Kaboodle Doodle Sketch Challenge

Kaboodle Doodle not only has some really cute digital papers, they have a fun challenge each week and this week it's a sketch challenge. Here is my card using some of their fun paper!

Last night Sabrina and Carol came over to stamp. As always, we had lots of fun both creating and socializing. My stamp room is a bit crowded (need to move my looms out to make some more table room), but we had a grand time. Here's some of what got made (my Mojo Monday card got posted last night).

Sabrina's Creation


Carol's Creation



A colaborative effort


My creation

Thanks so much for visiting. Don't forget to enter to win my celebration blog candy by leaving a comment on THIS POST.

~chris

A Proud member of The Lime Light
Come visit us and see what we've been up to.

Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge

I always look forward to Julee's Mojo Monday challenge. That I am actually getting it done is nothing short of a miracle though! The Monday night gals are here and are inspiring me!

Recipe
Stamps: Petal Pizzazz
Paper: Kraft, Choc. Chip, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Parisian Breeze
Ink: Baja Breeze
Accessories: punches, brads, ribbon, butterfly from my adventures beading in AK

Be sure to check out the blog candy on the post below and get your comment in for a chance to win!

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

A Proud member of The Lime Light
Come visit us and see what we've been up to.

Dual Challenge Card and some B-Day Cards

I combined a couple of challenges in this first card - Taylor's sketch challenge and this week's Color Throwdown. I used some of Taylor's little gems on this card too - always love to add bling!






Recipe:
Stamps: In My Thoughts
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Regal Rose, Choc. Chip, Lemon Tart, Vellum
Ink: Choc. Chip
Accessories: ribbon, bling, brads, punches, scallop circle nestie





Next up, two birthday cards for our February famiily celebrations today. The first is for my ddl who shares her b-day with Valentine's Day. The second is for my dh's ex.


Recipe
Stamps: SU sentiment
Paper: Whisper White, Pure Poppy, Basic Black. stash dp
Ink: Basic Black, real red marker
Accessories: punches, Pure Poppy ribbon


Recipe
Stamps: SU sentiment
Paper: Kraft, Choc. Chip, Baja Breeze, Parisian Breeze
Ink: Baja Breeze
Accessories: brad, Mike's $1 ribbon, cb embossing folder

It will be a busy day today, but hopefully I'll be back later with the promised blog candy. I'm hoping to reach 15k hits on my blog this week and that will be even more cause for celebration and for a little extra addition to the blog candy should it actually happen!

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

A Proud member of The Lime Light
Come visit us and see what we've been up to.

A few stragglers

These are the very last of this year's Valentines. It was a pretty good year for v-day cards this year, got quite a few made and distributed!



I know, more red, white and black - I think I'm almost done with that color combo for awhile, but it sure was fun while it lasted! The other card was done with some digital paper that I downloaded and just love from Oscraps called O Escape Collaborations. I didn't want to hide it, so I embossed some vellum. I'm thinking I need to find some vanilla or ivory collored vellum for papers like this one.

Well, the v-day card making event went well in spite of forgetting some key items - like a stamp set - but everyone had a wonderful time and got to really tap into their creativity!

The twins and the new baby (well new to me - hes nearly 3 months now) were here for a couple hours so mom (it's her b-day today) and dad could have a few hours of kid-free time. Needless to say, I'm wiped out and am heading to bed a bit early. Tomorrow we have our Feb. celebrations dinner here. Lots of b-days and anniversaries this month and I'll have a couple of cards for those in the morning.

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

p.s. I have not spaced out the blog candy - just to busy and tired. Maybe Monday as I have the day off and I can get to work on it!

A Proud member of The Lime Light
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Doubledog Dare Challenge

Making my usual blurfing rounds today, Joanne (Sleepy in Seattle) posted this Doubledog Dare Challenge to make a humorous card. I've had these stamps from There She Goes - LOL Taglines - and have not inked them up yet. I decided it was about time! Here's my card:


I had the polka dots out from my Courtney's Closet card and I've really been in a red, black and white frame of mind lately! What do you think?

