Sew Many Cards Blog Hop Challenge

This week is the monthly blog hop at the Sew Many Cards Challenge blog. This is an ultra exciting one in that there is not one sponsor but THREE! Sunshine Stamps, Sew Many Cards and Stamping Boutique. The challenge is called Three a Charm! How appropriate. What we need to do is use 3 embellishments or techniques AND add a charm.

Here you can see that I used rhinestones, ribbon and pearls. I also did coloring, dry embossing and die cut/punching. Of course, I added a charm, which I most likely would have added anyway since I love using them LOL This adorable image is called "Dolphins", was released in November 2009.

Did you miss getting him last month when all of 2009 happened to be on special? Well, this month has some 2009 images updated and for sale as well as new images! The dolphins are not among the updated images, but there are other super cute ones like Ali the Alligator (2009) and Panda (new this month). Actually they all are super cute and will not be available forever, just like the dolphins.

Recipe:

Stamps: Dolphins by Sew Many Cards

Paper: Paper Temptress, Stampin' Up

Ink: ink jet

Accessories: Big Shot, nestablities, cuttlebug folder, ribbon, rhinestones, pearls, charm, EK Success punch, copic markers.

Copics Used: B 02, 93, 95, 97/BG 01, 10, 15, 34/C 1, 5/G 02/V09/Y02/R 20/00 (blender)

Challenges:

Crafty Cardmakers: Inside and out

C.R.A.F.T: Serene blues and greens

Cute Card Thursday: No pattern paper

Stamptacular Sunday: Pearls and swirls

Sew Many Cards: 3 embellishments or techniques AND a charm

In celebration of Memorial Day, this weeks free image is an Eagle with a flag and Thank You banner. You can get it at the Sew Many Cards Challenge Blog>>>HERE.

Enjoy the long weekend and if you happen to see a veteran, don't forget to thank them :o) and remember the sacrifice of those who no longer can be thanked.

Hugs...

"Time" Served

As the end of May approaches we are reminded of the sacrifice thousands have made in country and over seas for freedom. I know that we are all thankful for to these young men and women, but as we go on with our lives we put the thought into the back of our minds. Memorial day is a reminder as it brings those thoughts to the front of our minds.

One thing that is sacrificed, which I never thought of before my sons entered the military, is the sacrifice of time. Just time...they give the "best years of their lives" to the military, whether they are called over seas or not. I read a sentiment once that read "the greatest gift you can give someone is your time". Now, I know the greatest "gift" is ones life for another, but our time has got to be the 2nd greatest!

One of my sons just  finished his time with the USMC Reserves the beginning of this month. My other son is due back from his 2nd tour in Iraq on Memorial Day. His time in the Army Reserves will be over before his unit will be called up again. Yes, we will celebrate his return this long weekend, but we also will be celebrating the fact that they both now can move forward. First stop for both of them is college, from which their peers have already graduated.

When I made this card today, this was one of the things that came to my mind. Wanting to send a THANK YOU to someone serving in the military for the "TIME" they have sacrificed.

Recipe:

Stamps: Miki Military from Sew Many Cards, Warmest Regards and Courage and Honor from Stampin' Up

Ink: Ink Jet, Night of Navy

Paper: Paper Temptress, Misc. Pattern Paper

Accessories: Nestabilities, big shot, dimensionals, stickers, shrink paper, heat gun, jump rings, ribbon, hemp twine, glue dots, Misc. vellum sentiment, copic markers

Copics Used: E 31, 33, 35, 37, 51, 93/ C 1, 5, 7/ W 3, 5/ G 21, 94/ BG 93, 96/ YG 91/ 00

Here are some close up pictures for you

 

Challenges:

Totally Scrapalicious: Manly Card

Tuesday Throwdown: An image that needs coloring

OWH Stars & Stripes: Use Stars

Crafty Catz: Stars and stripes

Dare You To Digi Stamp: One for the boys

One Stitch At A Time: Furry Friends

HUGS...

 

What does a penquin use to water the flowers?

