Happy EARLY Valentine's Day from All Dressed Up Stamps!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

It's still cold and somewhat snowy here in Illinois but at least we have dodged the large sweeping heavy snow storm heading to the New England States!

The card shown is from the great digital images from All Dressed Up Digital Images Store~ There are so many to choose from!  The image I used for the New Release on the 7th is called "Hugs"-so appropriate don't you think?  It is mounted on a A6 card and that gave me lots of room to stack papers and embellishments/dies/and stamps from my scraping stash.

Hope to see you in one of our Challenges that start on the 15th of each month.

 Love, Carolyn

Sweet Valentine using Sherri Baldy's Img 5281

It's that Special time of year when our thoughts
turn to our loved ones and those that are near and dear to our hearts.  Love comes in may forms and I like to express my feelings to family with my cards.
Sherri Baldy makes it so easy to choose one of her digital images to use but, it also is a curse!!  Because there are so MANY to pick from in her Bestie Shop.  This cutie is Img 5281 from the Sweet Lil' Things collection.  Just makes me feel like Spring is right around the corner!  I used the same beige distressed polka dot paper on the angled corner as in the inside of the card.  Metal butterfly has a Baker's Twine bow on the top.  There's an Echo Park sentiment block on the inside greeting.
Be sure and check out The Besties Shop for Your Valentine image-she has so many! 

REmember there's a Challenge over at Color It Create It Show It Off! ATG

Hurray!!  I think Spring is on it's way and over at Color It Create It Show It Off, we are celebrating with many of Sherri Baldy's creations!  She is busy filling up the Shop's shelves with all types of flowers, bunny, and Springtime creations.
This is a reminder that CICISIO has a Challenge here that hopefully will inspire you to add your image to the group and hopefully you will be the lucky winner of a Sherri Baldy image!

On my card today, I'm using Violet Valentine and she can be found in the store here.  I love these digital images-they're so eclectic and quirky that they are a joy to color!  I used fun Spring colors, lace, and dimensional, glossy covered hearts to make this creation.  On the inside, a bright pink stripe with another heart-great card for a friendship exchange-many ways to go with that stamped saying! 
 Hope to see you over at the Challenge and Good Luck to You all!

I'm getting me some Froggin' LUV--From Lacy Sunshine!

 The Theme for this month at Lacy Sunshine Stamps is all about Luvvvvvv!  The image that I was given so generously for my individual post is called Froggin' Molly and it just gives me the giggles!  It's such an adorable image, full of cuteness, fresh colors (trying to follow in our pink/red/purple color scheme), and I think, a LOVE for frogs hehe.









I used a light green plaid for the background, a fun, Spring like flower print for the mat, and the delightful image created by our Founding artist and owner, Heather Valentin was colored in Copic markers-my favorite go-to.  From the grosgrain pink ribbon I dangled an enameled green flower charm.  On the inside of the card, I used a bright frog paper with a Happy Birthday Greeting.
I invite you all to visit the Lacy Sunshine Stamps site so that you can see the multitude of various images that are available for your selection!  You won't be disappointed!

Lacy Sunshine is allll about LUV this month!

This week is all about LUVVVVV at Lacy Sunshine and we all have it in spades I'm telling you!  Focusing on pinks, reds, and purples--the colors of Passion--we began to make our creations.  I'm using  Foxglove E Enchantress and by chance, it is one of my favorite flowers...BUT one I simply can't get to grow no matter how hard I try!!!  Every year..I keep on trying...now it's just a running joke between my daughter and I.  SO, at least this way, I CAN grow this beautiful flower into my card.
I like to focus on the image so she is definitely a larger size (the beauty of digitals from Heather Valentin, creator of Lacy Sunshine) on a 6x6 card blank by The Paper Cut.  Their product is so smooth and a good weight!  I matted her with a bright pink mini polkadot cardstock and used paper lace made by a friend, thanks Pam, to trim around the edges.  I got quite a variety from her a couple years ago-she makes it by cutting strips of cardstock, using straight punches down both sides-2 different patterns.  Then when you need it you just trim to fit your creation!  It lays flat and makes it so feminine.  A sentiment and buttons trim off the front. On the inside, I used a multi-hued shimmery paper, paper heart and a great sentiment for any loved one.
NOW, the true confession is that this wasn't my first card--you know the saying about making lemonade out of lemons?  Driving home from work, I'm planning on getting my card posted, ready for the launch...when my sub-conscious kicks in and alerts me that I've used the wrong color combination...just doing what felt good with the image.  I will show you that card also because it IS adorable AND it shows the versatility of the image and how it takes on a whole different personality with different colors.

The beauty is that now I have 2 cards to share with loved ones and that is a good thing.  When coloring it, I'd made an error that couldn't be removed so I added the white Frantage as a "ruffle". 
Guess the thought is that when you do make mistakes, don't let it get you down and bummed out!  Find a way to cover it up and "enhance" the end result--no one will ever know, unless you spill the beans!  Thanks for stopping by and here's to LUV!

WORDS of LOVE from Doodle Pantry-new release!