Recipe
Stamps: LOL Taglines from There She Goes
Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, Basic Black, Polka Dots by PTI
Ink: Basic Black, red marker
Accessories: tag punch, brad, SU ribbon

Thanks for visiting.

~chris

A Proud member of The Lime Light
Come visit us and see what we've been up to.

Courtney does it again!

This gal has the best wardrobe ... take a look at this cute outfit - isnt' she just adorable!

Here's my card inspired by her adorable little dress.

Recipe
Stamps: Eastern Blooms, sentiment from Hero Arts
Paper: Real Red, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, Polka Dots by PTI
Ink: Real Red
Accessories: brads, Spellbinders leaf die, punches, ribbon (SU)

Lots of running around to do today - hopefully Mr. Brown will come as well! Tonight is our Valentine's workshop and I'll try to take some pictures to share with you tomorrow.

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

A Proud member of The Lime Light
Come visit us and see what we've been up to.

Downline slideshow

Here's a slideshow of all of our swaps and make and takes from last night's downline meeting. As always, a grand time was had by all. I am so blessed to be a part of this group of wonderful women!

Thanks for visiting this morning! Might be back later with more ...

~chris

A Proud member of The Lime Light
Come visit us and see what we've been up to.

February Downline Swap

I gave you a sneak peek the other day, and here's the full card that I made for this month's downline meeting swap tonight.


Recipe:
Stamps: Simply Said, Holidays & Wishes, Love You Much
Paper: Real Red, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Real Red, markers
Accessories: lace edge punch, 3 hearts punch, lg. oval punch, dimensionals

I like how this card turned out. Simply Said is a wonderfully versatile set! I'll be back later tonight or early tomorrow with a slide show of all of the wonderful cards from tonight's meeting.

Thanks for visiting.

~chris

A Proud member of The Lime Light
Come visit us and see what we've been up to.

An announcement and an award!

Fellow Lime Light design team member Leah is starting a new venture. She's opening her own Etsy shop named Paper Blooms and it will carry mostly embellishments, like her crochet flowers, stick pins and lots of other fun stuff.

She is also combining her new shop with a challenge blog and has a shout out for applications for her Design Team!! She is holding an open call to add 2 more talented ladies to her team. One fabulous Designer, Jacque is already on board. Click HERE to get all the details on how you could join this new exciting design team.

Leah also nominated me for this wonderful award. Thanks so much Leah!

The rules are:

1) Say one nice thing about the man in your life:

It's hard to pick just one! He's the best thing that ever happened to me! We will celebrate 25 wonderful years together this year - yeehaw!

2) List 6 ways you measure success in your life:

• Family
• Friends
• Creativity
• Productivity
• Consciousness
• Responsibility

Now I need to nominate 5 others for this award:

• Juanita - Rubberside Down
• Allison - Stampin' When I Can
• Jessica - There She Goes
• Cheryl - God and I on the Railroad Tracks
• Joanne - Sleepy in Seattle

Well, that's it for now - 3 posts today - whew I'm exhausted! Please be sure to check out the details on the Butterfly Project and email me if you think you might want to make some butterflies!

Thanks for visiting - blog candy coming up by the end of the week to celebrate all kinds of things worth celebrating in February!

~chris

A Proud member of The Lime Light
Come visit us and see what we've been up to.

Butterfly Project

My first project for The Lime Light is making butterflies for the Butterfly Project. This is a wonderful cause that has caught the imaginations of folks all around the world. The Houston Holocaust Museum is collecting 1.5 million butterflies to include in an exhibit representing all the children who died in the Holocaust. The Lime Light Design Team is making hundreds of butterflies & we need your help to reach our goal. Please click HERE to go to the post on the Lime Light website that will give you instructions on how to participate. Click HERE to read a letter from Gracie that explains how we came to be involved in this project. If you want to make butterflies, please send me an email and we will coordinate your participation - you can cut and decorate your own, or I will send you some ready to decorate butterflies! There is a link to my email address is on the left side of this blog.

