Bugaboo Stamps Marshmallow Snowman

I have a couple of cards to share with you today for the Operation Write Home Midweek Throwdown challenge.  Our challenge this week is sponsored by Bugaboo Stamps!  Someone is going to win a fabulous prize package for playing along on the Operation Write Home Stars & Stamps blog!

Our theme is "Use A Digital Image" so the sky's the limit, except of course you won't want to use any glitter or glitter products.

I hope you'll stop by the OWH Stars & Stamps blog to play along and see the fabulous sample cards from the Bugaboo Stamps design team!

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

Challenges:

Operation Write Home Stars & Stamps - Use A Digital Image

2012 Mini Calendar

I have a mini calendar page to share today, Debby, Shirlie and I get together almost every Monday while they are here and make cards or some type of paper craft project.  We've been working on a 2012 Mini calendar...  

We now have September completed using Marianne Walkers wonderful fall image.  We used Copic markers for coloring, a Cheery Lynn Designs flourish, Sizzix embossing folders and each of our calendar pages turned out a little different as you can see below.

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

Challenges:
Make It Monday - Anything Goes

Adventures In Extreme Couponing

Shopping - Saving & Coupon Policies

Do you know what your stores coupon policies are?

It can be very helpful to know the coupon policies of the stores you shop at.  I have links to the coupon policies for the stores I shop at in Parker, Az.  Bashas, CVS, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Safeway, Walmart - click on the store name and the link will take you to the coupon policy for that store.  

Unfortunately I've found at some of the stores the employees don't know or don't follow the coupon policies so in those cases they aren't very helpful.  My top stores for hassle free coupon shopping and saving in Parker are Safeway, CVS and Bashas, their employees are friendly, courteous, knowledgeable, well trained professionals.  

A lot of work goes into gathering inserts, coupon clipping and organizing, reading over the grocery ads for your area and compiling a shopping list matching your coupons to the sale items.  Before I head out the door to shop I've read the fine print on the coupons to see how many I can purchase in one transaction, how many I need to buy to use the coupon and what size not to mention written down the exact product I need to put in my shopping basket.  I've done my best to not hold up the line with my coupons so I really appreciate a store and clerk who knows how to handle the transaction.   I'm trying not to sound overly critical but I spent 18 years working behind a check stand at one of our local grocery stores, I do understand what it's like to be on both sides of the register. 

Adventures In Extreme Couponing

Learning As I Go...

Hello, I'm learning how to use coupons to save money on our groceries and having lots of fun with a little frustration thrown in to keep it interesting.

Today I wanted to be sure to tell you about Sunday Coupon Preview, it's a very cool website that has previews of what coupon inserts will be in the Sunday newspapers for the entire year, you know Red Plum, Smart Source, General Mills, etc.   Each week they also give a printed preview of what coupons will be in the coming Sunday newspaper inserts.  

I have a coupon shopping adventure for you today, it's one that was kind of discouraging.  I saw a great deal in the Family Dollar sale flyer for laundry soap and happened to have a couple of high value coupons to make the deal even better.  I was so excited!  I collected my coupons and headed for Family Dollar, picked up two laundry soaps and headed for the check out.  After ringing up my order and giving my 2 coupons to the clerk I was told they can only use one coupon on the laundry soap per transaction.  Oh... I politely asked if she'd take off the one laundry soap I'd have to pay full price for and went home with my one laundry soap that was a deal.  It didn't occur to me at the time to ask if I could do a separate transaction for the second laundry soap or that Walmart will price match that same size laundry soap for Family Dollar's price.  Like I said I'm learning as I go...

On a happy note I did go into Basha's to shop their ad specials with my coupons, they didn't have everything on the shelf but I did get some of the goodies I'd come in for and walked out with a canvas bag full of deals for $3.81. 

Digital Delights by Louby Loo Time To Clean

I have a design team card for Digital Delights by Louby Loo to share today, using Wendy's cute "Time To Clean"digital stamp set.

