Gus Baseball

Happy Summer!  I have finally finished with work for the summer, and like every eager child I broke myself on the first day of vacation!  Yup, tore a muscle in my calf.  Luckily I can still drive, but I am totally not digging the crutches!  GRRRR

Oh well, at least I am home right?  At Dream Valley we are having another challenge: Inspired by a Song/Movie/Book.  I have chosen a great summer movie, A League of Their Own.  For the stamp I have used Bugaboo stamp - Gus Baseball.  A clean and simple card on kraft cardstock.  Gus was stamped and colored on white with copics, then cut out.  

Hey, did I mention that our sponsor is Crafty Sentiments Designs?  They are giving one random winner 3 images!  Sweet!

I would like to add this card to the following challenges:

Pile it On - outdoor fun

Chocolate, Coffee, and Cards - summer fun

Crazy 4 Challenges - summer/winter

Have a great week, and don't hurt yourself!

Monochromatic Stella

Hello!  Did you know that Dream Valley has switched it's challenges to Mondays?  Well we have!  Please join us this fortnight for a monochromatic challenge!

Our sponsor for this challenge is The Paper Shelter!

If you are looking for fun, cute and lovely digi stamps for your paper-crafting or web design projects, The Paper Shelter is your one-stop boutique! This growing catalogue of high-quality digi stamps with many different kind of options offers a multitude of themes such as everyday items, holidays, special occasions, children, adorable characters and creatures. Stamps are available in standard black and white line art, as well as in pre-coloured 

format.Images are wonderful for colouring and make perfect additions to greeting cards and scrapbook albums.

Winner gets $20 gift voucher

For my card I have used a stamp from Bugaboo called Stella Love - Misery.  I stamped the image, made a mask for the center, then sponged pink around the outside of the image.  I thought the image and sentiment spoke for themselves! LOL

We are finally in our last full week of school for the year.  Things are a little bit hectic right now, so I will get out of here, clean up, and try to get some rest!  

Have a great week!

I can grow people!

It's time for a Baby Challenge at Dream Valley today!  Our sponsors are:

Freckled Fawn 

and Dilly Beans Digi Stamps!

I'm sharing a card that I am using for a baby shower this week.  A co-worker is pregnant and we want to throw her a shower before we all head off on summer vacation!  

The stamp that I used is called JJ Pregnancy - Back pain from Bugaboo Stamps.  The paper is some scraps from K&Company's Wild Raspberry line.

I would like to add this to the following challenges:

Have a great week!  Please join in our challenge at Dream Valley!

Spritzed Butterfly Card

Good morning!  It's challenge time at Dream Valley!  This time the challenge is Things with Wings.  Our sponsor for this challenge is Kenny K!  The lucky winner will receive three images of their choice!  Very cool!

Can you tell I have been a little bit into spritzing lately?  The last card I posted has some spritzing on it, this card has some spritzing on it, and keep peeking back at my blog, because the next card that I post will also have some sort of spritzing on it!  Love misting ink all over the place!

For this card I have used kraft paper and made a mask of a butterfly cut out using the Cricut.  The shimmer mist was a magenta color, and then I added a little bit of gold shimmer mist on top of that.  I added some shear yellow ribbon to balance out the gold and Voila!  Here you have it:

Please head on over to the challenge and check out the inspiration from the design team.  They have really outdone themselves!  Such a great group of card makers!

Anything Goes at Dream Valley

Good morning!  We have another challenge over at Dream Valley!  The challenge is easy, ANYTHING GOES!  Our sponsor is Robyn's Fetish.  One lucky winner will receive three digi stamps!  Woo hoo!

 The weather is so nice, that I had to whip out some summer stamps!  Here's Margarita from Kraftin' Kimmie.  

I have colored her with copics, cut her out and popped her up.  Doesn't she look like she's on vacation!?!  I think I'm ready to join her!

I would like to add this card to the following challenges:

The Craft Garden - Photo inspiration

Pumpkin Spice - Washi Tape (glitter tape!)

Brown Sugar - 2 patterned papers

Have a great day, and don't forget to play along in our anything goes challenge at Dream Valley!