I am not really sure. Do they have flowers where a penguin lives? Well, if they do, I suspect that a penguin would look something like this on his way to do the chore.

Isn't he so cute! Good thing he does not live locally, I can almost see some flowers shaking with dread with a complete look of surprise as they saw this little guy coming along, ha ha ha...To bad I did not have a stamp like that!

He is called PJ the Penguin and you can get this image of him as well as other cute images at the Sew Many Cards store.

I used a lot of dimensionals on the layers to make the card POP. Also, as you can see, I added plenty of jeweled flowers and a charm to go with the sentiment. I am not exactly sure what one would use this card for other than to let someone know you are thinking of them and make them smile.

I kept the inside very simple, with plenty of room to write a personal note.

Recipe:
Images: PJ from Sew Many Cards, Sentiment made in Photoshop
Paper: Stampin' Up
Ink: Ink jet
Accessories: Ribbon, charm, flower jewels, elastic cord, paper piercer, sticker, dimensionals, cuttlebug embossing folder, bug shot, white gel pen, copic markers, glue dots
Copic Markers used: C1, 3, 5, 7; B 00, 12, 24; E 11, 17; YR 07; V 000; RV 29; R 20; Y 17 and 00.

Challenges:
KL Stampin' & Scrappin': Animals
Cupcake Craft: Blossoms and charms
Ohh-la-la: Bright and cheerful

There is still 3 days left for the blog candy drawing. I hope you get you name in before Saturday :o) Hugs..

Sew Many Cards Challenge #14

HI! And welcome to the Sew Many Cards Challenge #14. This week we have a sponsor with some really fun digital stamps, Soft Pencil Digital Stamps. They have adorable images that are to much fun to color. There also are 2 very elegant flower images (see my post yesterday to see the rose).

Elizabeth is offer a $15 voucher to the winner! That is a lot of images to choose, fun! While you are stopping at the store to check out these cute and fun images, you can stop by their blog here and see what is happening!

The challenge this week is to create an EASEL CARD.

 For my challenge card this week, I used the new Sew Many Cards image Kasy the Kangaroo. She is so cute with her baby tucked all nice and warm in her pouch. Looks like the little one is either about to escape (if it is a boy) or not wanting to miss out on anything (if it is a girl), bwaaha ha ha...Which do you think it is? I was thinking of adding a tiny little bow to the head until I realized I did not know if it was a girl or not! Now...if not...that just wouldn't have been right, LOL Maybe Angela should come out with a line of stuffed animals, these 2 just look that cuddly!

Recipe:
Stamps: Kasy the Kangaroo by Sew Many Cards
Paper: Stampin' up
Ink: Ink Jet
Accessories: nestabilities, big shot, dimensionals, Primas flowers, Stampin' Up designer buttons, glue dots, Copic markers, white gel pen
Copics used: 0; 100; E 29, 43, 57; R11, 20; C 1, 3; B 93, 38

Challenges I entered this card into:
One Stitch At A Time: polka dots
Pile It On: cute and cuddly
Stampin' Sisters In Christ Challenge: brown, blue and white
Crafty Creations: around the world (we don't have kangaroos here in the USA)
Paper Play: Brown and.... (whatever other color you choose)

The Freebie Friday image is up on the Sew Many Cards Challenge Blog. It is called "Miky Military" and boy, is he the hero of digis!

Well, I guess I am just a women of few words today...who would have ever thought...ha ha ha...

I have made very few easel cards and am looking forward to all the inspiration you all will be passing along!
Hugs...

EDITTED TO ADD:
I am hijacking this post for a very quick moment...I added more blog candy to the booty for 20+ followers. Now we have readed 25! YEAH! Thank you everyone!!!...so I will add more tomorrow :o) You can see the addition in the blog candy post at the top of the home page. If you have not signed up to follow, the candy will run until May 22nd, so follow away, and your name will be added to the drawing.

What Spring Brings

Among all the things spring brings, flowers, butterflies, birds with mostly photos of girls is what we often think about. Maybe because we are women who spent a few years being a girl so we can associate. When I think of spring, these are the first things that come to my mind also. Perhaps it is because I like to forget what other things spring may bring.

