Lagniappe - (lan-yap)

Being Creative :)

2011-07-20T17:56:00.007-05:00

Hi!! I am working on using as much of my 'older' stuff as I can possibly use. I still LOVE this stuff (which is why I bought it to begin with :) but for some reason, I have a tendency to save stuff for the PERFECT time to use it........ does that ever come? So, I'm trying to use my stuff because it's pretty and I like it!

So today I used K&Co's Berry Sweet line :) The first two cards are for SplitcoastStampers Sketch Challenge. I think I like this first one with the larger flower best. Which one do you like best?

These cards are based on a card by Amy Rysavy. I LOVE the angled panel. These cards add Doodlebug Paper Frills to the mix of materials.

Our quote for the day: "Don't define your world in black and white because there is so much hiding amongst the greys. "

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Card Pattern Sketch and Inspiration

2011-06-20T14:46:00.002-05:00

Hi - Well the best I can say is that is hasn't been a whole year since I posted.......
My friend Teresa has been inspiring me so much with the cards she's been making using challenges. She used the Card Patterns sketch for today, so I went over there and checked it out.

These are the two cards I made with the sketch. I have so much stuff!! I know you know what I mean. So I've been trying to use what I have instead of going to buy the newest, latest stuff. I don't have room for it!!

Most of the things I've used here are from KI Memories.

Quote for the day: "I've learned that people with forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel." - Maya Angelou

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to post more quickly next time. :)

Birthday and Operation Write Home

2011-05-26T15:54:00.007-05:00

Today is my son's 19th birthday....I just can't believe it was that long ago that I held him in my arms for the first time! He amazes me on a daily basis and I love love love having him home from school for a while. I forgot to take a picture of his card before I sealed it, but I have others to show you.....

This one I cased from Sandy on the Operation Write Home blog. If you haven't been to the OWH site before, you should go. It's all about making cards to be sent to our heroes who are away from home. They use these cards to send back to their families and friends. Go check it out!
Operation Write Home

So, this card is based on one that Sandy made. :)

Supplies:
Stamps - Studio G
Ink: SU colors, Versafine Onyx Black, VersaMagic
Paper: Bazzill and PP scraps
Other: MS punch, sizzix tag die, may arts ribbon, pop dots

This card is for our grandson....he is turning 5 very shortly!

Supplies:
Paper: Bazzill and Paper Studio
Other: Cricut Create a Critter, nailheads, sizzix embossing folder, white inkssentials pen

Quote for the day: Success isn't just about what you accomplish in your life it's about what you inspire others to do.

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

I finally posted!

2011-05-07T17:29:00.006-05:00

Hi! It's been a really long time since I have posted...and a ton of things have happened....but I won't go into all that. I have been making some cards, but haven't been posting them. I really miss it though, so I'm going to try to get back into posting more regularly :)

First thing I have to share are two cards I made based on SCS Sketch Challenge. I haven't been using my die cuts very often, so my additional challenge to myself was to use die cuts. I couldn't decide which one to use, so I just made 2 cards and used them both :)

Supplies:
Paper: Crate Paper -Little Sprout Collection, kraft cardstock

Other: dew drops, Quickutz owl dies

Quote for the day: "Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own." — Robert A. Heinlein

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

Happy 50th Christi!!

2010-01-24T18:17:00.002-06:00

Today is Christi Milliken's 50th birthday and her very sweet Mom organized a Nifty Fifty blog hop just for Christi!

I met Christi through her blog and she is an AMAZING person. Every blog post she writes makes me smile and warms my heart is many ways. She is generous, creative, loving, caring and a blessing to many! She's definitely a blessing to me :) Thanks Christi for touching my life! Your card and gift will be mailed tomorrow - sorry I'm late! :)

Here's wishing you a FABULOUS 50TH!!

Please visit Christi's blog to wish her Happy Birthday and see for yourself how sweet she is!

Blessings on Paper

Here is the list for the blog hop:

1. June Houck http://simplyelegantpapercrafts.blogspot.com/

2. Jeanne Tomshack http://tomshack.blogspot.com/

3. Barb Walker http://thebuzzfromqueenb.blogspot.com/

4. Stacy L http://impressionsofaribbonaddict.blogspot.com/

5. Christi Thorsen http://cici510.blogspot.com/

6. Cammie (Carolyn King) http://myblogbycammie.blogspot.com/

7. Marie Isom http://isomcre8tions.blogspot.com/

8. Mary Ellen Harrison http://abeautifulscrapbook.blogspot.com/

9. Sarah Masteller http://sarahspapertray.blogspot.com/

10. Susan Roberts http://rainy.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

11. Jeanette Fincher jcfincher.blogspot.com

12. Elise Durenberger http://mamacowcreations.blogspot.com/

Banana Split Sunday - a Sketch Challenge

2009-09-13T09:22:00.007-05:00

Good Morning! It's Banana Split Sunday! I haven't posted in a while, sorry about that. I have however, been posting to the 2RedBananas blog so can I have a reprieve? :) This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and here is the sketch:

I made two cards with this sketch because I had paper left and it just felt good to make 2 - LOL! This sketch is great to use scraps and I'm pretty sure we all have lots of those :)

I'm definitely ready for fall, I love the colors, the smells, and the temps. So I used fall colors for these.

Supplies:

Stamps - Aug/Sept Journaling Spot - 2RedBananas

Ink: SU colors, Versafine Onyx Black, chestnut roan chalk ink

Paper: Webster's Pages - Parlor Collection

Other: ricrac, wrinkle ribbon, Glimmer Mist (second card), pop dots, flower from my stash

Be sure to check out the design team's creations!

Cassie~Dawn~Deb~Lynette~Teresa~Wendy

Our quote for the day: "The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do." - Walter Bagehot

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Sunday!

Pumpkin Penny

2009-09-07T09:35:00.003-05:00

Good Morning! I hope everyone is having a wonderful Labor Day :) It's so nice to have a 3 day weekend.

I apologize for the colors on my picture, I'm getting worse at that instead of better, what's that about? :)

I want to introduce you to Pumpkin Penny, one of 2RedBananas September releases. She is designed by Mindy Baxter. I just love Penny, she is so much fun to color and 'embellish'. I used Basic Grey's new Indian Summer paper with Penny and some Bazzill cardstock.

I also used some Spiced Cider Blingz (which is on sale right now) on the pumpkins and then raffia to mimic the straw that the pumpkins are sitting on. I added some brown wrinkled ribbon and that was it. I LOVE fall, the colors, the temps, the smells.......sigh :)

Jump over to the 2RedBananas blog to see more.

Our quote for the day: "In life, as in football, you won't go far unless you know where the goalposts are." - Arnold H. Glasgow

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

Banana Split Sunday - Stripes and Dots

2009-09-06T10:33:00.003-05:00

Good Morning! It's been a while since I've posted, sorry about that. Today, though, is Banana Split Sunday at 2RedBananas. The challenge for this week is to use Stripes and Dots. I love stripes and dots together :)

This is what I came up with. I even got to use lots of buttons which I seem to just collect and use just a few at a time so my collection grows faster than I use them.

Supplies
Stamps: Early Birds, Birthday Chicken(sentiment) - 2RedBananas
Paper: October Afternoon - Hometown Collection and Bazzill
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, Inkssentials white pen
Other: buttons from my stash, nesties,

Be sure to go over to the 2RedBananas blog to see what the dt members created and to play along with us.

Check back soon because our Week of Peeks begins tomorrow :)

Our quote for the day: "Only LOVE can be divided endlessly and still not diminish." - Anne Morrow Lindbergh

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

Pink Paislee Spotlight

2009-08-26T11:36:00.005-05:00

Hi! Today is another Product Spotlight at 2RedBananas. The spotlight is on Pink Paislee, specifically the Fascinating Collection. Each of the dt member's were given paper and chipboard from the Fascinating collection along with some black grosgrain ribbon and created projects with them.

Here are mine:
Supplies:
Stamps: More Quotes - 2RedBananas
Ink: Versafine Onyx black
Paper: Pink Paislee Fascinating collection
Other: Fascinating Chipboard, Nesties, dew drops - soil, black grosgrain ribbon

Supplies:
Stamps: Quotes - 2RedBananas
Ink: Staz-on black
Paper: Pink Paislee Fascinating collection
Other: Fascinating Chipboard, Nesties Labels three, black grosgrain ribbon

Be sure to hop over to the 2RedBananas blog to see the other projects and you can go to the blogs of the other dt member's from there too!

Our quote for the day: "Happiness is the experience of living every minute with LOVE, GRACE & GRATITUDE."

Have a fabulous day!

An Inspiration Challenge on Banana Split Sunday

2009-08-23T08:38:00.004-05:00

Good Morning!

It's time for another round of the Banana Split Sunday challenge. :) This week we have an inspiration challenge. My son took this picture while he was in Paris. I LOVE it! I think there are so many things to draw inspiration from here.

So, this is what I created based on the picture. I used scraps of the MME Bella Bella papers that I still had on my desk. I love these papers and once again, they are double sided, which makes me so happy :)

Supplies:

Stamps: More Quotes - 2RedBananas

Paper: MME Bella Bella Collection

Ink: Rich Cocoa - Memento

Other: May Arts ribbon, Dew Drops - Winter Retreat, machine stitching

Be sure to check out the 2RedBananas Blog to see the other projects made for this challenge and to play along!