ALL DDSTAMPS USED:  Time To Clean

CS AND PAPERS:  Via Vellum Basic Black, Leaf Green & Violet, Astrobrights Galaxy Gold, Copic Xpress It
INK:  HP LaserJet
MARKERS (if any):  Copic T0, T1, T2, T3, C0, V000, V12, V15, YG25, YG23, YG01, B12, B14, R20, BG0000, E30, E31, E33, E34, E51, E50
ACCESS. AND EMBELLISHMENTS:  Spellbinders rectangle die, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Kaiser Kraft rhinestones

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Challenges:

Operation Write Home Midweek Throwdown Challenge

Edited to Add:  The OWH MWT challenge has changed to a Mother's Day theme, sorry for any inconvenience!

We have a new Midweek Throwdown challenge starting at Operation Write Home Stars & Stamps today and the theme is Snowflakes!  I live in Arizona so I'm not sure what I was thinking when I set this challenge because it's shorts weather here.  I bet there are snowflakes somewhere in the USA for inspiration though...  

My card is C.A.S.E.d and I'm really sorry but I don't remember who the original artist is but I know I loved her card when I saw it!   I used a Cuttlebug Snowflakes embossing folder and Snowflake die, a Spellbinders square and a white half pearl.  I really like the simplicity of this card and had to make one myself.

I hope you'll join in on our "Snowflake" challenge this week at Operation Write Home!

Challenges:

Operation Write Home Stars & Stamps - Snowflakes

CVS Adventures in Extreme Couponing

Jenny and I went to CVS Sunday afternoon to see if we could pick up 10 boxes of the Kelloggs Raisin Bran & Raisin Bran Crunch cereal that are on sale for 3 boxes for $7.00.  We were in luck none of the signs for the new ad were up yet so there was still cereal on the shelf - lucky me (: 

I picked up five of each so I wouldn't clear their shelf, we have a small CVS store here in Parker.  They also have 500ml bottles of Listerine on sale for $2.99 but there was a tag on the shelf for this larger size that read $3.69 each, an even better deal with my two $1.00 off coupons.

I had two coupons for $1.00 off the Listerine and two coupons for $5.00 off 5 boxes of Kelloggs cereals, both were printed from Coupons.com.  

There is a link in my sidebar to coupons.com - way down toward the bottom.

There was a slight problem at the register with the Listerine but they fixed it after they checked the shelf tag, my total was $16.47 for ten boxes of cereal and two nice sized bottles of Listerine with a savings of $40.26 - wow! 

You might have noticed in my photo the piece of paper under the cereal boxes.  You can get a $10 pre-paid rewards MasterCard® that can be used for gasoline purchases when you make a Kellogg’s Cereal purchase, size 10 oz. or larger mix & match.  Those 10 boxes of cereal end up costing just 33 cents a box - wow!

This is fun!

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

Whipper Snapper Designs Summer Bath Time

We have a new challenge starting today at Seems A Little Sketchy!  

Our Sponsor is Di's Digi Downloads and one lucky entry is going to win a fabulous prize package from our sponsor!   

For my card I chose to use a Whipper Snapper Designs stamp called Summer Bath Time. 

I'm in a bold, bright, fun color mode right now.  I've also been discovering "new" colors in my Copic markers.  Sounds a little silly when you have a few hundred Copic markers but it's true (:

Here's what I used for this cute stamp YG01, YG23, YG25, B12, B14, B16, B0000, C3, C1, W1, W3, E43, E42, E41, E40, V000, V12, V15, Y17, Y15, Y13, Y11.  The paper choices are Via Vellum Basic Black, Cyan. Leaf Green & Violet, Astro Brights Galaxy Gold and Neenah Solar White.

Accessories used are Spellbinders circles, EK Success flower punch, Kaiser Kraft rhinestones, Cuttlebug and Sizzix embossing folders.

I've been using Copic X Press It for Copic coloring and have gone back to Neenah Solar White for no other reason than I have it.  I've noticed on the Neenah card stock that I can get my ink to bleed outside the lines much easier than the Copic X Press It.  Guess I need to remember that and be a little more careful!