For us (I am in NH) it also brings insects (think ants, spiders, flies, MOSQUITO'S) and mud. Ugggg...mud, a housewife's worst nightmare. That is early spring when the snow melts and rain comes but the grass is not grown yet. I decided to make a card that brings back memories from a mother with 2 of the male persuasion.

Yup, that is what my boys would look like in the spring. I wanted them to go out, just not to come back in, ha ha ha...I could probably tell you how many times a pair of sneakers can be washed! Sometimes we would actually hose them down outside first! Aaaaaa...memories...

This is the adorable Sew Many Cards image Duncan and Owen. The frog is not part of the image, I added him so I could enter a certain challenge (big smile for my ingenuity, tee he)

Recipe:

Stamps: Duncan and Owen, sentiment digitally made

Ink: n/a

Paper: Paper Temptress (green color), Stampin' Up (tempting turquoise), unknown (pattern)

Accessories: Nestablities, big shot, dimensionals, glue dots, ribbon, buttons. 1 3/8" circle punch, frog sticker, copic markers

Copics used: B 00, 02, 05, 24, 29, 39; E 00, 11, 33, 37, 47; G 21, 85, 96; Y 8, 15, 17; C 01, 03, 05; R 11, 20; W 07; 00; 100

Challenges:

S2G Challenges, Twisted Thursdays: Use the word "welcome"

Dare U to Digi Stamp: anything goes

Crazy 4 Challenges: Add something from the poem "what little boys are made of"

Kaboodle Doodles: celebrate spring

Another thing spring brings to mind is signing up for the summer reading program at our local library. My daughter enjoyed this as well as the boys. We would sign up late spring, when the mud was dry ;o) Their favorite part was reading enough to earn the FREE PIZZA at our local Pizza Hut, LOL. They all love reading to this day and eating pizza too.

Reading in the summer, for the most part, brought happiness. Probably because they did not HAVE to do it and could choose their own books as long as it stayed in the programs theme. Of course, why share their treasured book they searched so diligently for. Might as well sit on it so the others don't "steal" it...ha ha ha...I know your kids didn't do that, right!?

I used the most adorable stamp from Sew Many Cards called Dino Reading which is

brand spankin' new this month. This easel card may look small to you and it is. It measures 2x4" before folding, so the finished card is 2" sq. How cute is that! I made 2 of the images in Photoshop, flipping one over horizontally. Colored them both and adhered them back to back. My original plan was for her to be above the top fold more, but she did not end up as high as I expected. Too settled on her book I suppose.

Recipe:

Stamps: Dino Reads by Sew Many Cards, Define Your Life by Stampin' Up

Paper: Paper Temptress

Ink: Real Red

Accessories: Tombow multi glue, stickers, copic markers

Copics used: R 05, 20, 32, 46; B 93, 95, 97; C 01, 03, 07; V04, 08, 09; E 35, 57; RV 10; BV 00, YG 67; 00

Challenges:

Stamp Insanity: easel card

Creative Craft World: easel card

Thank you for stopping by and making it to the bottom of my post, LOL. Don't forget to become a follower and you will have a chance to win the growing candy. Just 2 more followers and I will be added even more!

Sew Many Cards Challenge #13

Today we start the Sew Many Cards Challenge #13!

We have a fantastic sponsor this week, Stitchy Stamps. The lucky winner will get their choice of 3 digis from their store. You may want to check them out now, that will give you time to boil it down to the 3 you like the most in case you are the winner. It will be a hard choice, that is for sure.

Sewwwww. what is the challenge this week? Christmas of course, LOL. It is never to early to start making those homemade gifts and home decor items. So we would like to see ANY CHRISTMAS PROJECT. How fun is that!!!

For mine, I decided to make one of my favorite Christmas projects...home made ornaments. In order to use the digi stamps though, I needed to make rub-ons, YEAH! I used the adorable new image Majick the Mini Horse.