Make Lemonade

I just want to say HAPPY EASTER everyone!

Also, it's time for another Dream Valley Challenge!  This time we would like you to:  Say It With Words! 

Our sponsor is Crafty Sentiments!  One winner will receive 3 images of their choice!  Awesome!

I have made a CAS card using a Meljen's digi image.  I printed it out on white paper and then colored it with copics.  I used a yellow for the lemon and lemonade, and a blue to make the sunburst around the sentiment.  

That's it, just a clean and simple card today!  I hope you enjoy the nice spring weather we have been having!  Have a great Easter!

Easter at Dream Valley

Good morning!  It has been a very busy week here!  My son made the school baseball team, woo hoo!  My husband is coaching his town team, and my daughter has started softball.  Three teams, oh my!  I am very ready for April vacation and some relaxation time!  The best part is that vacation starts just after Easter.  A fun family holiday to start everything off!  

Speaking of Easter.....we are having an Easter challenge over at Dream Valley this week!  What a great segue, huh?!  LOL  Our sponsor for this challenge is:  Mulberry Crafts.  One winner will get a goody bag!

For my card I have used Bugaboo stamp Scene it Easter.  I colored this with copics, the brightest and most colorful that I had!  The paper is from Basic Grey - Sweet Threads, and the sheer ribbon is some I had in my stash.

I would like to add this card to the following challenges:

Catch the Bug - Anything goes

Open minded challenges - animal antics

Doodle Challenge - spring color challenge

Simply Create Too - Easter and/or bunnies

Have a great week and don't forget to play in our challenge at Dream Valley!

Flower's for Mom

Good morning!  It's challenge time again at Dream Valley Challenges!  This fortnight's challenge is to make a Mother's Day card.  Since it is Mother's Day in the UK (where our challenge is based) on the 30th of this month we here in the US are getting a jump start!  So happy to have cards made ahead of time! :)

Our sponsor for our Mother's Day Challenge is:  Kenny K!  The winner gets three images of their choice!  Awesome!

Here is my card:

I printed the sentiment from the computer and then sponged the kraft paper with brown inks.  The flower pot and flowers are cut using the Cricut cartridge On the Farm.  Such a quick and easy card that I made two!

I would like to add this card to the following challenges:

Emergency Crafters - flowers

Imagination Crafts - In Bloom

Natalie and Amy - Flowers

Stempelgarten - One Layer Card

Have a great week!

Gus Birthday

Welcome to the BIG birthday challenge we are holding at Dream Valley Challenges!  Our sponsor this time around is Robyn's Fetish!  The winner will receive three free digi stamps!

Here is my card for this challenge:

I colored Gus with copics and rounded the corners on the panel.  The word bubble is from the Cricut basic shapes cartridge.  The background paper is from Basic Grey - Sweet Threads line.

This is just a quick post tonight as I am feeling a bit under the weather.  I just want to go back and curl up on the couch! :(

I hope you have a great week and join us at Dream Valley!

Vintage

Good morning!  Today at Dream Valley we are having a vintage challenge.  Our sponsor this fortnight is The Paper Shelter:

To win a lovely prize from The Paper Shelter, make and upload a card onto the Dream Valley vintage challenge!

For my card I have used the truck from Stampin' Up set Countryside.  I love this old truck!  Using three different color browns, and black around the edges, I sponged it to make it look like a black and white photo.  I wanted to keep the simplicity so I adhered it to regular kraft paper.  

I would like to add this card to the following challenges:
Open-minded Challenges - monochrome
My Sheri Crafts - vintage guy
A little Bit Crafty - man up

Have a great week, and stay tuned next week for some awesome news!

Tag it! at Dream Valley

Good morning!  Quick post for you here today.  I have made a tag for our challenge over at Dream Valley.  The challenge is tag it!  Feature a tag as your project or on your card.  One random winner will receive 3 images from Lacy Sunshine Stamps!

Here's my tag:

These are die cuts from the Cricuit George and Basic Shapes cartridge.  The sentiment is from a very old stamp set that I pulled out, but I find I can't remember the name at this point!  Oh well, if anyone remembers, let me know!