I also wanted to comment on the Via Vellum Cyan card stock, I've had this for awhile now... bought a ream of it in Phoenix and have had a hard time matching/coordinating it with other papers and inks.  I think my discovery of B12, B14, & B16 will help me start using more of this, yea! 

I hope you have time to play along in our sketch challenge, be sure to stop by our Seems A Little Sketchy challenge blog for more inspiration from our fabulous design team!

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

Challenges:

Seems A Little Sketchy - #7
Make It Monday - Anything Goes
Lollipop Crafts - Anything Goes

Adventures In Extreme Couponing

 I'm back today to talk a little more about using coupons to save money.

I've started following a couple of Extreme Coupon bloggers that are in Arizona.  I have The Cents'able Shoppin and Passion For Savings on my home page so I can check in with them periodically throughout the day to see if they've found any new deals I should know about.   These two bloggers have alerted me to high value coupons on Facebook and other websites as well as bargains at CVS, Safeway & Walmart.  I've found the bargain information to be very reliable for CVS and Safeway in my area but not Walmart.  Safeway and CVS prices are in line with their stores in the Phoenix Metro area, Walmart's prices are higher in our area than what these bloggers have quoted so I'm assuming Walmart charges more for their products in areas where they don't have as much competition. 

Yesterday I talked about buying the Sunday Arizona Republic newspaper for the coupon inserts,  Sunday papers are $2.50 plus tax in Parker these days.  That's not a great price when you want 4 to 6 or more Sunday coupon inserts for your coupon shopping adventures.  I tried to find a deal on Sunday papers but they don't deliver in our area anymore.  In Phoenix you can get a discount on multiple Sunday papers and/or just one Sunday paper and extra coupon inserts.  I decided to search the internet to see if I could buy Sunday coupon inserts and found a few resources, E Bay is one of those resources as well as Kayla's Bulk Coupon Inserts.  I like Kayla's because she has photos of the coupon inserts you'll be receiving, her prices are reasonable and she has quick shipping, all in all great service.

Another resource for coupons are FREE PRINTABLE internet coupons.  There are counterfeit coupons out there so please be careful where you get your printable coupons, you can be fined and prosecuted for using counterfeit coupons.  I've found Coupons.com and Red Plum to be  reliable places for printable internet coupons.  You'll need to enter your zip code for coupons that apply to your area and download their software to print the coupons.  Once you've done that you can print a maximum of two coupons per computer to use on your shopping adventures.  

One last bit of information for you today,  Passion For Savings has FREE Extreme Couponing Classes, I've watched the videos and put her strategies into practice.  I'm happy to tell you they work, I saved a lot of $$$ last month on our groceries!

My photos today came from Pinterest and Google Images -

Adventures In Extreme Couponing

I'm back to tell about my "Couponing Adventure" today!

Thanks for all your encouraging comments on my first Extreme Couponing blog post.  I thought Cherie's comment was really cute and appropriate, she said that extreme couponing was just another form of paper crafting - she just might be right! 

I've been wanting to go to Havasu to do some coupon shopping but hadn't decided what day yet.  Lake Havasu City is about 35 miles from where we live and is a larger city with a lot more shopping opportunities.

Our clothes washer's spin cycle stopped working today so that decided how I was going to spend my Saturday, doing laundry isn't as much fun anyway.  I needed to go to City Maytag in Lake Havasu for washing machine parts so why not make the trip worthwhile and do my coupon shopping?  

This isn't our washer and dryer, we have an old Maytag set, lol.  These would be more like my "dream machines"... 

I gathered my list and coupons along with the old washer parts that needed to be replaced and headed out around 10:30 AM.  

My first stop was City Maytag in Lake Havasu, the parts needed were a special order and will take about three weeks to arrive at the store.  They will call me when they come in and yes I needed to pay for them today - $168.00 ouch.  I called my husband after I paid for the parts and he asked what I thought about replacing our washer and dryer.  I'd rather not have to make that investment until we absolutely have to, our set was purchased new in 2004 - I wish they'd last 20 - 25 years!   After returning home today I realized I did something really dumb while at City Maytag...  I paid cash for the new washer parts and didn't get a receipt, oh I hope when I call Monday it's not a problem and they can e mail or snail mail me one.    