Doesn't he look so cute all dressed up for Christmas. I colored him with Prisma pencils before adhering to the ornament. I then colored the mane, tail, patches and hoofs with Sakura gel glitter pens. They did take a bit of time to dry but it worked out well...except when I did not wait long enough and smudged it, LOL

I colored this image the same way as the previous one, but adhered it to a ceramic ornament. I actually like how it transferred to the ceramic better than the glass.

On both, I added some outline sticker stars and the year with a Sakura glaze pen.

I am very excited to see all the wonderful projects that you are going to make. It will be great for all of us to see some ideas for Christmas 2010!

Don't forget to stop by the Sew Many Cards Challenge blog and pick up this weeks Friday Freebie. Oh My Gosh...he is truly adorable. Even better, sign up for the newsletter and get the Friday Freebie in the newsletter each week!!!

Here is the image this week called Army Baby.

Have fun creating and I will certainly be stopping by the entry blogs to glean from the creativity I am going to find there.

Welcome to the Sew Many Cards Blog Hop

>>>The blog hop starts at the Sew Many Cards Challenge site HERE. To stay in order, the complete list of blogs will be found there. You should have come to my blog from Regina's blog HERE. The next blog you will go to is Sandye C's blog HERE.<<<

Every member of the Sew Many Cards Design Team will have the opportunity to randomly draw one name from all the comments left on their blog hop post. The lucky person will receive the image showcased in that post for FREE, yeah!

I had the privilege to work with the new set called Morty Camping. In the set you will receive 4 cool images in jpg, png and tif. The images are a frying pan, a lantern, a worm on a hook (sew cute!) and Morty toasting a marshmallow by a campfire.

I am totally excited to share these projects with you. There are a lot of pictures, therefore some will be kind of small. You can simply click on any photo to see it full size :o)

My first project is a Smores Kit. How could I not make one with an image like this, LOL

Oh my gosh, isn't he so cute! I combined the images with the Gina Winder flannel digital paper pack from D.A.I.S.I.E onto the In A Pinch template from Lauren Meader in Photoshop Elements 6. For the sticks with marshmallows around the top, I cropped them off of the Morty image. After printing, all I had to do was color the images, cut out the pattern and put it together. I did the same thing for the tag, but did not need a template for it. Here are some other photos:

Recipe:

Stamps: Morty Camping

Paper: Paper Temptress

Ink: Ink Jet

Accessories: Paper snips, scor-tape, linen thread, button, craft knife, self healing mat, 1/8" circle punch, Copic Markers.

Copics Used: E 21, 29, 31, 33, 43, 51, 53, 57~~~R 05, 17, 20, 27, 29~~~YR 02, 07,23, 31~~~C 1, 5, 5, 7~~~YG 03, 06, 11~~~BV 08, 23, 31~~~B 05, 24~~~Y00, 02~~~G 94~~~RV 34~~~100 (black) 0 (blender)

For my next project I made recipe cards using recipes that I thought kids may like. For these, I also used Bear Chef, Eris and Cammi With Cake, January Champaign and Cammi Bookworm. When the cards were complete, I used laminating paper to laminate them.

Recipe:

Stamps: Bear Chef, Cammi Bookworm, Eris and Cammi with Cake, January Champaign, Morty Camping

Paper: recipe cards by Papertrey Ink, Paper Temptress

Ink: ball point pen

Accessories: 1/8" circle punch, silver elastic cord, charm, laminating paper, copic markers

Copics used: see project recipe above

Thank you so much for joining me for the blog hop! And, don't forget to leave a comment, it just may be your name that I pick!