Our quote for the day: "Don't look to become a person of success, look instead to become a person of value." - Albert Einstein

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

Bella Bella from MME

2009-08-19T09:30:00.004-05:00

Good Morning -

Today is another Product Spotlight on the 2RedBananas blog. Today we used papers from the Bella Bella collection of MME, along with some YUMMY satin ribbon, a ribbon slide and my favorites....dew drops :)

This is the card I came up with using these products. The Bella Bella line is so beautiful and lends itself to elegant yet still fun projects. I love the colors and the fact that the papers are double sided :) I also used a stamp from the Quotes set. I find myself reaching for these quite often.

Supplies:

Stamps: Quotes - 2RedBananas

Paper: Bella Bella collection - MME

Ink: Rich Cocoa - Memento

Other: Rust satin/grosgrain edge ribbon, ribbon slide, winter retreat dew drops, nesties

Our quote for the day: "Ride on! Rough-shod if need be, smooth-shod if that will do, but ride on! Ride over all obstacles, and win the race!" - Charles Dickens

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

Banana Split Sunday - A Sketch Challenge

2009-08-16T08:35:00.005-05:00

Good Morning!

It's time for another challenge at 2RedBananas. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge. It seems like this is a favorite for many. It definitely gives you a starting point for your card. For me, it also helps me decide what stamps to use, because of the size and shapes of the elements.

We have a new grandson that is due in January along with twin great nieces also due in January and a great nephew who was born just last week!! It's been a very blessed time for babies in our family!! So, I chose to make a baby card (actually I've made a few of them lately :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Precious Bundles - 2RedBananas
Ink: Versafine Onxy Black, Chalk Ink - Creamy Brown
Paper: Imaginisce - Baby Powder Collection
Other: Pink Velvet ribbon - May Arts, Dew Drops - Island Blossom, Shimmerz - Candlelight, Nesties, Copics, white Inkssentials pen

Be sure to check out the design team's creations!

Cassie~Dawn~Deb~Teresa~Wendy

Our quote for the day: "Bricks and Mortar make a HOUSE, but the laughter of children makes a HOME." - Irish Proverb

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

Imaginisce/Fantasy Fiber Challenge

2009-08-12T08:16:00.005-05:00

Good Morning!

It's a fun day today. 2RedBananas has posed a product challenge to the design team. We were each given a 'card kit' containing the same products and today we are revealing what we made with them. It was really fun and cool to see how everyone used the products.

Here is what I made. The kit contained papers from Imaginisce - A Shore Thing Collection. We also had Fantasy Fiber - mine was cotton white, and we had yellow and blue sheer twinkle ribbon.

I really enjoy playing with the Fantasy Fiber. On this card I used it for the penguin girl's grass skirt. I ironed just the 'waistband' so I would have something to adhere to the image, but then I left the bottom part unironed so it's loose and flowy :) I paper pieced their swimsuits with the same papers from Imaginisce, since the papers are double sided, it's kind of like getting 6 designs, you know how I love that!!

Other supplies:
Imaginisce stamps, Hawaiian Chicken stamp set, very small prima flower, gem, white inkssentials pen.

With this card, I focused mainly on the papers. The papers have some glitter on them, so they make a great focus. I ironed the Fantasy Fiber and punched a small flower to use on the turned up corner. I put a button in the center of that one.
Other supplies used: Wrapped in His Love stamp set

Be sure to hop over to the 2RedBananas blog to see more of the projects made by the design team.

Our quote for the day: "The only thing that stands between a man and what he wants from life is often merely the will to try it and the faith to believe that it is possible." - Richard M. DeVos

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

My Love of Flowers

2009-08-10T19:24:00.005-05:00

Hi! I was looking at my last post, a card with a focal flower, and the one I'm posting today, with a focal flower, and the one I made today, with a focal flower. I guess you can say I love flowers. I have fresh flowers on my kitchen table as often as possible. I grow flowers just so I can cut them an put them in a vase inside. And I love to garden. Well, flowers just make the world more beautiful :)

I made this card for the SCS challenge yesterday. They feature a particular stamper and then you use their card for inspiration, or CASE it. This flower is made with a dahlia fold and the instructions are here. I used Fancy Pants dp and cardstock. I spritzed the focal panel with Gold Glimmer Mist. My square scalloped nesties weren't big enough for this so I used the Beads Quickutz 12" die and made my own scalloped square.

I love this dahlia fold and can see myself using it more in the future.

Our quote for the day: "Most people search high and wide for the keys to success. If they only knew, the key to their dreams lies within. " — George Washington Carver

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

Banana Split Sunday - Cardstock Only

2009-08-09T12:16:00.005-05:00

Hi! It's Banana Split Sunday again! :)

This week's challenge is called "Cardstock Only" and is to use only cardstock and one other embellishment. I seem to have an addiction to patterned paper, so when I was thinking about what to use on this card, I kept picking up patterned paper!!

But in the end, this is what I came up with and I have to say, it was pretty fun to make!

Supplies:

Stamps: April Journaling Spot - 2RedBananas

Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia

Paper: Cardstock

Other: Dahlia Nestabilities (on sale now), Dew Drops - soil, EKSuccess border punch, Cuttlebug embossing folder

We would love for you to play along too! Just hop on over to the 2RedBananas blog. You will be able to see more samples from the dt and link your creation to the post.

Our quote for the day: "I can't believe that God put us on this earth to be ordinary." - Lou Holtz

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

An Anniversary card

2009-08-05T10:35:00.004-05:00

Good Morning!

Another Splitcoast challenge card for today. This was a color challenge and I don't think I would have reached for these colors, but I sure do like them together. Very soft and kind of vintagy. The colors are SU Close to Cocoa, Certainly Celery and Blush Blossom (but the only real SU color I used was Close to Cocoa, the others are just a close match to Certainly Celery and Blush Blossom.

I've been beading a bit too and these little charms are from my fascination with making jewelry. Yep, I'm a Jack of all Crafts and a Master of None :) The dp is from MME, the stamps are from VerveVisual and the other stuff is from my stash.

Our quote for the day: "Opportunities are like sunrises - if you wait too long, you miss them. " - William Arthur Ward

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

Back to School Backpacks

2009-08-03T15:31:00.004-05:00

Hi!

I'm so excited about these little backpacks. The technique challenge on SCS today is to make one of these backpack boxes. You make them using 2 pieces of 8 1/2 X 11 cardstock or in my case I used one piece of 12X12 double sided dp or 2 pieces of single sided 12X12 dp.

I made them for our young grandsons and I'm going to put McDonalds gift cards and crayons or something else little inside them for Back to School :) They are a little over 4 1/2" tall and about 3 1/2" wide. They were easy to make too

Here is a link to the instructions - Backpack Box

I also showed my daughter and she thinks they're really cute too. We might make some for her friends' birthdays. She almost always gives gift cards and jewelry or lip gloss stuff so these would be perfect and so cute!

Okay, I'm going back to working on projects now, I just had to share these when I finished.

Remember the sale on the 2RedBananas site started today :)

Our quote for the day: "Your past is not your potential. In any hour you can choose to liberate the future. " - Marilyn Ferguson

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

Banana Split Sunday - "And I Quote"

2009-08-02T08:32:00.004-05:00

Good Morning! It's been a while since I posted. We went to Montana for Ben to look at the University of Montana as a possibility for college. It's a long way from where we live but they have a great Wildlife Biology program, which is what he wants to study. We also went to Glacier National Park while we were out there. We had a wonderful time!!

Now we're back and it's funny, nothing else stops when it's time to go on vacation. Everything else just goes along normally like we were still home ;) So now I get to play catch up. That's okay, some of it is fun stuff, like this!

The 2RedBananas Challenge for this week is "And I Quote". I LOVE quotes!!! I have for a really long time and I'm passing that love on to my daughter too, she has quotes on her walls and mirrors :) This week's challenge is to make a project with a quote as your focus.

Mine uses the "More Quotes" set that was released in July. I just re-read the 6th Harry Potter book and now I'm finally reading the 7th so it was fun for me to use this quote. Also, you can see this part if you look hard and know that it's there, but IRL it's obvious. I used Candlelight Shimmerz around the edge of the dahlia nestie so it really shimmers :)

Supplies:
Stamps: More Quotes
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Burnt Sienna chalk ink
Paper: October Afternoon - Daydream collection - Poppy Garden, smooth cardstock
Other: May Arts mesh ribbon, Dahlia Nestabilities, Dew Drops - Winter Retreat, Candlelight Shimmerz, pop dots, photo corner punch, distress tool

Be sure to check out the blogs of the other dt members:

Cassie~Dawn~Deb~Teresa~Wendy

Tomorrow starts the beginning of a sale on the 2RedBananas site. Clearing out some older things to make room for some newer ones :) Be sure to check the site tomorrow for sale prices on Shimmerz, Blingz, Spellbinders dies, and even some stamps!

Our quote for the day: "Sometimes in our attempt to give children what we did not have, we forget to give our children what we did have. " - Connie Podesta

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

More Seashells

2009-07-22T15:30:00.007-05:00

Here I go with the July Journaling set again. I LOVE the seashells, I guess you can tell that right :)

I made these two cards for sketch challenges. This first one uses the SCS Sketch for this week. It's really a clean and simple card. I used a border punch on the bottom that kind of mimics the water as it comes in on the beach and I used soft green and sand colors, they make me happy :)

This one uses a sketch from the Just Christmas and Birthdays blog, but mine isn't for Christmas or a birthday, I just really liked the sketch and I love this paper with the beachy text on it.