Oh where did January go???? Before you know it , it will be time for Valentine's Day and at Doodle Pantry, Laurie is ready to wow you with her varied choices!  This collection is called Words of Love and features 3 different combinations of these romantic words and they form a heart when you click to remove the background.  Perfect!!  and I just LOVE the polkadot background papers!  Again, you are seeing my love for this favorite color combo, teal and purple~so much fun. The sentiments that are on the inside and out are also included in her huge set.  You can always be sure that you will get so many different elements with Laurie, you almost feel like it's a steal when you purchase it.  I love the ability to use the solids as mats!  The 6 new products today are marked down 25% JUST FOR TODAY!!  Shop today to get a great deal!

Squigglefly is looking for Square Cards-Easy Peasy!

  

  The challenge this week is Square Pegs! Please create a square shaped card this week.  We'd love for you to use a Squigglefly image, to be prize eligible it's required, but everyone is welcome to play along.

Now, MY contribution to the"squarish" card LOOKS like a square card but it has a surprise.  I'm using the Squigglefly image called Love is in the Air by  Lynne Stansbery.  It's a great swirly image with open hearts as you can see! I accented the movement lines some Icicle Stickles.  This design was placed on a "Reverse Explosion Card" Blank by The Paper Cut.  I used the Wild Cherry color-perfect for Valentine's Day!  These are great pre-scored card blanks so it takes all the measuring and intricate scoring out of your hands~perfect!  I also used 2 acrylic hearts as accents with pink baby ric-rac threaded through one of them.  A clear sentiment sticker is in the bottom corner, leaving plenty of room for your own personal note.

Come and play with us at Squigglefly on our weekly Challenge-You have until Monday when the winner will be announced!  See you there!

RED & PINK Challenge at Squigglefly this week! Can you say Valentine's Day?

 What an adorable image to use for this great pre-Valentine's Day RED & PINK Challenge at my favorite Site- Squigglefly!!  The image is from Cheryl Alger's great collection and is called A Big Heart.  I just love coloring her designs!
I tried something new this time--striping the shirt instead of making it solid-I really like the effect.  Mounted it on pink paper and then onto the bed of red roses paper.  Because he was tall and narrow when I got done, I decided to create a little interest by narrowing the front flap of the card so that the "love sayings" paper would show through to the front.  It's by MMBI called Love greetings and could be used for so many card ideas.  I stamped HVD on a pink insert with enough room for a siggy and a personal thought.  I hope all of you are sharing your love thoughts with those that you care about!  Thanks for looking!
Carolyn
I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

• Show Me Thursday
• Sassy Cheryl's Challenge Blog-anything but a Square

Monkey Love & Eye Balls--What a Combination for a Valentine Card!

Well, since this evening is a bust with the Super Bowl, I'm getting some cards done!  (Can't tell who I was rooting for right?)  This is completely a cased card that a friend showed me and I had to try it!  It involved those "googily eyes" that you seem to always have left over from say Halloween cards or monster cards for kids.  Well I had several of those, so I made this Fun card!  I used the Sizzix heart dies that I'd not opened yet to cut 2 different hearts out of a layer of kraft and Monkey love paper.  Then on the inside I applied all the eyeballs and stamped Happy Valentine's Day.  Maybe you will find some around your craft room and try this too!  Have Fun!!

Show Your Love/Hearts to Squigglefly this week!

  The challenge this week is Have A Heart, Please! Please use a heart on your card somewhere.  This could be a heart inside your image, a heart embellishment, diecut hearts, heart printed ribbon, heart paper, heart brad, or even a heart shaped card! Show us your hearts.  You are welcome to  make a Valentine, but as the Hobbyists show you in their examples, you don't have to have a Valentine theme. We'd love for you to use a Squigglefly image, to be prize eligible it's required, but everyone is welcome to play along.

For this Challenge, I used a Pammie Lehto image called Will You Bee Mine? Isn't it just perfect for Valentine's Day?  I've had this 2-sided paper I've been wanting to use with some of her Bee images called "Bee's Knees" by Echo Park; so on the inside I used the opposite side with blue background and bees flying all around and added a yellow Top Note insert for sentiment.
Remember this coming weekend, there will be a new release of images in the Squigglefly Shop so check them out.  There's lots of Valentine images and sentiments already and, who knows, there may be more with the release!!  Come play along with us and win an image if your entry is chosen!

Love Theme is the newest Hambo Challenge at the Hoedown!

Hambo's challenge for Hoedown #142 is to create a project with a LOVE theme - sentiments or images that show love (thinking more romantic love here than a child/parent love.) Your image could be totally random but tie it in with a sentiment, or vice versa.  

Since I'm trying to rest my "tweaked" knee, I can still find some time to color up some fun images from Hambo for the contest!  This image is called Snow Heart and is a favorite of mine. I love combining kraft paper and Anything! This image comes with several sentiments, 2 of which I used here.  I used a snowflake punch in the corner thinking I'd like it to go all the way through.  But instead, decided to back the punch with some more kraft. That's where I placed my handmade stamp.  I used the remaining white punch as an accent under the sentiment. Thanks for looking and have fun playing!