Please visit The Lime Light blog and check out some of the wonderful butterflies that we will be delivering to Houston!

Thanks for visiting!

~chris



A Proud member of The Lime Light
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Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #73

It's always a pleasure to do Julee's Mojo Monday sketch challenges. Here's my card for this week. I'm not real happy with the birthday sentiment on this one, but I'll do better next time. I'm going to use this card (sans the birthday sentiment) for this month's make and take at our downline meeting on Thursday night. Hope the girls like it!

Recipe:
Stamps: All Holidays, Warmest Regards, Boho Backgrounds, Eastern Blooms
Paper: Regal Rose, Kiwi Kiss, Raspberry Tart, Whisper White
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Regal Rose
Accessories: brads, Regal Rose ribbon, 5 petal punch

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

A Proud member of The Lime Light
Come visit us and see what we've been up to.

I love leftovers!

I love leftovers - and not just for lunch the next day either! I made a card for Joanne's challenge this past weekend and I had lots of bits and pieces of extra paper and a failed medallion and I just couldn't leave them alone. Here's the result.


This is a little 3x3 love note with parts and pieces that were laying on my table. Love notes are a favorite of mine and this one just arose from the scraps!


Here's a little sneak peek of my downline swap card for this month. I will post it on Thursday along with a slide show of everyone's cards and samples of our make and takes.

Thanks for visiting!

~chris


A Proud member of The Lime Light
Come visit us and see what we've been up to.

Monday Night Madness

Well it's Monday and the girls came over to stamp again. This week we all worked on our own separate projects. Here's the results:

My creations - my card for the
From Courtney's Closet
challenge this week:

Diane's creations:

Sabrina's creations:

As always, we had a great time. I really look forward to these Monday nights! This week I have a downline meeting on Thursday night and then a Valentine's Card workshop on Friday night. Busy week, but all fun stuff!

Thanks for visiting.

~chris

A Proud member of The Lime Light
Come visit us and see what we've been up to.

There's a new challenge in town!

My bloggy buddy Kath introduced me to a new challenge blog this weekend - The Pink Elephant Challenge! Here is Ella our hostess - isn't she adorable!


Well Ella has a challenge for us this week ... make a card using - what else - pink, black and white! How could a body resist, so I didn't. Here's my card:


Card base is Pretty in Pink. Designer paper is from PTI - isn't it gorgeous! Hearts were cut out using my heart nesties and embossed with the lovely heart from a retired SU set called Victorian Frame. Sentiment is from a SU set called Wonderful Words. Ribbon is Pretty in Pink from SU as well.

Thanks for visiting - hope you all have a wonderful week! This weekend is big for me - my ddl's birthday, v-day and my anniversary - all on the same day! Sounds like an occasion for some blog candy doesn't it? Come visit and find out!

~chris

A Proud member of The Lime Light
Come visit us and see what we've been up to.

Attention all fellow ribbon freaks!

You really need to go check out this blog candy, even if it's just to look at the picture of all the gorgeous ribbon. I loved the picture as much as the thought of winning all that ribbon. Amy rocks!

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Three Amigas Weekly Challenge

As an avid reader of Joanne's blog Sleepy in Seattle, it was great to see this challenge posted there this weekend. My favorite color combo this year for v-day cards - black, white and red! Here's the card I made for this challenge:



I love this dp from PTI - striking patterns every one! I think this one and the slightly larger version are my favorites though. Card base is Whisper White with a layer of Real Red under the dp. Stamps are from Simply Said and the sentiment is from Holidays & Wishes. I used the new lace edge punch from SU and the new heart punch along with the tiny heart from the 3 heart punch. I used my label nestie for the sentiment and strung it on some Real Red ribbon. I had fun making this card and I hope you like it!

Thanks for visiting.

~chris

A Proud member of The Lime Light
Come visit us and see what we've been up to.

Flowers of Happiness

This week I won the card featured here made by Denise Marzec and it inspired me to create these cards which will go in a card box for a birthday gift.