Our quote for the day: "Experience is not what happens to a man.
It is what a man does with what happens to him. " - Aldous Huxley

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

All White....Almost

2009-07-21T08:54:00.003-05:00

Good Morning!

I made this card for the House Mouse Challenge this week. The challenge is to use all white except for the image. This is what I came up with. I had fun making it, which kind of surprised me because I LOVE patterned papers! I guess that is what challenges are for, right?

I used the House Mouse August Stamp of the Month called In A Pinch and the sentiment is from Stamping Bella. I added lots of texture for interest, that was fun too :)

Our quote of the day: "To love someone means to see him as God intended him." - Feodor Dostoevsky

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

Aloha

2009-07-20T12:44:00.004-05:00

Good Morning...well really good afternoon :)

Today's card was really fun to make. Fun colored papers from Bo-Bunny, the piece with the palm tree is theirs too, it's one of the 12X12 sheets with lots of journaling pieces on it. I just chose to use mine as a background instead of journaling on it. I did stamp 'Aloha' :) Hawaiian Chicken was colored with Copics and paper pieced. I added the ribbon and the flowers all on a brown Bazzill background and voila, it's finished :)

That's it for now :)

Our quote for the day: "The thing about trains...it doesn't matter where they're going. What matters is deciding to get on." - The Conductor, The Polar Express

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

Banana Split Sunday - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

2009-07-19T10:36:00.003-05:00

Good Morning! It's Banana Split Sunday and today's challenge is "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle ". There are many ways to interpret this theme and this card is mine:

I started with the paper (which already had this cute little skunk on it :) It's from DCWV and it's their Green Stack which is 70% recycled paper :) My colors are kind of off in this picture - sorry about that. But I added some green gingham ribbon and a little heart gem on the skunk. The quote is from one of the older 2RedBananas stamp sets "Quotes" so I am reusing it :) I don't even want to count how many stamps I have that I have either never used or have only used once, sad really. I used to do a challenge on my blog called "Love an Unloved Stamp" and it didn't have anything to do with not loving the stamp, it had to do with not USING the stamp. I think I might have to start that again. It was fun :)

ANYWAY.....check out the design team members blogs to see some more Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Then go to the 2RedBananas blog to play along.

Cassie~Dawn~Deb~Teresa~Wendy

Our quote for the day: "It's not what the world hold for you. It's what you bring to it." - Anne Shirley, Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel

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

Tree Swingin' Penny

2009-07-18T08:44:00.002-05:00

Good Morning! I finally got some pictures taken so I can share some of the things I've been working on :)

This one I made for the Caardvarks challenge, but I was too slow getting it uploaded, oh well. I love this little Tree Swingin' Penny :)

This is a pretty big card, it's about 5" X 7". I used a pre-made card from the Paper Company. It's shimmery as is the teal scalloped piece. You can see the shimmer in the top right hand corner of the picture. Then I added a piece of paper from Fancy Pants. I cut out and embossed my image layer with nesties, sponged some sky and then added the ribbon and the primas. Very easy.

Our quote for the day: "Blessed are the happiness makers." - Henry Ward Beecher

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

Stamps are Now Available and Cuttlebug Challenge

2009-07-15T14:10:00.005-05:00

Hi! The July stamps are now available on the 2RedBananas website. :) They are all so much fun to play with! I was trying to decide which is my favorite, but I can't decide.

2RedBananas is also sponsoring the Cuttlebug Challenge this week. It's a sketch challenge and this is the sketch designed by Mlamarredesigns.

This is the card I made for the challenge. I used one of the quotes from the new More Quotes set. It's a quote from Albus Dumbledore :) I can't wait to see the new movie, but I decided to re-read the 6th book first.

Okay, this is a quick post because I'm also trying to schedule college visits for our son! I can't believe it's time to do that.

Our quote for the day: "Good manners will often take people where neither money nor education will take them." - Fanny Jackson Coppin

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

Faux Grid Technique

2009-07-13T16:27:00.004-05:00

Hi! Every Monday on SCS there is a technique challenge, I LOVE them! This week's challenge is to create a faux grid. When I first read the post, I wasn't sure about how it was going to work, but then I looked at a couple samples and knew exactly what I wanted to do. I love this month's Journaling set. I think partly because I love the beach and the colors associated with it. :)

So, here is my card. I will edit this post to put a link to the challenge, but right now I think SCS must be having some issues because I can't get onto it. Anyway, I stamped my images on the background first and then created the grid. Then I colored in a few of the squares and then added the suede ribbon and button tied with twine. I cut the sentiment out with nesties and pop dotted it over the ribbon. That's it! It's ALMOST a one layer card. Really fun!

Supplies:
Stamps: July Journaling Spot - 2RedBananas
Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia, Sahara Sand Versamagic, chocolate Zig writer
Paper: reg white cardstock, Bazzill
Other: prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, pop dots, May Arts suede ribbon, button, twine, nesties

Our quote for the day: "Every achiever that I have ever met says, "My life turned around when I began to believe in me."" - Dr. Robert Schuller

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

It's Banana Split Sunday

2009-07-12T09:23:00.007-05:00

Good Morning! It's Banana Split Sunday and this week's challenge is a sketch challenge!

I love sketches! For some reason, many times I end up turning them on their side and this one was no exception. That's okay though, I'm good with that :)

Here is the sketch:

And here are the cards I created with it.

This one uses "A Kiss for Chloe" by Sarah Kay, I just love her images. I also used both sides of one piece of dp again. I just love that :)

Supplies:
Stamps: A Kiss for Chloe - Sarah Kay
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, SU Bliss Blue (sponging), Chalk ink - Chestnut Roan
Paper: October Afternoon - Daydream collection
Other: prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, buttons, burlap fabric, nesties, pop dots

I also fringed the burlap by pulling a strand of the fabric from the sides and used the strands to tie through the button holes.

This one uses the new July Journaling Spot that will be available Wednesday.

Supplies:
Stamps: July Journaling Spot - 2RedBananas
Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia, Chalk ink - Chestnut Roan, Distress Ink
Paper: Making Memories
Other: Nesties Labels Four, pop dots, prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits

This is an easy sketch to use and perfect for double sided papers :) Be sure to hop on over to the 2RedBananas blog and to the blogs of the design team to get more ideas and to play along!

Cassie~Dawn~Deb~Teresa~Wendy

Our quote for the day: "The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for." — Allan K. Chalmers

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

Feel Like a Princess

2009-07-10T17:35:00.004-05:00

Hi! Another sneak peek for today. This is another set that will be released on Wednesday, July 15th. Another one illustrated by Mindy Baxter. She creates such cute images! This is a set called Princess. She is just a tad over 4.5" tall and her tiara is separate so if you want her to be a beautiful princess without her tiara, you can have that too :)
She is really fun to color and I can't wait to paper piece her dress. This time I colored her with prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits then added a few hightlights with the Inkssentials white pen. I painted her hair and eyeshadow with Blingz and Shimmerz. Really fun! The papers have embossed places on them so they shimmer too. Then I added gems to the bodice of her gown. I also pop dotted her up for some dimension.

Be sure to check out the 2RedBananas blog for some more fun peeks.

Our quote for the date: "Act as if what you do makes a difference.
It does." - William James

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

Sneak Peeks from 2RedBananas

2009-07-09T13:04:00.004-05:00

It's time for the 2RedBananas sneak peeks to begin. The release will be next Wednesday, July 15th.

This is a fun month. We have a new illustrator, Mindy Baxter. She has designed 3 of the 5 sets we are releasing this month. They are ADORABLE!!

This first card uses 2 of the new sets. Penny's Mushroom (which is one of the ones designed by Mindy) and More Quotes. I just love quotes, always have :) I also used Basic Grey Lemonade paper on this one.

All the images on this card are from the July Journaling Spot. It's a fun one too. This card was made for the SCS Sketch Challenge this week.

Be sure to keep checking the 2RedBananas blog as well as the blogs of the design team members as you will be seeing sneak peeks all week :)

Cassie~Dawn~Deb~Teresa~Wendy

Our quote for the day: "Please understand my friend, that where you find yourself tomorrow is a function of the positive decisions and actions you take today." -
Akin A. Awolaja

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

the August 2009 House Mouse stamp

2009-07-07T18:10:00.003-05:00

Hi!

Softball finished today. The girls won their last 4 games. It was a great season and they were so much fun to watch!

The card I'm showing you today is one I made for this week's House Mouse Challenge. The challenge is to create something for a season. My season is winter, not because winter is my favorite, but because my favorite time to think about cold weather and snow is during the hot summer :)

This image is the August 2009 Stamp of the Month and it just came out. I love little Amanda mouse in the sock !!

The background I created by using my glue pad and dragging it over the dp and then pouring glitter over the top. Fun way to create a snowy background.

Supplies:
Stamps: In a Pinch - Stampabilites, Snowman Love - 2RedBananas
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, SU Bliss Blue (sponging)
Paper: let it snow words - Heidi Grace, Bazzill
Other: May Arts ribbon, nesties, prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, gems, glitter, Essential Glue Pad

It's a fun challenge, you should check it out.

Our quote for the day: "When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail." - Abraham Maslow

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

Patriotic Please - Banana Split Sunday Challenge

2009-07-05T09:08:00.003-05:00

Good Morning! I hope everyone had a wonderful July 4th!