Hugs, Sandy O

Comments before moving to Blooger

Fantastic images and adore what you have done with them,loving this hop,hugslilacanglia Posted by: lilacanglia May 03, 2010 at 05:28 AM Wow!What a Awesome Projekt.Great Blog Hop Posted by: Kerstin May 03, 2010 at 02:35 AM What a stunning project! Love all the camping goodies and this image is sooo perfect! Posted by: Ruby May 03, 2010 at 02:20 AM Such a cute idea. Very, very cute. Posted by: Pamela May 02, 2010 at 03:38 PM Love the image. Can't get over what a creative idea you had. Wow is all I can say! Posted by: Tammy T May 02, 2010 at 10:10 AM Absolutely rocking project!! This is so cool and you can tell you put so much work in to it! All I can say is WOW, I love it! Posted by: Christi Hicks May 01, 2010 at 11:55 PM Oh this is so so cute, I love it!!! Posted by: tammy miller May 01, 2010 at 01:42 PM Your projects are all awesome.That's a lot of work, but they all look great.Adrina XX Posted by: Adrina May 01, 2010 at 03:16 AM Wow! Great job! I love camping. Morty is so cute. Posted by: Janell April 30, 2010 at 11:27 PM WOW Sandy!! I think your projects are SEW awesome. Kinda like jaw dropping awesome. Posted by: Peggy April 30, 2010 at 10:25 PM Oh Sandy! Wow, what a wonderful project! I totally love this image! Morty is such a cute stamp anyway when I read in your blog that he in now camping I couldn't wait to see him. You so did him justice. I have to say I am now in love with Morty! Great job girl!!! Posted by: Sarah T April 30, 2010 at 10:03 PM What cute projects. Makes me want some smores. Posted by: Jennifer Moore April 30, 2010 at 09:26 PM What a great project!! Morty is one of my favorite characters; and this set is going to the top of my must-have list!! Posted by: April O April 30, 2010 at 08:46 PM Wow what a great job. Cannt wait to try your project, also so a card on your site a cann't wait to make one almost like. Look forward to seeing all your projects at the next blog hop. Posted by: Sharon Swain April 30, 2010 at 06:33 PM SUPERB I love this idea and I LOVE Morty Posted by: Laralee Ganske April 30, 2010 at 06:32 PM That's a fabulous project!I so love it!!Very creative! Posted by: Margie April 30, 2010 at 04:38 PM Morty sure is cute! Great S'more kit! Posted by: lisa808 April 30, 2010 at 03:42 PM PAWSITIVELY ADORABLE!!! Love it!!! My boys are big Boy Scouters so I'm going to have to make them some of these!!! They will love them!! The recipes are so cute....love that little muffin pan!!!! Posted by: Kim April 30, 2010 at 02:39 PM This is totally awesome. I love everything you did. Wonderful project. Thanks for sharing. Posted by: Patricia St Martin April 30, 2010 at 12:58 PM Wow, what an amazing project, I love it! Posted by: Autumn Goodman April 30, 2010 at 12:24 AM That is a great project. very creative. Thank you for sharing Posted by: michele H April 29, 2010 at 11:59 PM WOW!! Let me know if you can't locate my address for shipping LOL You done an amazing job with this set Sandy!!! Awesome project. I'm going to have to remember this one for a few friends I have that enjoy camping! You done an amazing job with your first SMC Blog hop!! Thank you for your hard work! Posted by: ~Jeri M~ April 29, 2010 at 11:52 PM

Shaped Card and Lots of Flowers

I have 2 projects to share with you today. Yesterday I said I would post a project using one of the Some Odd Girl stamp. I chose to use the digital stamp from the Mae line.

Oh My, isn't she adorable. I had such fun coloring her. For some reason she reminds me of my sons girlfriend, LOL, and she is just as sweet as this image is.

I don't usually use bright colors, but this image would not have been the same in pastel or earth tones. I don't know if you can see it in the photos (you can always click on them to see a larger version) but there is a lot of glitter on the paper I chose. How about THAT, bling with no work, LOL

I think she is really sweet, so I entered her in this weeks Pile it on challenge~~~Make is sweet

I also entered this card in the following challenges:

Diedrich Dare (Whimsical Wednesday)~~~Spring

Dive Coffee Break~~~Color challenge~~~Tempting Turquoise, Pink Passion, Dusty Durango

One Stitch at a Time~~~Flowers

My next card uses the really cute image from Sew Many Cards called Halen With Hat. She can be purchased with Pack #6. There are 8 packs to choose from and they all have some really nice images that are no longer available to purchase individually. Remember, the packs are only $5.00 currently, with the normal price being $25! Talk about a great deal. Halen with Hat is still available to purchase individually for only $1.75