I love this stamp set from There She Goes called Flowers of Happiness - it is so gorgeous! I've been wanting to try paper piecing and also to use my Koh i Noor pencils and I did both on these cards. The sentiments are from Hero Arts and Stampin' Up! and the paper for the card base is Plum Pudding from PTI. The first layer is Mellow Moss from SU and the top is Whisper White from SU. Ribbons are from both SU and PTI as well. The patterned paper on one of the flowers is also from PTI and coordinates with the Plum Pudding. These cards were lots of fun to make. What do you think of them?

Thanks for visiting.

~chris

A Proud member of The Lime Light
Come visit us and see what we've been up to.

Digital DP is a wonderful thing!

Being the total geek that I am (it's true, really, old ladies can too be geeks), I am always looking for ways to blend my geeky side with my creative side. From my earliest days working with computers, I have been a compulsive graphics collector and user. I always thought messages were more effective if they were illustrated. Digital scrapbooking holds a lot of appeal for me, but I haven't had the time to really learn how it's done. Digital paper and images on the other hand, are something I embrace and hit the road running with. You've seen a couple of my cards using the graphic images from pcCrafter and now here's a couple using some digital paper from Kaboodle Doodle. They have lots of great paper and it coordinates well with the SU cardstock and inks.

Take a look at these fun cards:




Card bases are More Mustard, River Rock, Pacific Point and Regal Rose. Coordinating mat were made with Lemon Tart (PTI) and Mellow Moss. Hearts were stamped in coordinating SU inks with hearts from PTI. Greetings on the Valentines are from some clear stamp sets that I picked up last year and I do not know who they're from. Baby sentiments are from SU and punches are from SU, Marvy and EK Success. Ribbons are from SU and PTI. Brads and ribbon slider brad are from my collection. These cards are a real blend of companies!

Thanks for visiting today! Let me know what you think of these hybrid cards.

~chris

A Proud member of The Lime Light
Come visit us and see what we've been up to.

I love this set!

When I first saw this set in the new catalog I knew it was going to be one of my first purchases. It is just gorgeous and full of possibility! The set is called Fifth Avenue Floral and it is so elegant! Here is my first card using it.


Recipe:
Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral
Paper: Close to Cocoa, Baja Breeze, Whisper White
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Baja Breeze
Accessories: Choc. Chip ribbon, oval nestabilities, stickles

Coming in March will be a textured impressions die that goes with this set and I can't wait.

Thanks for visiting.

~chris

A Proud member of The Lime Light
Come visit us and see what we've been up to.

Color Throwdown #28

This week's colors were:and here is my card:

Pretty basic - card base Riding Hood Red, first layer Choc. Chip, top layer Whisper White put through the mini hearts embossing folder. The hearts and the words were cut using the accompanying die. Choc. Chip ribbon with an accent of gingham. Sometimes simple works - I like this card. Don't know if anyone else will, but I do!

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

A Proud member of The Lime Light
Come visit us and see what we've been up to.

Contest Alert!

I interrupt my regular posting schedule for this enabling alert. Someone is giving away a Cricut Expressions machine! Click HERE to go to her blog and enter. You can enter once a day until Feb. 20 and if you add in your comment that I (mudmaven) sent you and you win, I'll win a prize too! So hop on over and get your entry in to win one of these great machines!

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Another version of my Always card from last month

Another set that I just love especially around V-Day is Always. I've made several cards in this vein this year and this is the latest.

I used some of my all time favorite dp from SU (sadly no longer available) called Afternoon Tea. Card base is Old Olive and other layers are Baja Breeze and Certainly Celery. I love the ribbon slider made from the tag punch too. You will probably see that in various formats again as it is really fun to do.

I am working on my swaps for next week's downline meeting, maybe I'll give you a sneak peek later this week. I'm also doing a make and take and am struggling a bit with that one, but I'll get there!

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

A Proud member of The Lime Light
Come visit us and see what we've been up to.