Today's Banana Split Challenge is all about July 4th, but we're carrying it beyond the holiday. The Challenge is to create something Patriotic. It goes really well with the Cards for Heroes organization too :) I'm working on my 25 + 2 challenge and I'm almost there. I would really like to see just how many time I can complete the challenge, because if you go to the website and read all the comments about the program, I'm pretty sure you'll want to participate too. Here's the website - Cards for Heroes.

Okay, on to my card. I love red, white and blue! It is a really simple card to put together. Funny thing, Deb and I both used the same stamp sets for our cards :) Sgt Chicken and May Journaling Spot.

Supplies:
Stamps: Sgt Chicken, May Journaling Spot,
Paper: Bazzill and dp from my "collection"
Ink: Memento Tuxedo black, Copics, Inkssentials white pen, Versamark Dazzle, Versafine Onyx black (sentiment)
Other: red satin ribbon, pop dots

Be sure to check out the design team blogs too.

Cassie~Deb~Jami~Teresa~Wendy

Our quote for the day: "A good heart is better than all the heads in the world." - Edward Bulwer-Lytton

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

Something I've Been Wanting to Try

2009-06-29T20:44:00.003-05:00

Hi! Softball season is still going strong. Two more games today - we split again won 1 lost 1. Play two more tomorrow too :)

I made this card for the sketch challenge on PaperCraftPlanet. I thought it was a fun sketch to work with and when I saw the sketch I thought of these paper flowers that I have been wanting to try. I've seen them made a couple of different ways, but I made mine with tissue paper and Glimmer Mist.

First I cut 6 circles from the turquoise tissue paper, each a little smaller than the last. Then I sprayed them twice with sky blue Glimmer Mist. I waited for that to dry, doesn't take long. I crinkled the circles and then flattened them back out and layered them. I put a button in the center and stitched it with DMC embroidery thread. The stitching on the card is Martha Stewart floss. I cut the leaf shapes from Bazzill cardstock and crinkled them and them adhered them with glue dots. It was really easy to make, I will be making more :)

Our quote for the day: "Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy. " — Thich Nhat Hanh

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

Banana Split Sunday on 2RedBananas

2009-06-28T09:48:00.006-05:00

Good Morning! It's Banana Split Sunday :) This week's challenge is an inspiration challenge using the picture you see here. There are so many different ways to get inspired by this. I made two cards based on two different ways of inspiration.

There is a prize this week too so pop over to the 2RedBananas blog to read all the details.

This first card I made based very loosely on the colors, but more on the layout of the picture.
Supplies:
Stamps: June Journaling Spot - 2RedBananas
Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia, VersaMagic - Sahara Sand (sponging)
Paper: Making Memories
Other: Nestabilities - Labels Three, primas, Dew Drops - Winter Retreat , May Arts Grosgrain Ric Rac

This card was based on the colors, such happy colors. :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Party Bees - 2RedBananas
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Smooch - siren
Paper: Bazzill
Other: Cuttlebug embossing folders, pop dots, Quickutz die, glitter, Copics, gems

Be sure to check out the design team members creations:

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

Then go to the 2RedBananas blog and play along :)

Our quote for the day: "What being at leisure means is more easily felt then defined." — Vernon Lee

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

Have a Beautiful Day

2009-06-27T17:08:00.004-05:00

Hi -

I hope your weekend is great! Our weather is kind of weird lately. Today the sun was shining and it was hot and then about 15 minutes later it was raining. Now the sun is out again and it's HOT! :) Since I love both the sunshine and the rain, that makes a happy me.

I made this card for the SCS Color challenge last week. These are not my normal colors, but I really like them together. I found this glittery dp from MyMindsEye that worked with them too. I love this stamp by Sarah Kay. I colored her with prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits.

The yellow and orange pieces are embossed with cuttlebug folders and then I added the daisy trim that I got from my grandmother. I really love it and I have a pretty long piece of it, so I will be able to use it on quite a few projects :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Picnics of Daisies - Sarah Kay (2RedBananas), sentiment - AMuse
Ink: Versafine Onyx black, SU Bliss Blue (sponging)
Paper: SU Pacific Point, Summer Sun, Tangerine Tango, dp - MyMindsEye
Other: ribbon, daisy trim, gems, nesties, pop dots

Our quote for the day: "Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning. " — Gloria Steinem

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

All Stars

2009-06-26T20:53:00.004-05:00

Hi -

It's Friday night at 8:45 and I'm about to put my pjs on and stamp for a little while :)

This is a quick card I made this afternoon for the Limited Supplies Challenge on SCS. The was a FUN challenge. There are 3 different categories with 3 choices in each. We had to choose one from each category.

My choices were:
Neutral Image - Stars
Colors: Reds & Blues
Embellishments: Die cuts & Embossing folders

and this is what I came up with. I have to say, I'm liking these Clean and Simple cards lately!

Supplies:
Stamps: none
Ink: none
Paper: Bazzill
Other: Quickutz star die, Cuttlebug embossing folder

If you've never taken the Limited Supplies Challenge, you should give it a try. It's fun!!

Our quote for the day: "The only thing that stands between a man and what he wants from life is often merely the will to try it and the faith to believe that it is possible." - Richard M. DeVos

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

Two Cards for Today :)

2009-06-25T10:06:00.005-05:00

Hi! Did you watch the College World Series???? LSU Tigers are the Champions :) GEAUX TIGERS!! (That was just in case you didn't see my post right before this one :)

My cards today were made for our grandsons. They live out of town, so I love to send them cards and little things just because we love them so much! I used the Sketch Challenge on SCS. These were very easy and neither one has stamping on it. This first one uses papers from 3BugsinaRug along with a die-cut from them as well. I inked the edges of the tag and added pop dots and fibers.

This one uses papers from Bazzill and Pebbles Inc. The star in the center is from them as well. I added pop dots and epoxy stickers to this one.

Both are clean and simple. More softball games today, they are still playing very well!

Our quote for today: "Obstacles in life are like logs in your path.
You can step over it or move it out of the way.
You could cut it up and make firewood." - Unknown

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

LSU WINS!!!!

2009-06-24T22:45:00.003-05:00

Congratulations to the LSU Baseball team. They are the 2009 College World Series Champions! :)

GEAUX TIGERS!!

2RedBananas and House Mouse Challenge

2009-06-22T10:21:00.003-05:00

Good Morning! Today I'm sharing two cards that I made for the House Mouse Challenge. 2RedBananas is sponsoring the challenge this week. It's a sketch challenge and both the 2RedBananas dt and the House Mouse Challenge dt have examples for you to see - lots of eye candy :) You can see all the details here.

These little guys are just so much fun to play with. This one uses October Afternoon papers. I added candlelight shimmerz to the lemonade and to the flower.

Supplies:
Stamps: Splish Splash a Citus Bath
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Paper: October Afternoon - Hometown collection , Bazzill
Other: Shimmerz - candlelight, May Arts ribbon, primas, gems, nesties, pop dots, prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits

For this one, I used one of the Gruffies stamps. I also used my Hero Arts "hello You" stamp. I LOVE this sentiment and I think it works so well with the magnifying glass :)

Supplies:

Stamps: Finding Friendship, Hero Arts - hello You

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Chalk Ink - chestnut roan

Paper: Pink Paislee - Captivating Collection

Other: Nesties, Pop dots, primas, gems, prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits

The House Mouse Challenges are always so much fun! We would LOVE for you to play along!

Our quote for the day: "It is not our abilities that tell us what we truly are...it is our choices." - Albus Dumbledore

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

Banana Split Sunday

2009-06-21T09:46:00.003-05:00

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

Dad's and sweet things, you see the connection right? ;) I do appreciate my Dad and my husband so I hope they both have a fabulous day today!

It's Banana Split Sunday today on the 2RedBananas blog. The challenge today is an inspiration challenge. How does summer inspire you?

Here is my take on this inspiration. When our kids were little they would eat popsicles ALOT! They were always so cute doing it too. I have lots of pictures of them and now with this fun popsicle stamp I will be scrapbooking them :) This stamp has lines on the inside so you can use it as a journaling block too. I just didn't ink the lines because I didn't want to journal on this. The Doodlebug Sugar Coated paper makes the popsicles look wet - it's fun stuff :)

Supplies:
Stamps: June Journaling Spot - 2RedBananas
Ink: Versafine Onyx black
Paper: Doodlebug Sugar Coated, the Paper Studio and Bazzill
Other: Quickutz cork, dew drops - sunflower

Be sure to check out the design team members creations:

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

Then go to the 2RedBananas blog and play along :)

Our quote for the day: "Friendship is a very comforting thing to have." - A.A. Milne

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

Sneak Peek and TWO Challenge Cards

2009-06-16T19:27:00.004-05:00

Hi!

This sweet buggy is one of the images in Jami Bova's Precious Bundles set. Each time I use this set I love it more and more. The new stamps will be released on 2RedBananas tomorrow :) It's a great set!!

