Dustin Pike blog hop and challenge

I am lovin' how easy it is to use digital images and Dustin Pike is one of my favorite artists that creates digis. The little dragon I used in this card is an example of the super cuteness of his designs!! Dustin had a blog hop yesterday to help lauch his new challenge blog and a new group of images that will be released later this week. The challenge was to use any DP image to create a Valentine card. So here is mine!

I used an old sketch from Splitcoaststampers for my layout....had to work quickly cuz Kyli was napping...and some scraps of SU designer papers. That cute little heart corner punch was still sitting out on my table from one of last week's projects, so I used it again here. The dragon image is colored with Copic markers with a little glitter added to his wings. A couple of blings down the side and it's done! Thanks for stopping in a taking  a peek!

Before I go, I want to let you know what is going on over at Totally Stampalicious! They are having a sale this week....all stamp sets are 15% off with a free digi download with purchase. This will include the two new sets that are going to be released on Friday! Be sure to check back here and at Totally Stampalicious on Friday to see the cute new sets!!

Still very cold here. We had no power at the school this morning when I got there and we herded all the kids into the cafeteria where the back up generator provided them with heat, lights, restrooms, and breakfast. Of course, they were excited that they didn't have class.....until the power came back on!! Then back to grind stone we went!! They say it will likely happen again tomorrow....hurry Spring!!!

Some cards for the St. Jude's card drive

Kyli fell asleep while we were watching Finding Nemo..actually I nodded off a little, too. She was on my lap, so I eased out from under her and ran off to the stamp room for a little bit. I finished up a couple more cards and got a photo taken while it's bright and sunny outside....not even 40 degrees, but very sunny. I used some pup and kitty images that I have had stamped and colored for years. These stamps were some of the very first ones I owned. Very inexpensive from JoAnn.com. The papers are from Stampin' Up! and called Candy Lane. The border punch is from Martha Stewart. The scallops around the center puppy image was done by punching 1/2" circles from scraps of chocolate chip card stock. Added some blings and heart stickers to some of the cards. I hope to get a few more made up. Winter is collecting cards until the end of January. If you want to help her get the cards she needs for her card drive, you can jump to her blog by using the link on the previous post or the linked badge near the top of my blog page.

Cards for St. Jude's

Good Sunday morning to all! As I type this, I have my sweet Kyli on my lap. She was wanting some snuggle time before we eat breakfast, so I thought I'd take a couple of minutes to post this before my weekend is gone. I followed one blog to another blog the other day and came across Winter's blog. Winter is doing a Valentine's Day card drive in celebration of her blogaversary this month. I have a couple of cards finished to help her with her drive, but don't have any photos yet. But I really wanted to help get the word out and help Winter with her cause. I know it will mean a lot to the children at St. Jude's when they open all the wonderful cards she will take to them next month.
I know I almost always have more cards than I have recipients at the end of a holiday, so why not send those extras to Winter to take to these children? It's amazing to me how many children are served by St. Jude's and other hospitals for sick children. Way too many!!!
Well, it's 19 degrees here this morning! One of the news anchors this morning had the perfect word to describe this weather for Florida....obscene!!! Yes, obscene is the perfect word. I know we aren't as cold as the rest of the country, but this is Florida. We are not supposed to be this cold!! Kenny has to go outside and get the cows some water because their water trough is frozen and they are just licking the top of the ice trying to get some hydration!! But it's a perfect day for card making and crafting!! Happy stamping, all!!

Baby Safari Flip Book

I made two flip books last weekend when I went to play at Priceless. I am finally getting to post the second one! This one is for my friend's daughter who is expecting a boy.

This is the cover. I used a brad that matched the papers and piece of crafter's floss from Darice to make the closure instead of using ribbon. I think I will add a couple of safari-like beads to the end of the twine. The papers I used are by Imaginisce and have brads and dimensional stickers, stamps, and glitzy stickers to go with them....very cute! Below are pics of the inside pages.

 

And here is a photo of the book standing as if on display. One of the things I love about these little books is how they can be put on display when not in transit.

Thanks for stopping in. I started working on some Valentines, but Kyli is here now and all stamping and crafting has stopped until she leaves tomorrow afternoon. I will definitely be teaching her about stamps and paper as soon as she is old enough!

