Tied up with Ribbon - Banana Split Sunday

Good Morning! The weather is beautiful here and we've been spending as much time outside as we can. I hope it's been nice for you as well!

It's Banana Split Sunday and the challenge for today is "Tied up with Ribbon". I LOVE ribbon. I use them alot, sometimes just a little piece, sometimes many pieces. You can make them the focal point of your project or just a little supporting embellishment. They just play so nicely with other supplies :)

Here are my cards, I had to make two because I love ribbon so much :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Tickled Pink (flamingo) and Hello Beautiful (sentiment) - 2RedBananas
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, chalk ink - rouge
Paper: Bazzill, dp scraps
Other: May Arts ribbons - Textured two-toned Fuchsia/pink, Sheer dots pink/white, Sheer Twinkle - pink, Dew drops - orchid, Shimmerz - bubblegum, prima flowers, pearls, EKSuccess flourish punch, Quickutz tag tie, prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits.


For this card, I made the background with ribbon. There isn't any dp on this card. I had some fun ribbons that I had recycled from other things, but only had a short length of them. This was a perfect way to use some of these :)


Supplies:
Stamps: Tweet-ies - CC Designs
Ink: Memento Tuxedo black, SU Bliss blue (sponging)
Paper: regular white c/s
Other: May Arts ribbon - Grosgrain ric-rac - yellow, Textured two-toned fuchsia/pink, Mesh ribbon - aqua, Nesties, pop dots, Inkssentials white pen, Quickutz tag die, Copics

Be sure to check out the rest of the design teams take on this challenge. 2RedBananas blog.

Our quote for the day:
"Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there." - John Wooden

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you jump on over to the Banana Split Sunday post and play along with us.

Have a great day!

Lots of Birthdays

Hi - I have been slacking big time in posting, sorry about that. Our kids are still in school so we are doing lots of end of the year stuff. Sara is in softball everyday and Ben has his first sand volleyball game tonight too. I'm excited about those things.

We also have lots of birthdays in April and May. Ben's was just a couple days ago and this is the card I made for him :) I LOVE House-Mouse stamps, that includes the Happy Hoppers and Gruffies too :) They are just SO CUTE!!

I also used some Blue Skies Glimmer Mist on this one. I really like this stuff and can't wait to play with it some more.

Supplies:
Stamps: Hammock Hibernation -Stampabilities, sentiment - Stampendous
Ink: Glimmer Mist - Blue Skies, Versafine Onyx black, prismacolor pencils & mineral spirits
Paper: Making Memories, Bazzill
Other: Pixee Stix glitter - chocolate


This one is for our grandson, Tyler. He is turning 3 :) His older brother, Case, plays baseball, so Tyler also loves baseball. I was thinking about whether I like to make cards just because, or if I would rather have a specific card I need to make. I've decided that I'm glad I get to do both! How's that for being indecisive??? :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Great Catch - Stampabilities, AmyR Stamps - Birthday Sentiments - CC Designs
Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black, SU bliss blue (sponging) VersaMagic - Sahara Sand (sponging) , chalk ink - warm red
Paper: Basic Grey, plain cardstock, baseball - unknown
Other: EK Success punch, circle cutter

This card is for Case. When one child has a birthday, the siblings get a little something as well. It's my Mom's fault :) I love this Making Memories paper. I love the colors, the stars, they way the metallic stars shine. It's just fun!

Supplies :
Stamps: Riley - Hanna Stamps, Hero Arts - sentiment
Ink: Versafine Onyx black, SU Bliss Blue, Glorious Green (sponging) Paper Salon - Pear (sponging
Paper: Making Memories, plain cardstock, Bazzill
Other: Nesties - Labels Two, May Arts ribbon, Inkssentials white pen

Our quote for the day: "As simple as it sounds, we all must try to be the best person we can: by making the best choices, by making the most of the talents we've been given." - Mary Lou Retton

Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by!

Banana Split Sunday

Good Morning and Happy Banana Split Sunday day :)

I'm so thankful for these challenges. It was a busy week for us so this was the only card I got to make this week. May has always been busy with end of the school year stuff, birthdays, graduations, weddings. I jokingly told my kids that there are no more birthdays allowed in May :)

This week's challenge is called "May Flowers" - bet you know what the challenge is, don't you? I love flowers, my backyard is full of them and I continue to plant :)
For this card I used the really cool Fantasy Fiber to make my flowers. I just love this stuff! I also used the cutie patootie Bee from the "Party Bees" set.