This card also fits 2 challenges on SCS! So unlike me to combine challenges, so I'm excited :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Precious Bundles - 2RedBananas
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics
Paper: SU and Bo-Bunny
Other: Nesties, Inkssentials white pen, brads, pop-dots, cuttlebug embossing folder, twine

This second card uses a brayering technique on glossy paper. You stamp with versamark ink onto glossy paper, then heat emboss with white embossing powder. Brayer over the panel with Kaleidocolor ink, I used Carribean Sea colors and then just wipe with a paper towel to get the ink off of the embossed images. This card fits two different SCS challenges :) This one also uses the July 2009 House Mouse stamps of the month. You can find them here.
Supplies:
Stamps: House Mouse, flourish from Autumn Leaves
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, chalk ink French Blue, Versamark
Paper: Bazzill, glossy cardstock
Other: white embossing powder, glitter, prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, May Arts ribbon, brad, pop-dots

Our quote for the day:
"My basic principle is that you don't make decisions
because they are easy;
you don't make them because they are cheap;
you don't make them because they're popular;
you make them because they're right." - Theodore Hesburgh

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

Banana Split Sunday and CPS Challenge

2009-06-14T08:19:00.005-05:00

Good Morning!

Today's 2RedBananas Banana Split Challenge is playing along with the Card Positioning Systems Challenge that we are sponsoring. It's a sketch challenge and here is the sketch.

I made two cards with this great sketch!

My first one uses the soon to be released Precious Bundles, it's Jami Bova's last set and she says it's her favorite, I can definitely see why. There are lots of fun images and sweet sentiments. It's also FUN to paper piece this image and I can't wait to try it on the others :)

This card is also sweet to me because I used some daisy trim that I got from my Grandmother. I just love the way the trim looks with these sweet papers.

Supplies:
Stamps: Precious Bundles - 2RedBananas (to be released Wednesday, June 17th)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics
Paper: Imaginisce - Baby Powder line
Other: white Inkssentials pen, Stardust pens - pink, yellow, pop-dots, lace trim, pearls

This one is the first card I made with the sketch. I love these papers and I LOVE the Caring Critters set. It's SO versatile.

Supplies:
Stamps - Caring Critters - 2RedBananas
Ink: Versafine Onyx black, Chestnut Roan chalk ink for sponging, SU Bliss Blue for sponging
Paper: Pink Paislee - Captivating Line (the brown polka dot is not in that line, but that was just a scrap I had so I don't know who makes that one)
Other: Dew Drops - water, Nesties, pop dots, May Arts aqua mesh ribbon, Inkssentials white pen, prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits

Be sure to look at the creations from the rest of the design team:

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

Also, pop on over to the 2RedBananas blog and the Card Positioning Systems blog to show off your design and be eligible to win a different prize from each blog.

Our quote for the day: "The manner of giving is worth more than the gift. " — Pierre Corneille

Thanks so much for stopping by and give the sketch challenge a try :)

A New Toy

2009-06-09T18:14:00.004-05:00

Summer is definitely in full swing at our house now :) Sara has had double header softball games for 2 days straight, and has another one Thursday. Their season has started out very well, they've won 6, lost 1 and tied 1. They are so much fun to watch too! Ben did wake up before I left this morning :)

I have a new toy. First I'll tell you about the challenge. The House Mouse challenge this week is to use the colors red, white and blue. I thought about making a July 4th card, but I just wasn't ready to do that yet, so I decided on strawberries instead. I colored with prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits and then colored the strawberry seeds with Spica glitter pen in silver. The dark grey and blacks were too dark, so I used the silver. It's fun with the little bit of sparkle.

My new toy is the EKSuccess border punch. I have always admired the SU punch that's similar to this one, but never bought it. So one day I was in Archiver's with my 30% off coupon and saw it. The rest is history :) The other fun thing on this one is the photo turn. It was just silver and I colored it and the brad with my Copics.

Supplies:
Stamps: Sleeping with Strawberries, Thanks Berry Much
Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black, Chalk Ink - chestnut roan, VersaColor - Atlantic, VersaMagic - Sahara Sand
Paper: MME-Barn Striped Paper, Basic Grey - Mellow-Savory
Other: Nesties, EKSuccess Border Punch, Photo turn and brad

This card is a card I made in the middle of the night. I couldn't sleep one night, so I went into my studio and this is what I made. It is SO SIMPLE! The focus is the patterned paper. Webster's Pages has the most beautiful paper. It's so beautiful that I don't want to scrapbook on it, I just don't want to cover the beautiful images. So I made this card instead. The only thing I stamped is the verse from the Value of Joy set. I embossed the butterfly with clear embossing powder to make it shine and I added sheer ribbon.

Supplies:
Stamps: Value of Joy - 2RedBananas
Ink: Chalk Ink - chestnut roan, Versafine Onyx Black
Paper: Webster's Pages - Peacefulness
Other: ribbon, clear embossing powder

Our quote for the day: "Today, let your heart dance. You will find no shortage of dance partners, as your feet join in. And your eyes. And your smile. And every part of your body and your feelings. Let your heart dance all day long." - Unknown

Thanks for stopping by and have a great evening!

Banana Split Sunday - Pattern Frenzy

2009-06-07T10:12:00.004-05:00

Good Morning!

I don't know about you, but this time of the year is just crazy around my house! Our last day of school was Friday - woo hoo!

Today is Banana Split Sunday on the 2RedBananas blog. The challenge for this week is "Pattern Frenzy" and the requirement is to use at least 3 different patterned papers on your project.

I LOVE patterened papers. I love the 'texture' they give to colors. I have also come to realize that "Heartfelt Friends" is one of my go-to stamp sets when I'm doing an "I love you" card. I just love these little critters and how sweet they all are.

So, for this card I used Imaginisce's 'Baby Powder' line, such sweet colors. I also used Fantasy Fiber to piece the heart that the monkey is holding on to. I LOVE that stuff :)

Jump on over to the 2RedBananas blog to see more examples of the challenge made by our design team and then you jump in and play as well!

Supplies:

Stamps: Heartfelt Friends, Snowman Love - 2RedBananas

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, chalk ink - creamy brown

Paper: Imaginisce Baby Powder line

Other: Nesties Lables Three, Fantasy Fiber - Fairy Wings, May Arts velvet ribbon, pop dots, buttons, twine, prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, Inkssentials white pen

Our quote for the day: "Some people, no matter how old they get, never lose their beauty—they merely move it from their faces into their hearts. "
— Martin Buxbaum

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

Two Challenge cards for today

2009-06-01T20:34:00.006-05:00

Hi -

I played today :) I finished two challenge cards (and I'm a pretty slow card maker). AND one of my cards is a two-fer (I completed two challenges with one card :) That doesn't happen very often for me!

This first card is for the House-Mouse challenge of making an Anniversary or Wedding card. This one is for some friends of ours who are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary this weekend. I also used the Weekend Sketch Challenge sketch.

Supplies:
Stamps: Sunflower Smooch - Stampabilites, Anniversary Birds - VerveVisual
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Vintage Sepia, Chalk inks - creamy brown, chestnut roan
Paper: Chatterbox
Other: Dew Drops - sunflower, ribbon, glitter, charm, prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits

This next card was made for the MOJO89 challenge. I love sketch challenges. I love all challenges, but the sketch ones just draw me in. I love seeing all the different interpretations of the sketches too. This is my take on this fun sketch.

Supplies:
Stamps: Beautiful You - VerveVisual, Clear Butterflies - MS
Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia, chalk ink - creamy brown
Paper: Basic Grey - wisteria
Other: Nesties - Labels One, pop dots, primas, pearls, glitter, May Arts ribbon, prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits

Our quote for the day: "Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out if they've got a second. Give your dreams all you've got and you'll be amazed at the energy that comes out of you." - William James

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope to 'see' you again tomorrow :)

Tied up with Ribbon - Banana Split Sunday

2009-05-31T09:06:00.004-05:00

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

2009-05-28T10:14:00.005-05:00

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

2009-05-24T08:36:00.002-05:00

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!

2009-05-19T18:38:00.002-05:00

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

2009-05-17T10:19:00.003-05:00

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

2009-05-14T09:35:00.003-05:00

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

2009-05-12T10:05:00.004-05:00

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

2009-05-10T08:44:00.002-05:00

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 :)

2009-05-05T20:00:00.004-05:00

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

2009-05-04T13:50:00.007-05:00

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

2009-05-03T10:57:00.003-05:00

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

2009-05-01T08:20:00.003-05:00

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!

Cuttlebug Challenge

2009-04-30T14:20:00.004-05:00

Hi! I'm cleaning up my studio right not......see I'm not really here ;)

As I was cleaning up just a bit ago, I decided a great challenge, okay, it would be a GREAT challenge for me! I'm going to challenge myself to make something with only the papers and embellishments that are on my desk top! I think that might make it easier to clean up....well, if I made about 10 projects maybe :)

Anyway, the Cuttlebug Challenge for this week is to make a Mother's Day card with a coordinating envie. FUN! This is mine.

Here are the supplies:
Stamps: Happy Mother's Day - stampendous
Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia, SMOOCH ink - siren (this stuff is so much fun!!!!), chestnut roan chalk ink
Papers: Pink Paislee - Captivating Collection, brown cardstock
Other: Maya Road suede flowers, May Arts satin ribbon, cuttlebug die, gems, pop dots

Our quote for the day: "Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. ART is knowing which ones to keep." - Scott Adams

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Banana Split Sunday and lots of new stuff...

2009-04-26T08:33:00.008-05:00

Good Morning! I hope Spring is being wonderful to you! We've had alot of rain for the past couple of days and although it's not fun sitting in it for softball, the grass and the plants have LOVED it :) More softball this morning so this will be short.