Totally Stampalicious Sketch Challenge

Time for another sketch challenge over at the Totally Stampalicious blog and I actually got to play fairly early in the week. I actually got this done as soon as it was posted, but I've been so busy with family and work stuff that I didn't get a chance to post my submission until now. There is a whole month of fun stuff going on over at TS this month, so hop over and check them out. They have some super cute stamp sets and wait til you see what they have in works for a new release coming up very soon!!! Here is this week's sketch.

 

I kept my card rather simple...pretty difficult for me! I used the Snowmen set and colored the image with Copic markers. I used  a retired Stampin' Up! snowflake punch and punched the snowflakes in both colors of blue card stock and layered them slightly offset from each other. Then I coated both of them with chunky glitter...of course! The base of the card is Whisper White card stock from Stampin' Up! and the other colors are from the scrap bin and are non-SU.

Thanks for stopping in!!

Girly Flipbook

I want to update on Zack Jones for those of you who may know him or his mother, Sue Jones. There has been no significant change in Zack's condition but they are beginning the process of taking him off the medication that has kept him heavily sedated and weaning him off the life support in hopes that his body will take over the process. It is also hoped that he will regain consciousness soon after the meds have cleared his system. Any prayers for Zack and his family would be greatly appreciated as his prognosis is still completely unknown to the doctors. He is being moved to the neurology department of the hospital, one of the best in the country. He is in the best human hands possible, and in God's hands as well.

I spent an enjoyable day at Priceless Scrapbooks yesterday. It was actually a productive day for me!! I managed to complete two flipbooks for my friend Debbie's daughters who are both expecting babies soon. The oldest girl is expecting a girl in February and so I worked on her book first.
This book was made using Bazill card stock and a paper stack from K and Co. along with some of the available matching embellishments. I very pleased with how this book turned out. I really struggle with the brighter colors when I'm trying to work with them, but I love the results. I uploaded the instructions to make these books on Splitcoaststampers a couple of years ago and they can be found here.  The directions are posted in a Word document in the first two posts of the thread. If  you are already familiar with the flip books and only need the  measurements, another SCSer was very sweet and converted the instructions to a PDF document and posted it as an attachment in post 39 found at the bottom of the same page.

Girly Magnolia Valentine

Before I tell you about today's card, I want to let those of you who know my dear friend, Sue Jones, know that Sue and her husband are at Shand's Hospital with their son Zack. Zack and my son, Robbie, are the same age, so when something happens to one of them it really hits home with both of us. Zack was in an accident involving a 4-wheeler and is in ICU at the hospital. He does not have any physical damage to his body, but it is feared that he may have some brain injury. They have put him into a coma-like state and they really won't know anything until he comes out of it in about three days. Please pray for Zack, Sue, and rest of the family as they deal with another tragic accident involving Zack and motor vehicle. It was just a few years ago that he was in a single car accident that nearly claimed his life. His recovery from that accident was nothing short of a miracle. I pray that God's grace will spare Zack a second time!

This cute image came to me via Bonnie, Sue's sister, who is another dear friend and stamping buddy. I think I learned almost everything I know about stamping from Bonnie and Sue!! She had stamped out a few of these images for me while she had the loan of this image from another stampin' bud. She's just too adorable holding that frog and getting ready to pucker up!!

As you can see, I am still stuck on these easel cards! I have made two others that I can't show you yet for the mid-January release of the new Totally Stampalicious images. I used a K and Co. Valentine stack and Regal Rose and Chocolate Chip card stock. The corner accents were made using the new corner punch by Stampin' Up! The brown lacey trim is a sticker trim also made by K and Co. I made the flowers by punching two sizes of hearts from card stock and then mounting them on a circle of card stock to form the flower. That all started when I had to come up with some sort of embellishment to cover the huge glob of ink that dumped from my Copic marker right on her shoe!! It was disastrous!!! Added a blingy center each of the flowers and a little glitter gel pen on her wings and crown.  I think this will be my Valentine card for Kyli this year.

Well, thanks for stopping in and I hope that each of you has a wonderful 2010!!! Please keep Sue and her family in prayer!!