Isn't she adorable. I added some liquid pearls to her necklace to give them some dimension. I also put a rhinestone on her bow, LOL

The dress pattern is from The Cutting Cafe'. Since the front is rather heavy, I applied some crystal effects along the inside of the fold and let it dry. Now it has a nice strong fold so it shouldn't rip. The inside sentiment says "It takes courage to grow up to become who you really are". As she is playing dress up with the big girl clothes, I am sure she is wondering when she will be big enough to wear the lovely hats and dresses. That is why I put her on a dress pattern, to represent what she is daydreaming about.

Recipe:

Paper~~~Paper Temptress

Stamps~~~Halen with Hat by Sew Many Stamps, Hope Happens by Stampin' Up

Ink~~~Lovely Lilac

Accessories~~~Dress template from The Cutting Cafe', nestblilities, big shot, oval punch, glue stick,lace, self adhesive pearls, rhinestone flowers, liquid pearls, misc. charm, crystal effects,copic markers

Copics used~~~C 1, 3, 5 ~ BV 04,17, 29, 31 ~ R 00, 11, 32, 59 ~ BG 93 ~ B 24 ~ 100 ~ blender pen

Challenges I entered this card into

Aly's Sunday challenges~~~Animals

One stitch at a time~~~Flowers

Bildmaira Blog~~~Shaped Card

Something Completely Different Challenge~~~ The letter "H"

Corrosive Challenge~~~charm it

Magical Crafts~~~Something for the girls

OH, and don't forget the "follow me" blog candy which you can read about at the top of the page

Hugs, Sandy O

Comments from before moving to Blogger

Beautiful cards!!! Very spring and perfect for upcoming Mother's Day!! Great job!! Thank you for joining us at the Dare!! Posted by: Kris May 03, 2010 at 01:35 PM This is really cute and fun; love it! Thanks for playing along with us at the Corrosive Challenge Blog! Posted by: Angela P. May 01, 2010 at 04:08 PM Beautiful creations, lovely detail, Thanks for joining us over at OSAAT, hope to see you again soon Good LuckSarah xx Posted by: Sarah April 29, 2010 at 06:31 PM Your cards and projects are AWESOME Sandy!! You do a fabulous job. Posted by: Peggy April 29, 2010 at 10:00 AM I love your cards! The girl in the first one is VERY sweet...super cute image and great coloring and papers too! The second card is fantastic...what an awesome shaped card! I like the sentiment on the inside...I'm going to have to remember that.I came by to thank you for the very nice comment on my altered journal and to answer your question...yes I did give it to my daughter and she was thrilled. She really does love that image and I knew she would like the colors. She likes to keep journals/diaries so I know it will be used...which is good so it doesn't end up ON THE PILE! :) Posted by: Lori April 29, 2010 at 08:13 AM these are just gorjus projects,love the dress card its awesome many thanks for joining us at OSAAT hope to see you again love hugs cheryl xxx Posted by: cheryl April 29, 2010 at 07:24 AM Both cards are fab hun. Thanks for playing along with us here at OSAAT and good luck in the other challenges too.Sam x Posted by: Sam April 29, 2010 at 04:37 AM Awesome projects Sandy!! I love the Halen card. You're always so creative!!! Fab job! Posted by: ~Jeri M~ April 28, 2010 at 10:23 PM What a cute little card. Thanks for playing at Aly's. Posted by: Tami April 28, 2010 at 06:40 PM Oh I love how 'Springy' your card is! Adorable, love the bright cheery colours! Thanks for taking the Dare this week! Posted by: Krista April 28, 2010 at 05:54 PM These are delightful. I love the dress card.Great images on both. Thanks for joining in our challenge this week at OSAAT.Smiles...Tammy Posted by: Tammy April 28, 2010 at 05:37 PM Great coloring and paper choice on the first card. The dress-shaped card is beyond words! It is oh so very pretty. Posted by: lisa808 April 28, 2010 at 04:37 PM