Look how much the Fantasy Fiber shimmers, even after being ironed :)

After I ironed the fibers to make the 'fabric', I punched the flowers with just a regular punch. Then I handcut the centers because I didn't have the right size circle punch for that.

Supplies:

Stamps: Party Bees - 2RedBananas

Ink: Memento Tuxedo black, SU Bliss Blue (sponging), Copics

Paper: Bazzill

Other: Fantasy Fiber, Nesties - Labels One, May Arts blue ribbon, Shimmerz-Angel Wings (on the Bee wings), gems, pop-dots,, cuttlebug embossing folder

Here is a website I had the privilege to 'blog hop' to yesterday. I will definitely be participating in the 25 + 2 challenge. Read about it and I hope you participate as well! Cards for Heroes

My heartfelt thanks go out to all the military men, women and families, who give of themselves so we can be safe and free!

Our quote for the day: "At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person.
 Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us." - Albert Schwietzer

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Lovin' the new stuff!

Yep, I am - lovin' the new stuff! I need a bunch of graduation cards this year, so these new sets are just perfect!! This is a card I made with the adorable frog from the Ms. Frog Grad set and the sentiment from the Mr. Frog Grad set.

I also used Fantasy Fiber for the star. This stuff is so cool! After I heated it to make 'fabric', I used my quickutz star die. The die didn't cut all the way through, which ended up being very cool because on this particular die, there are nested stars, so all I had to do was finish cutting the outside star and then there are graduated stars along the inside of that. I think you can see it pretty well if you click on the picture to enlarge it. That wasn't my original intent with it, but isn't that the way it goes sometimes :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Ms. Frog Grad, Mr. Frog Grad - 2RedBananas
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Paper: Making Memories
Other: Fantasy Fiber - Bellflower, Inkssentials white pen, prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, pop dots, gems, quickutz star die

Our quote for the day: "Never have an ordinary day." - Pepperidge Farms Commercial

Thanks so much for stopping by and have an extraordinary day!

Banana Split Sunday - Sketch

Good Morning! Today is another episode of 2RedBananas - Banana Split Sunday :)

Today's challenge is a sketch challenge. I love challenges because they really get me doing things I might not have done before. With sketch challenges, I have a base to start with and then can elaborate from there, so much fun!! Here is the sketch we are working with for this week's challenge.

And here is the card I made with it. I used the "Party Bees" set, I just LOVE this little turtle's shell, it's so much fun to color!

The background I made a while ago for a challenge on SCS - it's called Embossed Wax Paper Resist.

It's a fun technique, Lynn (the hostess for the technique challenge on SCS) always comes up with really cool technique challenges, so if you haven't been over there to try them, give it a shot!

Okay, back to this challenge :)

When I was making this card, I was thinking about what I use to color and what my favorite coloring medium is. I don't think I have a favorite, for this one I used Copics, but I use prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits probably more often. I think each one has it's place, at least for me. Oh well, I just like to color!

Supplies:

Stamps: Party Bees - 2RedBananas(being released tomorrow), sentiment - Hero Arts

Ink: Memento Tuxedo black, SU Bliss Blue, Glorious Green (sponging on the oval), Kaleidacolor - Carribean Sea (background)

Paper - glossy cardstock, plain cardstock, Bazzill Bling, Doodlebug Sugar Coated

Other: Nesties, May Arts ribbon, prima flowers, brad, Copics, Inkssentials white pen

Be sure to check out the 2RedBananas blog and the other design team member's blogs.

Cassie~Deb~Denise~Jami~Silke~Teresa~Wendy

Our quote for the day: "Happiness is not the absence of problems, but the ability to deal with them." - Anonymous

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!

So Proud of You

Good Morning! It's another beautiful day here - I hope it is at your house too :)

Today's sneak peek is of a set called "So Proud". I just love this little frog and how innocent he looks :) I didn't have any graduation sets and we are moving into graduation season, both in May, and because my kids are 'that' age :) So, I'm really excited about these sets.

This card is for our niece and I'm so proud of the young woman she has become. She is just a doll. Her school colors are red and blue so I incorporated that into the card as well. You can't see it, although you might be able to if you click on the card and enlarge it, but I stamped stars on the background of the oval with Versamark Dazzle - frost so they shimmer and then I put dots on the scallops of the ovals with a stardust glitter pen. I hope it makes her smile!