 My next stop was...

I had two $8.00 off coupons for Science Diet dog food and cat food as well as other dog food coupons and theses items were all on sale - score!  

I was at the Hill's Science Diet website and found an additional rebate for a bag of their dog food up to $12.99 so I need to pick up an extra bag for that too.  

My out of pocket at Petsmart today was $39.30, the total before coupons and Petsmart savings card was 84.27, my total savings was $44.97, that's a savings of 53%.  I do have bad news about the rebate I bought the extra bag of Science Diet dog food for...  it's the wrong one!  I discovered after I'd cut the UPC code off the bag it was the wrong flavor, lol.  We have to go to Havasu later this week so I'll try that again and Maxine won't mind eating that extra bag of dog food I paid full price for.   There was a small problem when I checked out with my coupons and dog food sizes so I put back the correct dog food for the rebate and got the right one for my coupon, times two.  It got a little confusing... so I learned to be a little more careful - maybe I should write these things down?  Over all it was a good experience with excellent savings.

My next stop was...

I was out of paper to print all those wonderful online coupons...

I picked up two reams (1000 sheets) of copy paper for $5.99 each and turned in the "Easy Rebates" for them online when I got home so they will end up costing $2.99 each when the check comes in the mail (:

Have you been to Staples.com?  They have a Rebate Center, instead of mailing rebates in you can turn them in online, no postage, cut out UPC codes, or paper receipts necessary.  I went to Staples.com yesterday to look at the ad and learned about their rebates.  I did a Staples online search for antivirus software that I needed, found it for free after the rebate, I love it when that happens!   Staples also has excellent customer service, I had a problem downloading my new anti virus software, e mailed them about the problem I was having, it's all taken care of now.  Thank you Staples for making my life just a little easier!

Oh, I almost forgot, I went to Walmart in Havasu too.  I've been having problems at our local Walmart so I avoid going there if possible.  I picked up their store brand bathroom tissue that I had $2 off coupons for along with some other bargains.  My out of pocket cost was $17.00, the total before coupons was $31.00, a total  savings of $14.00, for an overall savings of 45%. 

I had a pretty good savings day if it hadn't been for those darn washing machine parts!

I just need to remember it's cheaper than a new clothes washer...

Adventures In Extreme Couponing

I've been working on a different kind of project at my house since the first of this year and have thought about sharing it here but it's not paper crafting so I've been undecided.  It's been fun and frustrating and lots of work but very rewarding too.  I've also saved a ton on money so I thought maybe I should talk about it here on my blog. 

I've watched a few episodes of Extreme Couponing on t.v. and been skeptical about all the "savings" these women rack up in the shopping trips they show.  It's hard for me to believe you can shop for free.  
But... costs are rising for everything we purchase and our income stays them same, what to do, what to do?

I think I should give you some of the reasons I'm skeptical about this too:

I worked as a grocery clerk at one of our local grocery stores for 18 years.

I live in Parker - a small resort town along the Colorado River in western Arizona.

We have a family of four living at home along with 2 cats and a big dog.

These things seems like obstacles to me so I need to change my thinking and consider them simply challenges.

Watching extreme couponing on t.v. made me curious so I "googled it" and was surprised to find Extreme Coupon Bloggers!  Okay I'm intrigued... 

I've been doing my homework reading the blogs and have found a few Arizona Extreme bloggers to follow so I can see just how it works and how to put it all into practice.   I've started buying the Sunday Arizona Republic so I can get the coupon inserts, organizing, clipping, planning shopping trips after looking at grocery ads for our local stores and I'm on my way to becoming a bargain hunter!  

I've been at it six weeks now and have to tell you that using coupons is a lot of work but also fun and very rewarding.  I also understand that not everyone has the time or the interest.  The retail stores count on consumers being busy, busy, busy and get a great deal of our hard earned income because we are in such a hurry all the time.  I'm tired of paying through the nose for everything we purchase and having very little to show for our grocery shopping trips. 