I would like to add this to the following challenges:

Sunflowerfield - Valentine's/hearts

Crafts and Me Challenge - Use a heart

Cut it Up - Valentine's/Die cuts

Have a great week and don't forget to play along in the challenge at Dream Valley!

No DP? No problem!

As you guys can probably guess it's time for another post for the lovely Dream Valley Challenge!  This week we are challenging you to forego the designer paper, and do a little bit of inking!  NO designer paper!  Well, honestly, I do this more often than not right!?!

Our sponsor for this challenge is Freckled Fawn!  One lucky winner could receive this:

  

For my card I have done a clean and simple design.  I know, they are kind of my specialty!  It's getting closer to Valentine's Day, so I decided it was time to get a jump on it!  

I took a white piece of paper and swiped the pick background directly from the ink pad.  The sentiment was then stamped in black, and the heart was cut from the Cricut basic shapes cartridge.

I would like to add this card to the following challenges:

Blogger Challenge - make your own background

Simply Create Too - Valentine's/use hearts

Delightful Challenges - use hearts

In the Pink - Pink/die cuts

Have a great week, and get on over to Dream Valley to get entered to win that lovely gift!

Welcome back!

Stick with me guys, this might be a long post!

Wow, it has been a long time since I have been on here!  I took a much needed break during the busy craft fair and holiday season.  My family and I ended up exhibiting at six different craft fairs since the end of October!  Busy, busy!  Here are some pics of our endeavor:

We did fairly well considering the economy.  I believe that people were searching for one of a kind local items this year.  There has been a big push to buy local in our area, and that has really helped.

Ok, on to the DREAM VALLEY post!  We are back from winter break and raring to go! The challenge for the next two weeks is to show us your cards and/or projects for a boy/man.  

I have used a combo of different stamps on this project.  Edwin with Egg Basket was a Magnolia image that I stamped and colored so long ago!  The background is Stampin' Up Chicken Wire.  The barn and grain bags are from Stampin' Up called On The Farm.

Come on by to Dream Valley and play in our challenge!  We are sponsored by Robyn's Fetish and one lucky winner can choose 5 digi stamps from their store!  Awesome!

I would like to add this card to the following challenges:

Card Makin' Mamas - anything goes

Craftyhands Challenge - anything goes

Crafty Girls - anything goes

7 Kids College Fund - anything goes
The Crazy Challenge - boys/men
Totally Gorjuss - manly

Have a great week, it's feels wonderful to be back!

It's almost Halloween!

It's time for our Halloween challenge over at Dream Valley this week!  Normally I don't send any Halloween cards, but it is a good excuse to play with a fun color combination!

I have used black and brown inks on this orange paper to try to create a spooky halloween card.  The skull is from Stampin' Up set From the Crypt and the sentiment is from Close to My Heart's set Wicked.

I love the pictures that my eight year old took of this as well.  I thought they really fit the card and helped create that spooky look!

I would like to add this card to the following challenges:
Catch the Bug - Bingo (ribbon, orange, players choice-sponging)
A Gem of a Challenge - Spooky
Ribbon Carousel - fall/halloween

Please play along with our challenge at Dream Valley, and have a great week!

Buttons, buttons, buttons!

Good morning crafters!  Today at Dream Valley we have a new challenge!  We would like to see buttons on your creations!  Our challenge is sponsored by Freckled Fawn!  One lucky winner will receive a $20 Gift certificate to their online store!

For my project I have made a flower pot card!  The directions for this card can be found HERE on Splitcoaststampers.  

The solid color paper is from my stash, but I believe it is all from Stampin' Up.  The patterned paper is from K&Company and the buttons are from my mom!  Thanks Mom!

I would like to add this card to the following challenges:

Chocolate, Coffee and Cards - Flowers

Delicious Doodles - shaped cards

Don't forget to play in our challenge at Dream Valley!  I can't wait to see your button creations!

Autumn Challenge at Dream Valley!

Welcome back to Crafts and Cravings!  It has been way too long since I have posted here!  It has been a busy time back to school and work.  Between that and my kids' sports schedules I have been BUSY!  We had our first craft fair this weekend.  While it wasn't a great showing, we at least made back out table fee and got some idea of what people are looking at this year!

