARE.  I have been seeing all of these box cards on Pinterest and this was the perfect opportunity to give it a try.  The boxes are so cool.  They fold up last (see image above) to slide in the envelope.  Then when the recipient pulls it out it pops open into a box.  Here is a link to the tutorial I followed http://www.serenestamper.com/2014/01/card-in-box-valentine.html.  

How about that cutie patootie in the middle?  His name is "Come On Get Happy" and he lives at Sassy Cheryl's Digi Store.  He is one of Cheryl's newer digis and I have seen him used in so many cards on the internet, he must be her most popular character.  When I saw him I knew he would be perfect for a Valentines Card.  When my children were tiny we used to play the I Love You This Much Game.  They would stretch out their little arms and say I love you this much Mommy.  So here is my take on my Mommy Memory.  Cami and Jimmy, guess what?  Mommy still loves you tttttttthhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiissssssssss much!  Muwah.

Now what shape can you come up with this week.  We would love to have you join us in our Sassy Cheryl challenge.  There is a prize of two Sassy Cheryl Digis awarded to the winner.  Want some inspiration to get those creative juices flowing?  Check out the dynamite creations the rest of the design team has come up with.  Just click here and you will be directed to the Challenge Blog.

Card Recipe

IO, McGill, Creative Memories heart punches

McGill Envelope punch

Coloring Medium - Copics

Papers all from my stash

Bakers Twine

Distress Ink  Black Soot - Tim Holtz

I would also like to enter this card in the 4 Crafty Chicks Challenge - Anything Goes

Go Sochi Team USA

It's time to show your pearls at Sassy Cheryl's.  Jasmina is the hostess this week and pearls are her challenge request.  Anyone who knows Jasmina's style knows she is frilly, feminine and pearly!  I happen to love them myself, so I found a way to use them on the USA Flagpole.  See the closeup pic above.

How do you like "Pure Joy"?  She is Cheryl's new digi and I fell in love the minute I saw her.  I envisioned her for a celebration card initially.  But now I have seen her used on so many other cards and her possibilities are endless.  She is definitely one you will want in your library because of her precious smile, leaping legs and versatility.  When I downloaded her, I showed my hubby and asked him what he thought I should do with her.  He immediately said "The Olympics".  Now that thought had not even crossed my mind, but I knew he was right.  It was something different for me to try and gets me out of my safe spot.

I Googled the Olympics and found this picture and thought it would make a nice background for Miz Pure Joy.  I colored her with Copic markers, fussy cut her and popped her up on foam tape.  The star brad was from my stash.  I popped some tiny little pearls on the flag pole and wallah!  The silver border stickers are from Elizabeth Crafts.

Basically CAS but I liked it.  My hubby is right again.  I am getting used to it.  He is my best critic and coach.  We make a good team.  He won't make cards, but he does like being an adviser.

So find some pearls or pearl stickles and make yourself a Sassy card.  If you enter and win our challenge this week, you will win 2 free digis from Sassy Cheryl's shop.  You can't win if you don't enter.  The winner is chosen at random so don't be afraid to give it a try.  Click here and you will be taken to the Sassy Cheryl Challenge Blog.  Check out my Design Team Sistahs to see what they created.  They rock, I promise.

Thanks for popping in and looking at my creations.  Please feel free to leave a comment for me.  I love reading them.

Hugs,

Linda Compton

Skating On Not So Thin Ice

It is Tuesday and that means a new challenge has been posted over at Sassy Cheryl's.  We have announced the winner for last weeks challenge and that means some lucky person gets to go shopping in the Sassy Cheryl Digi store.  Was it you?  Did you enter the challenge last week?  You know you can't win if you don't play.  This week we want to see BLUE.  I chose Wind In My Hair for this weeks challenge.   I have had my eye on him ever since Cheryl introduced him to the store.  He reminds me of a character out of a Hans Christian Anderson book.