 My adventure into Extreme Couponing starts here.  We have three grocery stores to shop at in Parker.  Safeway, Basha's & Walmart, one drug store - CVS and two dollar stores, Dollar General & Family Dollar.

I'll be back soon to share some shopping stories, valuable tips and links.

See you then...

Doodle Pantry Clover Ants

I have a Doodle Pantry design team card to share today!

I used Splitcoast Stampers sketch challenge #367 as inspiration for my layout along with Laurie's super cute Clover Ants in all their pre-colored glory.  The papers I used are one of the patterned digital papers from the Clover Ants digital stamp set and Mohawk Bright White & Via Vellum Basic Black.  I also used the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder and two Cheery Lynn Designs button dies with a little crochet thread.

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

Challenges:
Truly Scrumptious - All Creatures Great & Small

Digital Delights by Louby Loo Lili The Skunk

I have a Digital Delights by Louby Loo design team card to share today that was really fun to make!

I used the pre-colored version of Lili The Skunk and used a sketch I saw on Pinterest for inspiration.

I have a supply list of items used on my card below:

Stamps:DDLL Lili The Skunk colored digital image

CS & Papers:  Via Vellum Basic Black, Neenah Red Pepper Linen, Neenah Classic Crest Pewter, Mohawk Bright White

Ink:  HP OfficeJet

Accessories, and embellishments:  Spellbinders circles, Cuttlebug embossing folder, EK Success flower punch, Zva rhinestones

Special Techniques:  sketch challenge

I hope you'll stop by the Digital Delights by Louby Loo blog today to see all our wonderful design team creations! 

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

Challenges:
Papertake Weekly - Black & Red & White all Over 
Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge - Anything Goes

Whipper Snapper Sweet Sniffs of Spring

I'm so happy I was able to get this card made up and posted for today's Midweek Throwdown challenge at Operation Write Home Stars & Stamps!  I've been feeling a little behind on my craftiness lately -

First things first, I have to thank Cindy for sending me a wonderful gift of stamped images recently.

I picked out this Whipper Snapper Sweet Sniffs of Spring stamped image to color for the OWH MWT challenge, our theme is a color challenge and the colors are Green, Blue & Kraft/Tan.

I colored this cute pup with Copic markers B0000, B12, B14, B16, YG25, YG23, YG01, N7, N5, N3, E44, E43, E42, E41.  The background is also done with Copic markers the grass being the YG colors and B0000 for the cloudy sky.  I tired following the Mojo Monday sketch #228 but it turned out to be mostly "inspirational".  

Luckily I can try it again and maybe get a little closer to the sketch above.

I also used a Quickutz sun die that I've had forever, Spellbinders Labels 4 and two Cuttlebug embossing folders.  My cardstock colors are Via Vellum Basic Black & Leaf Green & Cyan, Neenah Solar White and I'm not sure if the tan is Neenah Desert Sand or not. 

I hope you have time this week to play in our color challenge at Operation Write Home Stars & Stamps!

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

Challenges:

Operation Write Home Stars & Stamps - Color Challenge
Ladybug Crafts - Spring is in the Air
Make It Monday - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp & Show - Anything Goes
Scrappy Frog - Die Cuts
Inky Impressions - Punches & Dies

Can You Digi It Puppy Love

Happy Valentine's Day!

I have a design team card for our newest challenge at Can You Digi It?!

I chose to use this sweet sleepy Boston Terrier digital stamp because she stole my heart (:

For my card I used Splitcoast Stampers sketch challenge #355 for my layout and paper that was in my gigantic scrap pile beside my paper trimmer.  I also used Spellbinders Hearts & Scalloped Hearts dies and a Sizzix embossing folder.

I hope you'll join in on our challenge at Can You Digi It?!, for a chance to win a $10.00 gift certificate to the store! 