It's Banana Split Sunday on the 2RedBananas blog. The challenge for this week is to use stripes on your project. There is a fun prize to be won as well. The My Mind's Eye - Bloom paper pack :)

Here is my card for the challenge. I used the Sarah Kay Country Girl stamp. She is just so adorable!! I also used the new Pink Paislee Fetching papers. There papers are really nice, very heavy weight!
Supplies:
Stamps: Country Girl - Sarah Kay
Ink: Versafine Onyx black
Paper: Pink Paislee Fetching collection, Bazzill, and kraft cardstock
Other: May Arts Burlap string, prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, distressing tool

This card was made for the Limited Supplies challenge on SCS. The challenge was to use the colors of a room in your house on your card. I used the colors in my studio (which are also the colors in my kitchen :) Khaki walls, deep red desk, black accessories.
Supplies:
Stamps: Quotes - 2RedBananas
Ink: Versafine Onyx black, Memento Rhubarb Stalk (new color for me and I LOVE it - look for it in the 2RedBananas store soon :)
Paper; cardstock - kraft, deep red, black
Other: nesties, prima flowers, cuttlebug embossing folder (which I inked with the Memento ink BEFORE I embossed the kraft cardstock with it - very fun technique), brads, dew drops, gems, sheer ribbon

This one was made for another SCS challenge. This challenge was to use mostly white or all white. I used a technique for the background that I just LOVE. With the Essentials glue pad, you stamp a background stamp with glue and then sprinkle loose glitter over it. It creates a glittered background for you, very cool! My flowers started out white and I airbrushed them with the Copic airbrush system. I sponged the ink onto the sentiment and then added a few red embellishments.

Supplies: Stamps: Quotes - 2RedBananas, Abstract leaves backgrounder - Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink: Essentials glue pad, warm red chalk ink, Versafine vintage sepia

Paper: Bazzill, plain white cardstock

Other: nesties - lables four, primas, crystal brad, May Arts velvet ricrac, corner rounder, glitter

Our quote for the day: "It is not JOY that makes us grateful; it is GRATITUDE that makes us joyful." - Brother David Steindl-Rast

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

Banana Split Sunday and a PSA

2009-04-19T14:55:00.007-05:00

Hi! It's Banana Split Sunday and today's challenge is called "You're an Animal" so we are challenging you to use your favorite animal stamp on your project. This is my most recent animal stamp from Rachelle Anne Miller. It's called "Going Fishing". I love this little guy. I used him to make a baby card here, but you could also use him for so many other things!

Supplies:
Stamps: Going Fishing - Rachelle Anne Miller
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Chalk Ink Creamy Brown
Paper: Bazzill, Imaginisce Baby Powder Collection
Other: Nestabilities Labels One, May Arts blue Twinkle ribbon, prismacolor pencils & mineral spirits, Making Memories star flocked brad

Now for my PSA and if your child plays softball PLEASE read this. I would think this could pertain to baseball as well, but this happened at a softball game this morning! Sara plays softball and has played since she was about 5 years old and she is 15 now, so all the girls playing softball this morning knew what they were doing, what happened was NOT because they were inexperienced!!!! Our pitcher and 3rd basemen wear protective masks on their faces, I'm not talking about batting helmets when they are hitting, but protective masks when they are in the field. The opposing team's 1st base coach casually asked one of our coaches why our pitcher wears that, if she had gotten hit in the face before, and our coach told him that no, she had not, but she wears it for protection. Well, about 3 innings into the game, a line drive was hit solidly right back to the other team's pitcher and was hit so hard, that she didn't have time to move or get her glove up, so the ball hit her in the nose and eye socket! One of the dads on the other team is a doctor so he ran out there along with the coaches and they were all trying to control the blood. The ambulance came and they secured her head and body to the gurney and took her to the hospital. I asked one of our coaches what the dad doctor said, and our coach told me that although he did not examine her out on the field, he thinks she possibly shattered her eye socket and broke her nose. Let me tell you it was the scariest softball pitch that I've ever witnessed. Here is a link to a company that sells the facemasks and has testimonials of why at the very least the pitchers and 1st and 3rd basemen should wear them. http://www.gameface.com/truestories.asp

Okay, I'm off my soapbox now, I just can't express how fast this happened.

Edited to add: Sara has received word from one of our coaches, that the pitcher did not shatter her eye socket - yeah!!! Her nose is broken as is the top part of her cheekbone where it meets her eye, but her vision at this time looks to be fine :) Please pass along this experience because it is so important to keep our kids safe and although the chances of it happening are slim, it does happen!

Our coach has gotten a more detailed update on the injured player. She is out of the hospital and our player who hit the ball has called her and spoken with her. The injured girl has been in good spirits! The injuries are a broken nose, fractures to her nasal cavities and also orbital fractures in both eyes. BUT, things are looking good for her :) Once again, I can't tell you what an impact this had made on me. Sara plays outfield, she's a center fielder at heart and loves it!!! But, my heart just goes out to that pitcher! I can't even imagine what her parents have gone through emotionally with this. So, once again, PLEASE, if your child or some child in your family plays infield on a softball field, pass this story along with the link to the facemask. THANKS!!

Our quote for the day: "Hold a true friend with both hands." - Nigerian Proverb

Thanks so much for stopping by and go hug your child/children.

Coffee or Cocoa - Thank You

2009-04-17T08:10:00.004-05:00

Good Morning! I have two challenge cards to show you today!

Both were done for the SCS Challenges with the first card being for the HouseMouse challenge as well.

The SCS challenge for this one is a sketch challenge, and the House Mouse challenge is to use more than one HouseMouse image. I love these little guys and just wish I was sitting in a cup of warm coffee or cocoa either one although the cocoa might be a little stickier :)

Supplies:
Stamps: HouseMouse - Morning Kick Start, Lip Smackin' Relaxin'
Ink: Memento Tuxedo black, French blue chalk ink
Paper: MAMBI modern milan paper stack, Bazzill
Other: prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, glitter, pop-dots, May Arts celery grosgrain ribbon, Dymo label maker

This challenge was to use frames. I chose to 'frame' my flowers, which are CTMH stamps that I won from Christi's blog candy :) Thanks so much Christi, I love them!! I 'framed' them with Making Memories tags. I don't use those tags enough, so I enjoyed doing this.

Supplies:
Stamps: CTMH- Treasure Life, Hero Arts - Thank You Messages
Ink: Colorbox Chalk inks, Versafine Vintage Sepia
Paper: Imaginisce-A Shore Thing-Sweet Summer Breeze, Bazzill
Other: MakingMemories Tags, pop dots, May Arts celery grosgrain ribbon, May Arts velvet ricrac - rose, Dew Drops - soil, glitter

There are still a couple days left to participate in the 2RedBananas Banana Split Sunday challenge. It's a sketch challenge this week and you could win your choice of one of the newly released sets! Jump on over there and check it out!

Our quote for the day: "Be strong, go with your heart, and believe in miracles because anything....anything can happen." - Marlo Javidando

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

Just a bit of Fantasy

2009-04-14T14:33:00.003-05:00

Hi! Did I catch you with the title? Well, it's probably not what you were thinking :) The card I'm showing you today was made for the Caardvarks challenge to create a card with a fantasy theme :) Is that what you were thinking???

2RedBananas is now carrying some Sarah Kay and Rachelle Anne Miller stamps and Lily - Magic Fairy is one of them. They are just so adorable!!! So, when I saw the Caardvarks theme, I knew this is the stamp I would use. I have been using alot of glitter lately, which is different for me, it used to be that I never used glitter, now I love the loose kind!!

Another thing I love is the Nestabilities labels. On this card I used Labels Four. Denise (Peanutbee) has a matting with Nesties suggestion on her blog today and I used it for this card - thanks Denise!!! Not to mention that her creations are AMAZING!!

Supplies:

Stamps: Lily-Magic Fairy - Rachelle Anne Miller

Ink: Memento Tuxedo black, SU Bliss Blue, Colorbox Papaya Cream

Paper: WeRMemoryKeepers

Other: Nestabilities Lables Four, May Arts blue Twinkle ribbon, glitter, prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, EKSuccess punch, gems

Our quote for the day: "Do your part to make this world a cuter place to live in." - Susan Branch

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

Banana Split Sunday and Meet "the Early Birds"

2009-04-11T09:06:00.004-05:00

Good Morning! Today we are starting the Banana Split Sunday Challenge at 2RedBananas a day early because of Easter being tomorrow. It's a sketch challenge and we would love for you to play along. You even have a chance to win one of the newly released stamp sets! You can see the sketch as well as all the projects that the dt made on the 2RedBananas blog.

My card not only uses the sketch, but introduces you to the new set "the Early Birds". I love these little guys, especially the one peeking out of the shell :) So cute! Jami's sketch is a great one, and I'm sure I'll be using it again!

Supplies:
Stamps: the Early Birds - 2RedBananas
Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia, Chalk ink Chestnut Roan
Paper: October Afternoon - Hometown collection
Other: May Arts ribbon, prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, Inkssentials white pen, pop dots, Fancy Pants chipboard flourish

Be sure to check out all the dt members blogs to see what they have created with this fun sketch!
Deb, Jami, Maraya, Teresa, Wendy

The new stamp sets will be released Monday, April 13th, only a couple more days!!

Our quote for the day: "A bird does not sing because he has an answer, he sings because he has a song." - Joan Walsh Anglund

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful Easter tomorrow filled with God's blessings!

Hawaiian Chicken :)

2009-04-10T08:08:00.003-05:00

Good Morning!