Supplies:
Stamps: So Proud - 2RedBananas (available Monday, May 18th)
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, chalk ink - warm red, Versamark Dazzle
Paper: Bazzill, regular cardstock, dp - Provocraft
Other: McGill - window punch, scallop oval nestabilities, star cookie cutters - Quickutz, prima flowers, brad - Doodlebug, ribbon, pop dots, Pixee Stix glitter - licorice (on the tassel), stardust glitter pen

Be sure to play along in our "Glitter Me Silly" challenge to have a chance at winning some glitter. Also, check out the design team member's blogs to see what they are sneak peeking.

Cassie~Deb~Denise~Jami~Jeanette~Silke~Teresa~Wendy

Our quote for the day : "Love much. Earth has enough of bitter in it" - Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by!

2RedBananas Week of Peeks

Hi! I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day weekend. We went to the zoo and it was so much fun, I really love the zoo :)

We are having the 2RedBananas Week of Peeks this week and all the new stamps will be available Monday, May 18th!

This one is called "Flourish with Flowers" by Jami Bova and she was so much fun to play with along with the "Fantasy Fiber". This stuff is really cool and will be on the 2RedBananas website shortly. The color I used is Bellflower and it's a light blue with some purple highlights so those are the colors I chose for the background paper. It was perfect for her wings. Flourish is such a sweet dainty little fairy and I love the way Jami made the skirt to her dress pleat with the strip of 'ribbon' around the bottom. I love all the details :)

The fantasy fiber is really cool because you can iron it to make kind of a woven fabric, which is what I did, and then I stamped the wings onto it and cut them out. The piece on the background I also ironed but I used less fiber so that piece is more 'airy' :) It's very shimmery as you can see in this picture.

We have a bunch of sneak peeks going on so be sure to check out the 2RedBananas blog along with all the design team members.

Cassie~Deb~Denise~Jami~Silke~Teresa~Wendy

Our quote for the day: "Always be a little kinder than necessary." - James M. Barrie

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!

Happy Mother's Day & Banana Split Sunday Challenge

Happy Mother's Day! I hope all you Mothers have a very fun and relaxing day!

It's also Banana Split Sunday Challenge day. It's another fun one. It's called "Glitter Me Silly" and the challenge is to use glitter on your project! I took this picture of my card and then mailed it because I made it for Erin's birthday, which was Friday, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIN! :)

I, however, realized that you can't really see the fun glitter on the dandelion, but it's there :) I was going to take another picture last night, but alas it was already in Erin's hands. So you just have to imagine the glitter on the dandelion. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can probably see the glitter a little bit better. These are the June 2009 House Mouse stamps of the month and I have always loved dandelions so I was smitten as soon as I saw them.

Supplies:
Stamps: Just Dandy , Dandelion Wish - Stampabilities
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, SU Bliss Blue (sponging), Chestnut roan chalk ink
Paper: Wild Saffron, K&Co
Other: Oyster Transparent glitter, Nesties, May Arts green grosgrain ribbon, prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits


This post got postponed because of Mother's Day festivities, so I will be back shortly with another post and our quote of the day!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Happy Birthday Glen :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GLEN!! (even though I'm late :)

I think I'm pretty safe posting this even though my brother hasn't gotten it yet. I don't think he reads my blog, and Glen, if you do happen to read this one, close it now :)

This is the card I made my oldest older brother for his birthday this year, I have 2 brothers and they're both older than me - hee hee, so one is my oldest older brother and the other is my youngest older brother.

We just got this House Mouse stamp in at 2RedBananas, and my brothers both play golf so I knew this would be his birthday card! The little mouse even looks like him, he's kind of ornery :) I just love the House Mouse stamps and they are so much fun to color. I used prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, that's almost always what I use to color these images.

Supplies:

Stamps: Golf Ball and Tees - Stampabilities

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, SU Bliss Blue (sponged for the sky)

Paper: County Library - October Afternoon, Freshly Mown Lawn - October Afternoon, black cardstock

Other: Nesties - labels three, May Arts striped grosgrain ribbon, button, jute, old MAMBI letter stickers, Basic Grey brad

Our quote for the day: "We know the truth, not only by the reason, but also by the heart." - Blaise Pascal

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great evening!