I tried a new technique this week.  I used a dryer sheet and glitter to create a soft snowy background.  I also decided to create a mirror image of the trees to give the appearance of a frozen pond.  I had so much fun doing this scene and it went amazingly fast.  After that I only had to color my image, fussy cut him out and pop him into the scene with foam dots.   I found the mirror technique on Pintrest.  Here's a link to the one I used.  Here is another link demonstrating the dryer sheet and glitter technique.  Both are easy and fun to do and the tutorials are easy to follow.

I popped up a fence panel to both sides of my card  to add dimension to the card.  I wanted to put my skater on a wobble to create more interactive fun, but the wobble was larger than my image, so no wobbling for me on this card.

I hope you are enjoying this winter a bit more that you did last week.  It seems like weather conditions have improved a great deal from last week.  When I want to complain, I just remember those 100+ degree summer days.  I would much rather bundle up to stay warm.  You can only take so many layers of clothes off to get cool and the older I get the less layers I have to courage to shed.  LOL

Now pop on over to Sassy Cheryl's Challenge Blog and see what the rest of my Design Teammates have created for you.  While you are there, follow the links to their individual blogs and leave them some love too.  We all thrive on seeing what everyone thinks for our creations.

Have a Great Week and Happy Crafting,

Linda

An Afternoon Classic

Brrrrr.   Is it cold outside or what?  I live in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and we are having 18 degree (Fahrenheit) temperatures.  Now that is COLD.  The weatherman assures us it is temporary.  It should be back up to 70 degrees in a couple of days.  Now that is what I call winter.  A nice  cool 70 degree day is what I love about living in the south.

So what's a gal to do on a cold winter day?  Curl up with a good book, a bowl of chips , and a snuggle with your legged buddy sounds like fun.  Throw in a nap and wallah,  perfection!   That must be why this precious  image chose me this week.  Would you like to make "An Afternoon Classic" your very own?  Just click here and you will be directed to the Sassy Cheryl's store where you can purchase it and many other adorable digital stamps.   If I could throw a warm quilt over Sally's legs and feet this scene would be perfect.

The papers are from Authentique.  The pearls and flowers are from my stash.  I used a Valentine Flourish Die from Impression Obsession to embellish my card.  I cut pieces of the flourishes to frame the card and the heart was used inside on the sentiment.  Sorry no picture of the inside so just use your imagination.  It was spectacular.  LOL  The lacy rectangle die is from Spellbinders, the heart in the picture is from a very old punch, the picture frame was made by cutting a window pane from a window die I have.

Now it is your turn.  Pop on over to Sassy Cheryl's store and grab yourself a perfect little digi or two or three and create your own masterpiece.  Need some inspiration?  Pop over to the Sassy Cheryl Challenge Blog and see what my oh-so-talented design teammates created this week.   Remember it is "Anything Goes" week so you are only limited by your own imagination.

Happy Crafting and Stay Warm,

Linda

Challenges I plan to enter this card in:

Make It Monday-Always Anything Goes

A Rose Is A Rose

Black on Black

White on Gray

White on White

These are the cards I will be featuring in my class Thursday, January 9, 2014 at Scrapbooks By The Sea. I saw these rose stamps from Impression Obsession at  SBTS and immediately remembered a white and vellum card I had seen on Pinterest.  I knew the beautiful lines in the stamp would be perfect stamped on vellum and embossed with white EP.  You really can't see my sentiment on the white card, so  I have decided to change it to white on vellum. The cards are already on display so I can't take a picture of the change in sentiment for you.

The black card is pretty edgy.   It may not be for everyone.  I think it would make a great sympathy card or a birthday card, perhaps the dreaded BIG 50 ( wish I could see that one again) lol.  I used black paper instead of the vellum and clear EP.  I just noticed that the pearl in the upper right corner is missing.  Drats, I hate when that happens.

The gray on white card is just a combination of the two.  I was having so much fun with this beautiful stamp that I could have made in all the colors of the rainbow.  All of the stamps are from Impression Obsession .  I have stamped them with Versa Mark and then heat embossed with white embossing powder.