Today's sneak peek just makes me smile every time I look at him - he also makes me a little jealous because I want to be where he is, but that's another story :)

This is "Hawaiian Chicken" illustrated by Jami Bova. I just love all the details that she puts into her stamps. Check out his straw hat and the hibiscus on his shirt! There are 4 different sentiments in this set! I colored with Copics and then airbrushed the background :) I also put stripes on the surfboard with an Inkssentials white pen. You could also paper piece the surfboard - I think that would be way fun!

Supplies:
Stamps: Hawaiian Chicken - 2RedBananas
Ink: Memento Tuxedo black
Paper: DCWV Summer stack
Other: Copics, Inkssentials white pen, Dew Drops - Fresh Mowed Grass, EKSuccess corner punch, primas, glitter brad

Be sure to check out the 2RedBananas blog for more news on the 2RedBananas store.
Also visit the dt blogs for more sneak peeks :)
Deb, Jami, Maraya, Teresa, Wendy

Our Banana Split Sunday Challenge will be on Saturday this weekend because of Easter so check it out tomorrow :)

Our quote for the day: "Forget your mistakes but remember what they taught you." - Dorothy Galyean

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Welcome Spring.......(anytime now :)

2009-04-09T09:40:00.005-05:00

Good Morning! Well, not as early as I had hoped to post.....but you know how it goes sometimes :) Kind of the same way Spring is taking it's time coming to the midwest!

Today's 2RedBananas sneak peek is a set called "A Spring Thing" illustrated by Abbey Westemeyer. The flowers in my yard aren't quite this vibrant, but I do have some daffodils open and some trying to open. I love spring and I LOVE the starry flowers that Abbey has included in this set. The little girl's dress is so simple, it's VERY easy to paper piece and make it match whatever papers you are using!

Supplies:

Stamps: A Spring Thing - 2RedBananas (to be released Monday, April 13th)

Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia, Chestnut Roan chalk ink

Paper: Imaginisce Baby Powder collection

Other: Prismacolor Pencils & mineral spirits, Inkssentials white pen, Imaginisce flower, Hero Arts flower, May Arts grosgrain celery ribbon, glitter, Dew Drops - Island Blossom, dymo label maker

Be sure to check out the 2RedBananas blog as well as the dt member's blogs.

Wendy

Our quote for the day: "Happiness walks on busy feet." - Kittie Turmell

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful spring day!

Welcome Little Chick

2009-04-08T08:27:00.004-05:00

Good Morning! The sun is shining and I can hear the birds singing outside my window....really I can :) I love to hear them!

This morning I want to introduce you to Chicken Dumpling :) Isn't that just the cutest name in the world? I have to tell you, I just LOVE these Chickens, they are so much fun to play with! Jami is just so incredibly talented - her 'doodling' as she has called it is just amazing! Today's sneak peeks are of Chicken Dumpling and Sgt Chicken. I haven't made a card with Sgt Chicken yet, but Wendy did and it is just ADORABLE! Okay, back to my Chicken Dumpling. I paper pieced this one and also colored it with Copics. These images are so much fun because you can use so many techniques to color them.

Supplies:
Stamps: Chicken Dumpling - 2RedBananas
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx black
Paper: Imaginisce Baby Powder line
Other: May Arts grosgrain ribbon-celery, pop dots, Inkssentials white pen, MS border punch, Copic markers

Be sure to check out the 2RedBananas blog as well as Jami, Wendy and Teresa's blogs for more examples of these adorable stamps sets!

Our quote for the day: -"Babies are bits of stardust blown from the hand of God. Lucky the woman who knows the pangs of birth for she has held a STAR." - Larry Barretto

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

April Journaling Spot

2009-04-07T08:09:00.004-05:00

Good Morning! Before I get talking about the new stamp set we're sneak peeking today, I have a cool story for you.

Both Ben and Sara are taking French classes at school. Ben is in his 4th year and Sara in her 2nd. Last year, Ben went to France with school and this year we are hosting a French student in our home. His name is Jules and he does speak English, which is a good thing because I speak absolutely no French. We picked him up yesterday and Ben, Sara and Jules along with about 10 or 12 other kids and their French friends all went out to eat together. This morning I asked Jules what he ate last night and he said, "A burger, an All-American burger." :) I just thought that was so cute!!! It's going to be a great week and maybe I'll learn a little French!

Okay, to my card. I love journaling blocks and I love to use things for something other than what they are intended so with April's journaling block, which is actually a raindrop, you can also use it as a balloon :) Everybody needs more Happy Birthday cards right?

Supplies:
Stamps: April Journaling Spot-2RedBananas
Ink: Versafine Onxy black, Chalk ink-French blue
Paper: Basic Grey-cupcake
Other: Dew Drops - Flame collection, EKSuccess corner punch

Wendy and Teresa also used this set and we all used different elements of the set, so be sure to check out their blogs.

The 2RedBananas Banana Split Sunday Challenge is about altering or making something other than a card. It's a great challenge, we hope you'll play along!

Our quote for the day: "Let your heart guide you. It whispers, so listen carefully." - Littlefoot's mother, The Land Before Time

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Starting "Week of Peeks" for 2RedBananas

2009-04-06T08:37:00.008-05:00

Good Morning! Today starts our "Week of Peeks" for 2RedBananas. On Monday, April 13th we will be releasing 9 new sets. 6 of these sets will be Chickens :) Jami has created the cutest chickens doing things that are just too much fun.

This first card uses the Birthday Chicken. I love how easy they are to color! This is just one of 3 sentiments that are included with this little guy!

Supplies:

Stamps: Birthday Chicken -2RedBananas

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers, Chalk Ink - yellow & French blue

Paper: BoBunny, Coordinations, Bazzill

Other: Dew Drops - Fresh Mowed Grass, Stardust glitter pens - yellow & blue, May Arts red ricrac, Inkssentials white pen

This second card is made with Cajun Chicken. What fun he is!!! This one has one of five sentiments that are included with him! Lots of room for bling on this chicken :)

Supplies:

Stamps: Cajun Chicken - 2RedBananas, fleur de lis-stampabilities

Ink: Memento Tuxedo black, Chalk ink - Chestnut roan, Versamark Shimmer -Champagne

Paper: kraft cardstock base, BoBunny

Other: May Arts purple ribbon, dew drops - Grapes and leaves, pop-dots, Shimmerz Angel Wings, Inkssentials white pen

Also check out the 2RedBananas dt blogs to see what they have created! Deb, Jami, Maraya, Teresa, and Wendy

It's going to be a great week so check back each day to see more of the new stamps that will be released :)

Our quote for the day: "As long as you're going to be thinking anyway, think BIG." - Donald Trump

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

Banana Split Sunday - Not a Card

2009-04-05T10:20:00.005-05:00

Good Morning! Are you ready for another Banana Split Sunday Challenge? This week's challenge is "Not a Card" - We were challenged to either alter an item or create one from scratch. I decided to alter a small tablet. I've done these before and I just love them because they're small enough to keep in my purse and then I have paper ready whenever I need it and it's not the back of receipts :)

I made one for my sister a LONG time ago and she requested another one a couple years ago and I have been "re-designing" them and making more ever since!

Can you tell I'm ready for summer with this project??? As I'm typing this, it's snowing outside....yes, snowing! And to think, Sara had a softball game scheduled for today!

One of the nice things about this paper, other than the fact that it's just so darn cute!!! is that it has glitter already on it so you don't have to use as many embellishments :)

Supplies:

Stamp: Imaginisce- A Shore Thing Popsicle

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Chalk Ink-French Blue

Paper: Imaginisce - A Shore Thing

Other: May Arts ribbon - Mesh- Aqua, Copic Markers, Inkssentials white pen

Jump over to the 2RedBananas blog to see what the dt has come up with for this challenge and then play along yourself, it's a fun one!!

Remember too that our Week of Peeks starts tomorrow, so be sure to check back :)

Our quote for the day: "A fellow who does things that count, doesn't usually stop to count them." - unknown

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

An Easter card for the Our Creative Corner Challenge

2009-04-03T21:59:00.006-05:00

Good Morning! I'm not being a very good blogger lately. Sorry about that, but I have been working hard on getting new products up on the 2RedBananas website, so I hope that helps :)

Silke Ledlow, who does AMAZING work, asked me to be a guest designer on Our Creative Corner for today. The challenge is to make an Easter card using your favorite Easter stamps. Well, my favorite Easter set is Jami Bova's "the Gift" set. I absolutely love this set and how there are so many different ways you can use it with the bunnies and the birds. And you have a chance to win it, so be sure to go to the OCC blog.

I used lots of fun stuff on this card. I started with a cream colored card base and then layered some purple polka dot BoBunny paper, then some Webster's Pages Purple Majesty paper. I used my Nestabilities Labels Two to cut the purple layer and the image layer and added lilac shimmerz to the border. I colored all the images with prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits and then added Inkssentials white pen to make the highlights. I added Angel Wings Shimmerz to the white cloth on the cross. I also added white flocking to the bunny tails :) The bunnies are up on pop-dots to make them higher than the cross layer. The strip of paper that the bunnies are 'standing' on is more of the BoBunny paper with a strip of the opposite side of the Webster's Pages paper then a length of May Arts violet velvet ribbon (which is also on the clip at the top). To finish the front I added purple dew drops from the Grapes and Leaves collection.