Edited to add:  I've had questions on Facebook about where to buy this digital image so here is a link to the Can You Digi It?! store - have fun (:

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

Challenges:

Can You Digi It?! - Puppy Love

Digital Delights by Louby Loo Bouquet Ridley

My card today is for our Stamps R Us "Anything Goes" challenge sponsored by Digital Delights by Louby Loo!  It's one of those cards that I'd made up and set the photo aside because I wasn't sure where I wanted to use it.  It fits our sponsor and challenge theme so today is the perfect opportunity!  

I used Operation Write Home's sketch #82 for my layout and I have a supply list below:

ALL DDSTAMPS USED:  Bouquet Ridley

CS AND PAPERS:  Neenah Classic Crest Pewter, Mohawk Bright White, Neenah Red Pepper Linen, Astrobrights Galaxy Gold, Via Basic Black
INK:  HP OfficeJet printer
ACCESS. AND EMBELLISHMENTS:  Star punch, crochet thread
SPECIAL TECHNIQUES (if any):  Sketch challenge – Operation Write Home Stars & Stamps #82 & Stamps R Us Anything Goes challenge sponsored by Digital Delights by Louby Loo

I have some news about our Stamps R Us challenge blog to share with you today too.

I've decided to close the Stamps R Us challenge blog February 27th, this will be our last challenge.  We'll close our InLinkz entries Feb. 27th and draw a winner at that time.

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

Challenges:

Stamps R Us - Anything Goes

Notes From Home - Band Practice With Maxine

I have some family photos to share today.  

Our kids are in band and need to practice everyday after school.

Jenny & Michael have made it into advanced band and I think they sound pretty good.  

Maxine on the other hand...

likes to sing along as they play!

She's under the table here waiting for them to be finished giving us a groan every now and then.

These practice times would be a good video opportunity but each time I get out the video camera she stops singing for us, lol.  

Have a blessed day!

Digital Delights by Louby Loo Critter Hearts

Happy Saturday, I have another cute Valentine to share today made with the Critter Hearts digital stamp set from Digital Delights by Louby Loo!  Is this not the cutest monkey you've ever seen?!  

I made another pop up card just for fun with the pre-colored Critter Hearts set.  What a fun way to make cute, quick Valentines, love it!

I have a supply list for my card today:

ALL DDSTAMPS USED:  Critter Hearts

CS AND PAPERS:  Mohawk Bright White, Via Vellum Scarlet, Stampin’ Up! Blush Blossom, Astro Brights Jupiter Java
INK:  HP OfficeJet 6000
ACCENTS. AND EMBELLISHMENTS:  Spellbinders Rectangles & Scalloped Rectangles, Sizzix embossing foler, Stampin’ Up! 1” circle punch, Scor - Tape
SPECIAL TECHNIQUES:  Pop Up Card

Have a great weekend and thank you for visiting my blog today - 

Challenges:
Party Time Tuesday's - Valentine's
Crafting For All Season's - Love Is In The Air
Divas By Design - Love
Fab 'n Funky - Love Is In The Air
My Mum's Craft Shop - Love Is In The Air
The Paper Shelter - Be My Valentine
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge - Love Is In The Air
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Valentines

Doodle Pantry Bird Bath Joy

It's kind of a gloomy day here in Arizona so my bright happy card helps bring some sunshine back into the day.  We are used to having bright sunshine and blue skies year round in the part of the country we live in so today is the exception.  

I have a Doodle Pantry design team card to share with you today, I used Bird Bath Joy in it's pre-colored version along with two of the digital papers that come in this set.  I love the way Laurie colors her images and makes matching papers.  All I need is a sketch and I'm inspired to make a fun Doodle Pantry card!   There are also sentiments that come with this set and I used one on the inside, it says "Wishing you this kind of happy".  

The supplies I used are Astrobrights Blast Off Blue, Mohawk Bright White and Via Vellum Leaf Green.  I pulled out my Grands Spellbinders circles and my one of my button jars to find the perfect match to my blue paper with old Stampin' Up! buttons.  I added a little crotchet thread before I glued them down and I also used a Corner Chomper on the edges of the image panels.  