Mother's Day Cards

Hi! I have a quick post before I start adding the new House Mouse & Friends stamps to the 2RedBananas site.....they are so cute!!!

Today, I'm sharing some Mother's Day cards I've made since cleaning up my studio. It's amazing how much more productive I am ;)

This first one is using the Technique Challenge at SCS. The challenge is about using the wax paper resist technique with embossing folders. I ADORE embossing folders, as you will see on the next card as well :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Caring Critters - 2RedBananas, sentiment - Stampendous
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, SU Gorious Green, StazOn black, Creamy Brown chalk ink
Paper: glossy cardstock for the resist technique, kraft and teal regular cardstock
Other: prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, grosgrain ribbon, prima flowers, dew drops - sunflower, cuttlebug embossing folder, quickutz diamond dies


This second card uses a brand new embossing folder from Quickutz. I ADORE the cuttlebug ones so much that as soon as I learned that Quickutz had released some embossing folders, I just had to try one. The one that I bought has the rectangle in the center for the sentiment and I don't have anything even close to that :) I am very impressed with the Quickutz ones as well, the are VERY close to the same thing as the cuttlebug ones. Makes me a happy girl! :) It also helped me make this Clean and Simple card and I'm just not all that great at making these.

Supplies:

Stamps: sentiment - Stampendous

Ink: Versafine vintage sepia

Paper: Bazzill

Other: Quickutz embossing folder, chalk, prima flowers and dew drops - soil and water

This third card was cased from the new Stamp It! Cards Magazine pg. 82 Alisa Bangerter's 'thinking of you' card. I love this magazine!

Supplies:

Stamps: Elegant - Little Yellow Bicycle, sentiment - Studio G

Ink: lavender and yellow citrus chalk inks

Paper: Basic Grey

Other: ribbon, primas, dew drops, word window punch - McGill

Our quote for the day: "Every sixty seconds you spend angry, upset, or mad, is a full minute of happiness you'll never get back." - Unknown

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Banana Split Sunday

Good Morning - It's Banana Split Sunday! This week's challenge, called "Pick a Color, any Color" is to make a monochromatic project. I don't often make these, so it was a fun challenge for me! I just love this little bird's mouth! He is just so adorable!! I love the scarf too, oh I should just face it, I just love him :)

Supplies:
Stamps: the Early Birds, Birthday Chicken (sentiment) - 2RedBananas
Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia, chestnut roak chalk ink, burnt sienna chalk ink
Paper: Webster's Pages - Amber Waves, My Mind's Eye - Bloom - Polka Dot Punch, Bazzill, plain cardstock
Other: Nesties Labels Four, May Arts Textured Yellow ribbon, gems, pop-dots, prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, Inkssentials white pen

Be sure to visit the design team's blogs to see their projects as well :)
Deb
Jami
Teresa
Wendy

I also finished cleaning up my studio, paper scraps sorted and put away even :) I'm going to try to take some pictures, and I'll share those. After I finished cleaning, I made 2 Mother's Day cards, it's so nice creating when I have everything put where it should be, you would think I would remember that feeling and keep it picked up :) I'll share those cards later.

Okay, I'm off to work in the yard for a bit and then we have softball games this afternoon. Have a wonderful spring day!!

Our quote for today: "The great thing in this world is not so much where you stand, as in what direction you are moving." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Thanks for stopping by!

Love You Bears

Good Morning!

Have you ever been cleaning up and 'rediscovered' things you had forgotten about :) I giggle at my kids doing this, but I was doing it yesterday!! So today's card has some of the same elements that yesterday's card did. I just love 'finding' new toys!!

This one was for the Sketch Challenge on SCS. I really like this sketch - lots of room for embellishments, but definitely keeps your focal image front and center.


Supplies:
Stamps: Rachelle Anne Miller - Garden Bears, Love You -Snowman Love - 2RedBananas
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Chestnut Roan chalk ink, Ice Blue chalk ink
Paper: Pink Paislee - Captivation Collection, Bazzill
Other: May Arts Twinkle ribbon, Nesties dies-Curved Rectangles, Quickutz dies Nested Flowers, Cuttlebug-don't know the name, but the corner pieces, gems, pop dots, prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, Inkssentials white pen


Our quote for the day: "Be faithful in small things, because it is in them that your strength lies." - Mother Teresa

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!