Monday Night Stampers

Well it was Monday night and the weather was cooperating, so Sabrina and Diane came up to stamp! Sabrina found this dp in a pile that was on the table and we decided we would each make something with it. Here's the end result:

Sabrina's cards:

Diane's card:

My card:

The dp is by Scenic Route - Povidence Mathewson Street and we all used slightly different colors and sentiments and background stamps with it. Combinations of Kiwi Kiss, Always Artichoke, Certainly Celery, Tangerine Tango, Only Orange, and a textured green from an unknown supplier along with punches and snippets of ribbon (out of the scrap box).

I look forward to Monday nights so much and miss these gals when they can't make it. No formal agenda, we just all plan on working on something we need at the moment or just something to add to our card stashes. My stamp room will accomodate three fairly comfortably and we always have a good time! My cats wander in and out and it's just a really nice way to spend the evening. Thanks you guys! I know you both read this blog even though one of you is just a lurker!

I really wanted to post the cards I sent for my first Lime Light project, but I just can't remember what they were! I was so concerned with getting them in the mail on time that I did not take pictures. I won't make that mistake again! Needless to say, it was really fun and it felt good to be participating in the efforts that these gals undertake. I'll have a more detailed post later this week on how you too can get in on the action!

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

A Proud member of The Lime Light
Come visit us and see what we've been up to.

Some new dp

Here's a card I made this weekend with some very nice tulip dp that I picked up at HL (they had a 4 for $1 sale). My friend and fellow demo Roberta, remarked that she thought it might be hard to do anything with it, so of course I had to do something with it!


I think that if I do this flower again, I'll do the base flower a bit differently - maybe be a bit bolder with the contrast color. The flower is from Petal Pizzazz and the inner flowers are from the Bojo Blossoms punch. The outside scallop circle is from the Scallops Circles 2 die for the Big Shot. I absolutely love this sentiment from Fifth Avenue Floral and I can see myself using this entire set alot! Card base is Regal Rose and the matting panel for the dp is Pretty in Pink.

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

A Proud member of The Lime Light
Come visit us and see what we've been up to.

Twins Birthday Pictures

Here's a slideshow of some pictures from the twins birthday. Our son is a wonderful photographer, especially when the subject is the kids!

Enjoy - I'll be back in the morning with a card to share.

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

A Proud member of The Lime Light
Come visit us and see what we've been up to.

Twins Birthday Cards

HAPPY FEBRUARY! It's one of my favorite months - Valetine's Day, my wedding anniversary (on the same day no less) and my birthday later in the month. Might be that some blog candy is needed to celebrate! Watch for that later in the month.

Here are the cards I made for Julian and Isabella for their 3rd birthday yesterday. The graphics are from pcCrafters and the stamps and paper are from Stampin'Up!


We had lots of fun at the aquarium and I will put up a little slide show of some of the fun moments as soon as ds gets them to me. Grandpa and I didn't take our camera as it is way to slow to catch these two in action! Had a great lunch and they got ice cream for their birthday treat. Julian is doing so well with the gluten free diet and Isabella doesn't seem to mind it either so we opted for ice cream instead of cake. Mommy was going to make them a gluten free cake though.

I'm helping a fellow demonstrator out with a Valentine's workshop and here's the cards I worked up to use. There should be about 15 gals there and we didn't want to make them too complicated, but I think they will be fun for everyone.



We are going to do another big workshop at the end of February and I'm really looking forward to that one too. I'm working on a Lovely as a Tree card for that one and I'll show it to you once I have it worked out. I love that set and will have to rethink much if it ever retires.

I sent my first project off for the Lime Light design team and I hope to have a slideshow with the cards I sent. Most of them have been on my blog already, but not all together. My thanks to Lori for including me even though I wasn't officially part of this particular project. More details about that project when I put up the slideshow and an invitation to participate with me in my first "official" project for the design team.

Thanks so much for visiting!

~chris

A Proud member of The Lime Light
Come visit us and see what we've been up to.