 AFTER I MADE  my black card, I went on Pinterest and saw a black on black card pinned by Lynn Wright, one of my friends here in Myrtle Beach.  I had to laugh because she had pinned a card made by one of my dear talented blogging buddies, Tammy from Tammy's Spot.  I looked for it in Tammy's archives and found that she had posted this card way back in on July 16, 2011.  I commented on her card at the time and here is the copy of my comment. 

 Linda said...

Love Love Love the black one. So elegant.

July 17, 2011 at 2:04 PM .  

 I really must have been impressed with the card.  It stayed in my subconscious and I didn't even remember it.  Holy cow Tammy, you really have gotten in my head girlfriend.  I told you I loved your style..  I did like the way she did her sentiment, so I decided to case that.  My original was a plain rectangle so I pulled out my hole punch and punched the corners for some interest.   Whatcah think Tammy?

Well I have babbled long enough.  I am off to bed.  It is COLD COLD COLD here in Myrtle Beach but we don't have any snow.  Going to pull out the flannel, fuzzy socks and extra blankets for sure tonight.  If you have snow and bad weather where you are, just put on your sweats and fuzzy socks and craft away.  Cold weather sharpens the ole' brain you know.  Tomorrow just might be the day to start  that project that stretches your creativity.

Happy Crafting,,

Linda

Sparkle & Shine, It's Birthday Time

Front

Second Flap

Inside

Let me introduce you to Pogo Joe the Snowman.  He lives over at Sassy Cheryl's Digi Store with Snowy, Max, Maddie and all the other neighborhood kids.  I needed a birthday card for someone special and the pogo stick will make this card quite personal.  I don't want to go into the whole story since I haven't mailed this card out yet and don't want to spoil the surprise for the recipient

Before printing the card I turned the image in 3 positions.  Straight up, falling over to the right and falling down.  I know I have a sick sense of humor, but so does the recipient.  I designed the card to have a left flap  which shows the upright snowman.  When you open the left flap you see the snowman beginning to fall on the right flap,.  When the right flap is opened the snowman has fallen in the snow.

I colored with Copics and sponged the sky with a light blue and violet inks.  The snow was made by gluing Diamond Dust onto the paper.  DD is sparkly and beautiful to look at, but it is sharp to the touch.  You wouldn't want to use this on a children's card.   I think I will pad it before I put it in the envelope for mailing. This card is for male so I left off my ribbons and embellishments.  I couldn't help but put 4 little rhinestones in each corner.  Guys like a bit of bling too don't they?  The top of the card is folded down and border punched with EK Success Bubble punch.  The sentiment is cut with an Elizabeth Crafts Die.

The card was quick and simple but it does look very sparkly and should bring a smile to that certain someone.   So let's see what Sparkle and Shine you can add to a Sassy Cheryl Stamp or Digi and post in our Sparkle and Shine Challenge.  Winner gets 2 digis from Cheryl's store.  Need more inspiration?  Click here to see the beauties my DT has come up with this week.

Y'all have a  Happy New Year.  We are staying home and watching the ball drop on TV.  Way beyond the party scene, but we will have a drink and a smooch at midnight.  How about you, what are you going to do tonight to celebrate?

Just received a News Flash from the Boss Lady herself.  Cheryl is having a New Years sale. When you spend $15.00 or more, you will receive 50% off of the entire order!  Now is that a way to ring in the New Year or what.  Don't wait to shop, this offer is only good until midnight January 1, 2014.   EST

Flowers for You

Oh my look at Old Calvin.  He has some flowers for someone.  Wonder who his sweetie is?  He is so debonair.  He can bring you some flowers if you click here.  He will pop right over from the Make It Crafty store to your house.  Check out his friends while you are there.  You will also find the most amazing backgrounds to fulfill your every coloring dream.

I had some free time and the need to color now that the Christmas to do list is finished.  I belong to the Make It Crafty FB group and their sister blog, Make It Colorful.   I like this group because it challenges you to expand your coloring skills. The gals there give you constructive criticism (if you ask) and help you to master coloring.  I decided to combine both group's challenges with my card.  FB challenge for December is a sketch and Make It Colorful wants to see red and green.    