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

Challenges:
Charisma Cardz - Things With Wings
Craft Us Crazy - Anything Goes
Moving Along With The Times - Cute Critters

Digital Delights by Louby Loo BBQ Dog

I had to try out this weeks Operation Write Home sketch #107 for my Digital Delights by Louby Loo design team card.  I chose to work with "BBQ Dog" and thought this layout would be nice for what I had in mind.  The panel on the bottom sparked the idea of a table cloth with my BBQ Dog, lol.  Since there isn't any other BBQ items in my "scene" you might not see it that way but that's what was in my mind.  Maybe I should find some other BBQ items to use over at Digital Delights by Louby Loo and try the "scene" again one day soon.

I should mention that the red and white checked paper is from the digital paper pack Fabulous Fifties by Digital Delights by Louby Loo.  It's actually black and white and I used it here.  I re-colored it in my Publisher program to fit my idea, I have a step by step  tutorial here to see how to do that if you've never tried it before.

I have a supply list for my card today below:

ALL DDSTAMPS USED:  BBQ Dog

CS AND PAPERS:  Fabulous Fifties paper pack, Neenah Solar White, Via Basic Black
INK:  HP LaserJet printer
MARKERS:  Copic sketch E44, E43, E42, E41, B000, B0000, YG67, YG23, YG01, YG25, T3, T5, E02, E04
ACCESS. AND EMBELLISHMENTS:  Cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder, Black Organdy Ribbon, Kaiser Craft Black half pearls
SPECIAL TECHNIQUES (if any):  Sketch challenge – Operation Write Home Stars & Stamps #107

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

Challenges:

Operation Write Home Stars & Stamps - Sketch #107

Whipper Snapper Easter Bunny Trio

I have a fun piece of a project I've been working on to share with you today.

Back in November I decided to make a 2012 mini calendar and do a class with a couple of my friends, the plan was to make three calendar layouts a week so we'd have a nice Christmas gift for someone special.  As you may already know my husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer December 8th and my calendar project kind of went by the way side.  My husband is doing well so far, we are waiting to see the next doctor before he can start treatment possibly at the end of this month.  

My calendar isn't done yet but I haven't given up and I do have one more layout finished.

I started with Clear Dollar Stamps Year Round Calendar then stamped the cute Easter Bunny Trio stamp by Whipper Snapper and went to work coloring with Copic markers.  The markers I used are:  RV00, RV02, RV04, YR65, YR68, W0, W1, E41, E42, E43, B21, B23, B41, V01, V12, V15, YG01, YG23, YG25.  After I had it colored I matted the image panel with Discount Cardstock's Royal Blue and then added it to a 5 1/2 X 5 1/2 inch square of Stampin' Up! Pixie Pink.  I felt like it "needed something" so I embossed the edges of the pink with a fun Sizzix embossing folder and punched the holes in the top with the bind It All after I took this picture. 

I also wanted to let you know that we have a new Midweek Throwdown challenge at Operation Write Home Stars & Stamps with an "Easter" theme.  I don't think my calendar page qualifies for the challenge but it does have an "Easter theme"  (:  The deadline to send our Easter cards for our troops to write home on at Operation Write Home is February 15, I'd better get my box sealed up and in the mail soon!  There are also a bunch of other fun challenges going on at the Stars & Stamps blog this week in recognition of the first ever OWH Cruise!

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

Challenges:

Operation Write Home Stars & Stamps - Easter
365 Cards - Marvelous Markers
City Crafter - Colors of the Rainbow
Digital Tuesday - Pink or Red
My Time To Craft - A is for Adorable
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
Make It Monday - Anything Goes
Paper Pretties - Texture
Scrapbook Sisterz - Anything Goes

Robyn's Fetish Randy Valentine Boy

We have a new challenge starting today at Seems A Little Sketchy, number 6!

Our sponsor is Robyn's Fetish and I chose Randy Valentine Boy to work with.  He's colored with Copic markers B99, B97, B95, B93, B91, W9, W7, W5, W3, W1, R59, R46, R35, R20, E47, E44, E43, E42, E41, E00, E01, E000, C0.  I also used Spellbinders circles, Papertrey Ink ric rak and a flower die by Die-namics (?).