To get you in the crafty spirit we have an Autumn challenge at Dream Valley!  Get your creative juices flowing and come and join us!  One lucky winner will get a $20 gift certificate to THE PAPER SHELTER!  Awesome!

For my card I have used some paper from Close to My Heart, a sentiment from Stampscapes, and some ribbon from my stash.  I hope you enjoy the season!  I'll see you again soon!

Eekk, I'm late!

I can't believe I totally forgot to write up my post!  Ahhh!  It's been a little busy lately, with the kids going back to school, new baseball teams starting, and me going back to work that it totally slipped my mind!

Good news is that the card was ready!  Phew.

Today at Dream Valley Challenges we are challenging you to make a card for a child.  My card uses two Stampin' Up sets.  It's a fairly simple card with the image being colored with water colors.

Unfortunately the lighting was pretty poor when I tried to photograph it, so it seems fairly dark.  I need some suggestions on how to photograph indoors in the evening....

It's going to be a busy week here, I hope you all enjoy yours!  Don't forget to play along with our challenge at Dream Valley!

Monochrome

I can't believe that two weeks have gone by already!  Where is the summer going?  We are already in August, and I am not ready for the kids to go back to school yet!!!

Okay, rant over.  At Dream Valley Challenges today our challenge is to make a card or a project that is monochromatic.  I especially like making monochromatic cards when I use my Stampscapes stamps.  The scenes lend themselves so well to a single color scheme.

Here I have used Stampscapes stamps:  Lakeside Cove, Reeds Lg, Oak Branch Sm.

Oh, by the way, when you enter our monochome challenge at Dream Valley you will be entered to win free digis from Robyn's Fetish!

I would like to add this card to the following challenges:

Stampin' With the Dragon - one color

Brown Sugar - Anything goes

HAVE A GREAT WEEK AND ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR SUMMER!

Baseball....

I have to say that this is the perfect timing for this challenge and the card I made for it!  The challenge at Dream Valley Challenges is to create something having to do with your "Summer Days."  My card is about baseball....

You probably haven't seen me blogging much recently because it's been a little crazy around here!  At one point we were going in all directions because between my two kids there was 4 different teams that they were on!  Eeek!  My daughter made the U8 All-Star Softball team which ended up getting second place in the state tournament!  My son made the U10 All-Star Baseball team and are still playing with a current record of 9 wins and 5 losses.  They have one more tournament to go.....and then swim lessons and fall baseball and soccer starts! Oh boy.

So anyway, my card is about baseball, which is how my summer days have been!  It works out wonderfully because our sponsor for this challenge is Bugaboo Stamps!

One random winner will get to choose their own digis with $21 to work with!  Awesome!

My card uses Gus Baseball from Bugaboo Stamps.  You can find it HERE.  

I would like to add this card to the following challenges:

Delicious Doodles - Summer Time

Kitty Bee Designs - Summer

Dream it up - Summertime, Sparklers, and S'mores

Happy Campers - Summer

HAVE A GREAT WEEK, AND KEEP ON SWINGING, OH, I MEAN STAMPING!!!

Early Christmas

Good morning everyone!  We have a new challenge for you over at Dream Valley today.  This fortnight's challenge is to make your own flowers and/or embellishments.  

I have used an image that I had colored a while ago (try 6+ months lol) when I was using some watercolors. You all know that I don't use a lot of flowers or embellishments on my cards, but I thought that this image needed a little something.  

I used a cricut cartridge from Close to My Heart and cut out two flower patterns.  The flowers then had to be rolled and held together with some glue dots.  I found glue dots to be the easiest this time around because the flower was so small and glue dots don't ever let go!

The next step was to use some Cherry Splash from A-muse Studios.  No, I'm not brand specific, I'm an equal opportunity crafter! LOL  I topped the flowers and the image off with a little bit of glitter.

I would like to add this card to the following challenges:

Crimbo Crackers - Christmas + how long?

DRS Designes - Letter B - Bird

Cute Card Thursday - fly like a bird

Ruby's Rainbow - things with wings

Have a great week!  Happy crafting!