Their are two levels to the Make It Colorful Challenge -easy and hard.  This month hard challenge is to add texture.  I drew a pattern in his tie and pants for texture.  I also used my blender pen to add texture to his slippers.  

Make It Crafty FB Group is having a DT call too.  The call ends December 31, but if you hustle you can still enter.

Card Recipe

Coloring Medium - Copics

Paper - Cryogen White Iridescent; The Paper Studio's Bella Bohemia Collection.

Flowers, ribbon and pearls from my stash

Leaves - Spellbiners Dies

The Holy Family Leaves Bethlehem

Open View

Closed View

Whew look at me 3 posts this week.  I am so excited to be sharing some of the cards I have been making lately.  I am teaching classes at my LSS and haven't posted any of the cards.  Since my classes are finished for the year I am taking some time seeing what is going on in bloggy land.  I found that this card will meet the Challenge at Mo's which is to post your  "Favorite Mo's Card I Made This Year".  I am going to join in the fun at Mo's today.

My image is a stamp I bought at Scrapbooks By The Sea.  It is one of Mo's that Penny Black is selling.  It is called Leaving Bethlehem.  I used a Sizzix pop-up card base to cut it out.  I liked how the base allows the image to stand up and be displayed.  

The papers are from  Little Yellow Bicycle 25 Days of Christmas collection.  They have a beautiful shine and weight for this type of card.  They are so beautiful you don't need any embellishments  I used two pieces of paper for this card and used the flip side of each.  The red snowflake has a red back and the embossed strip on the front of the card shows that.  The gold print and the word paper are flip sides of the same sheet.  I also used this for the sentiment and image mats.

The dies are Spellbinders;  embossing folder from Cuttlebug;  sentiment from Penny Black's Seasons Wishes;  satin ribbon from my stash;  and coloring medium is Copic markers.

I 'm off to see what other challenges I can find for my stash of cards.  Take care of your health during this busy time of year.  Did you know it is a proven fact that coloring is a tremendous stress reduction.  So girlfriend, get coloring and tell anyone interrupting you not to "poke the bear"!

Peace and Love Ya'll!

Deck The Halls

It has been a long time since I posted any House Mouse cards on my blog.  That doesn't mean that I haven't been making them.  In fact I taught a couple of classes featuring House Mouse Christmas stamps at Scrapbooks By The Sea.  This is one of my favorites.  I am going to enter it in the current House Mouse and Friends Monday Challenge.  The challenge is to use gold or silver.  I think I spot a bit of gold on this one, don't you?

This stamp is called Deck the Halls and  I got it at Scrapbooks By The Sea.  I colored  the card with Copic markers, but I used some Prisma and Faber Castell colored pencils to highlight the branches.  The paper is from Graphic 45 12 Days of Christmas collection.  Don't you just love this plaid.  I swear I think my Mom sewed a dress for me using this same print when I was a little girl.  LOL.

The die is a Spellbinder Nestabilities.  The gold edges are stickers from Elizabeth Crafts.  I also used them as hangers on the inside.  The ornament punch is from Stampin Up.  The sentiment stamp is from my stash and I am sorry, but do not know the maker.  I stamped with Versamark and used Gold Detail embossing powder and heat embossed.  The inside border punch is from Martha Stewart.

There are only 5 more days until the Big Guy in the Red Suit slides down your chimney.  Are you ready?  No?  Me either, but I am almost there.  It is down to the baking.  This is the time of year when my  Big Guy gets his knuckles slapped with the spatula.  There is something about turning the mixer on that brings him out to the kitchen.  He loves to taste and I love to slap his knuckles.  LOL.  I have to freeze everything immediately or it won't last until Christmas.  Jimmy takes his job as the official taster quite seriously.

Wishing you and yours a very safe and blessed holiday season.

Hugs Linda