Cardstock colors are Neenah Patriot Blue & Red Pepper Linen, Copic X Press It and the patterned paper is from a digital set called Heart A Flutter by Doodle Pantry.  

I hope you'll stop by our challenge blog to see all the wonderful creations from our design team and join in on our sketch challenge!

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

Challenges:

Digital Delights by Louby Loo

Digital Delights by Louby Loo February sale!

Digital Delights by Louby Loo Critter Hearts

I have a fun Valentine to share today made with a new colored digital stamp set from Digital Delights by Louby Loo called Critter Hearts.  Isn't Elvin the Toad cute?!

I've made pop up cards before and thought they'd make cute Valentine's, I found the recipe for my card under resources on Splitcoast Stampers several months ago.

I have a photo of my card closed, it doesn't close up flat since I've played with it to make it "pop up"!

I miss the "clean layered look" I had but I like the way it slides open even better (:

I have a supply list for my card today:

ALL DDSTAMPS USED:  Critter Hearts

CS AND PAPERS:  Mohawk Bright White, Neenah Red Pepper Linen, Via Vellum Leaf
INK:  HP OfficeJet 6000
ACCENTS. AND EMBELLISHMENTS:  Spellbinders Hearts & Scalloped Hearts, Cuttlebug embossing foler, Stampin’ Up! 1” circle punch, Scor - Tape
SPECIAL TECHNIQUES:  Pop Up Card

Be sure to check out the Digital Delights by Louby Loo February sale too!

Thanks for visiting my blog today -

Challenges:
Stampin' For The Weekend - Embossing

Doodle Pantry

Doodle Pantry has a bunch of new releases and our next challenge starts too.

...and, how about a customer

appreciation mini sale?

From Feb 1 thru Feb 14 you can use this coupon code below in the field at the bottom of your shopping cart and get 20% off!*

(*NOT applicable to gift certificates, AND cannot be combined with other coupons)

LUVMYCUSTOMERS 

Don't forget to add the Football & Helmet to your cart to get it FREE with your purchase from Feb 1-24!

 February's FREE w/purchase special!
FEBRUARY 1 thru 24 ONLY

This  product, FOOTBALL & HELMET, is free with any purchase. 

Just add it to your cart of other purchases! 

 

Our next Challenge, DPDC20     

starts on February 1!   

Deadline to enter is the 24th late in the evening

8:00 pm central time (9:00 pm eastern time) 

 
Below will be the complimentary featured product you can receive
just for playing with us! COCOA CUP ANTS
NOTE:  This set is NOT for sale yet!  To get it free, just play in our challenge from Feb 1 - 24. After that, it will be put for sale.

Doodle Pantry Heart Sheep

HEY!  MY CARD FROM JANUARY 31st IS BEING FEATURED ON "INSPIRE ME FRIDAY'S" ALONG WITH SOME OTHER GREAT PROJECTS!  HOW FUN, THANK YOU MARIA!!

I have a fun card to share with you today using pre-colored digital images and papers by The Doodle Pantry.

The name of the digital stamp set is Heart Sheep and the digital paper is called Hearts A Flutter.  These would be perfect for Valentine cards but I thought they'd also be perfect for cards for Operation Write Home.  What wife waiting at home wouldn't love to get a card telling her how happy she makes the man in her life, this cute sheep would even make great kids cards for OWH.  

My card layout is Splitcoast Stampers SC#306 again flipped on it's side, I can't seem to get enough of this sketch.  Hope you don't mind!  I used Spellbinders hearts, circles and ovals dies and also used a Sizzix heart embossing folder to emboss the red heart, that was a fun experiment. 

Thanks for visiting my blog today - 

Challenges:
 Crafty Purple Frog - Valentine's
DRS Designs - Hearts 
Inspire Me Friday's - Anything Goes 
Simply Create Too - Love is in the air 
Wags n Whiskers - Valentine's