The second picture is the inside of the card where I put my sentiment and some embellishments too :)

2RedBananas has donated "the Gift" stamp set for a prize for this challenge so be sure to go to the Our Creative Corner blog and link your Easter card to be entered to win. All the details are on their blog :)

Our quote for the day: "He has made everything beautiful in its time." - Ecclesiates 3:11

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

Banana Split Sunday on Monday :)

2009-03-30T09:02:00.003-05:00

Good Morning!! Today I'm going to show you what I made for the Banana Split Sunday Challenge.

I have a really good reason for not posting it until today though. Saturday, our oldest daughter, Erin, got married!!! So, we were in Louisiana all weekend for the wedding. It was perfect and Erin was BEAUTIFUL! So Congratulations ERIN & JEFF and have a wonderful and relaxing time on the beach!!!

This layout is what I made for the Banana Split Sunday Challenge, which was to use some kind of gems. You can participate and be entered into the drawing to win one of the newly released bottles of Metallic dew drops! They are what I used on my layout. Erin is the one at the top of the picture :)

Supplies:
Paper: October Afternoon- Daydream Collection - Freshly Mown Lawn
Ink: Chalk Ink - Chestnut Roan
Other: Metallic Dew Drops, May Arts ribbon - blue twinkle, champagne satin, 7Gypsies tag, Blumenthal Lansing button.

Our quote for the day: "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." - 1 Corinthians 13:13

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

It's Banana Split Sunday :)

2009-03-22T10:18:00.003-05:00

Good Morning! It's Banana Split Sunday and today's challenge is an inspiration challenge. This is a print by William Templeton called Banana Bandit. I love the colors in this as you will see from my card :) I really wanted to get a touch of the green in my card, but I didn't so I just may have to do another one :)

Go to the 2RedBananas blog to get all the details and to see the dt's take on this inspiration. They are fabulous!! Then you play too and be sure to use Mr. Linky to show us your creation!

This is the card that was inspired by this print! I love the warm colors so that's what I went with. The browns, oranges and yellows just warmed me and it's funny because I usually reach for blues and greens. Guess that's what challenges are for aren't they :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Quotes - 2RedBananas
Ink: Versafine-Vintage Sepia, Chalk Ink-Burnt Sienna
Paper: Bazzill, MME - Bloom - Polka Dot Punch, Webster's Pages -Reflections of Nature - Amber Waves
Other: Nesties, Dew Drops-sunflower, May Arts Ribbon, silk flowers - Autumn Leaves

Our quote for the day: "It is difficult to give away kindness. It keeps coming back to you." - Cory Flint

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

2009-03-20T20:11:00.003-05:00

Good Evening! Today I have two cards to show you.

This first one is for Danni's Flutterby Challenge, which is posted every Wednesday and always has something to do with butterflies. This week's challenge was to use butterflies and buttons. Well, I've been using this sentiment from Jami's Value of Joy set alot lately and I don't have any butterfly stamps, so I used my Michael's coupon for this Martha Stewart clear set. I love the different sizes of butterflies. :) Then when I was in Joann's getting buttons for the dress I'm wearing to the wedding, I found these really cool shell buttons :) They are so cool, they're brown on the opposite side and pearlescent on this side!

Supplies:
Stamps: Value of Joy - 2RedBananas, MS Butterflies, Inkadinkado Sketch Flourishes
Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia, Chalk Ink -Chestnut Roan, VersaMagic -Sahara Sand
Paper: Paper Adventures (old)
Other: Gold Glimmer-Blingz, pop dots, Jute, prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits

This second card was made for the SCS Limited Supplies Challenge. It was to use a spring theme and soft subtles (in the Stampin Up line) of colors. This is what I came up with.

Supplies:

Stamps: Whipper Snapper, Hero Arts

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, chalk inks

Paper: WeRMemory Keepers

Other: May Arts velvet ricrac, Hero Arts gems, prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, nestabilities

Our quote for the day: "Goals are stars to steer by, not sticks to beat yourself with." - Barbara B. Smith

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

Three more Challenge Cards

2009-03-19T16:02:00.005-05:00

Hi! Three more challenges I get to show you today!

This first one keeps me laughing. The challenge is the Ways to Use it Challenge on SplitCoastStampers. For this one you were supposed to use stickers and stamps. Well, I knew exactly what stickers I wanted to use. I've had them in my stash for a while now, but I remember buying them. I saw them in the store and just started laughing out loud!!! Not, just once, but every time I looked at them. This is just one of the zebras in the package. Oh my goodness, he still makes me smile :)

Supplies:
Stamp: Hero Arts
Ink: Versafine Onyx black
Paper: Bazzill, Prism
Other: Jolee's stickers, May Arts red satin ribbon

This card was made for the sketch challenge on SCS. Once again I used the October Afternoon papers, they just feel so 'springy' to me :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Caring Critters - 2RedBananas
Ink: Versafine Onyx black, Chalk ink- Chestnut Roan, French Blue
Paper: October Afternoon
Other: Dew Drops-water, prismacolor pencils & mineral spirits, Inkssentials white pen

This final card is for thee SCS Try a New Technique and the technique is ribbon frames. I love this purple ribbon and I knew that this was the one I wanted to use, so here is the card:

Supplies:
Stamps: Wrapped in His Love - 2RedBananas
Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia
Paper: Webster's Pages, Paper Loft
Other: Gold Glimmer Blingz, May Arts ribbon

Hope to get more done soon! Remember to check out the 2RedBananas blog for this week's challenge: Make a 'Spring' project.

Our quote for the day (this is one of my favorites :) : "Where we love is home, HOME that our feet may leave, but not our hearts." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

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

TWO from ONE

2009-03-18T12:24:00.003-05:00

I'm just a little late to be saying Good Morning, so Good Afternoon :)
I'm excited about this post. Although, these projects didn't take all that much time in actually making them, getting the time was the challenge. :)
You know how I love to use double sided papers so I can just use one sheet, well this time I took it even further and used ONE 12X12 sheet of dp to make TWO projects - Woo Hoo!!!

I used the MME Bella Bella, French Flea Market Collection - Simply Plaid paper which is the seafoam green on the back side.
The only other papers I used were a scrap piece of brown cardstock and a plain white cardstock base for the card.
Supplies:
Stamps: Quotes - 2RedBananas
Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia, Chalk Ink - Chestnut Roan
Paper: MME Bella Bella -French Flea Market Collection - Simply Plaid
Other: Brown Grosgrain RicRac, star journaling circle

After I finished the layout I used what I had left to make this card :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Caring Critters - 2RedBananas
Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia, Chalk Ink - Chestnut Roan
Paper : MME Bella Bella, French Flea Mkt Collection - Simply Plaid
Other: Cuttlebug embossing folder, Prima flowers, Dew Drops - soil (shades of brown), prismacolor pencils & mineral spirits, white flocking, Satin Champagne ribbon, pop dots

This was fun to do and I don't have many scraps left :) If you try it, post a link in the comments, I would love to see what you come up with.

Remember to check out the challenge on the 2RedBananas blog, it's a Spring challenge and there is a prize that will be randomly drawn for.

Our quote for the day: "True strength is delicate." - Louise Nevelson

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

2RedBananas - Banana Split Sunday

2009-03-15T09:33:00.003-05:00

Good Morning! Today is Banana Split Sunday, 2RedBananas new challenge day :) The challenge today is to make something Spring related. It doesn't feel like Spring here yet, but I'm still hoping that it will be soon :) There is a prize with this week's challenge so be sure to go over to the 2RedBananas blog to read all the details and see the projects that the dt has come up with. They're amazing!

This is my card for the challenge. I love these Spring papers from Imaginisce and this new grosgrain ricrac, it's so cool! The papers already have sparkle on them so I didn't use many embellishments, I let the image and the paper speak for themselves :)

Supplies:
stamps: Just Ducky - 2RedBananas
ink: Versafine Onyx black
paper: Imaginisce - For Peep's Sake line
Other: prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, Inkssentials white pen, Nestabilities Labels One, May Arts Grosgrain RicRac

I don't have ballgames today, so maybe I'll get some more cards made :)

Our quote for the day: "In the Spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." - Margaret Atwood

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

More Challenges for Today :)

2009-03-14T20:06:00.004-05:00

Wow, my second post for today :) Can you tell we didn't have volleyball, soccer, track or anything else today :)

Three more challenge cards to show you. If you like challenges, you should go to the Daily Dare blog. Each day they have a listing of newly posted challenges. I have a notebook that I write them down in, so I can keep the sketches. Then I can go into my studio and just create!

This one was done for Amy Rysavy's sketch challenge.

Supplies:
Stamps: Quotes - 2RedBananas
Paper: October Afternoon - Hometown Collection
Ink: Versafine Onyx black, Chalk Ink - Aquamarine
Other: May Arts ribbon, Dew Drops - Fresh Mowed Grass, Prima flowers

This one was made for Jen del Muro's Sketch for You to Try. I love sketches because each time I use them, they look so different.

Supplies:

Stamps: Just Ducky - 2RedBananas

Ink: Versafine Onyx black, Chalk Ink - Creamy Brown, Ice Blue, Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper: October Afternoon - Hometown Collection

Other: May Arts ribbon, gems, stitching, Copic markers, Inkssentials white pen, spica glitter pen

And finally, this one is for Friday Sketcher's Sketch #43. Another sketch challenge :)

Here is a close up so you can see how sparkly the Shimmerz really is :)

Supplies:

Stamps: Heartfelt Friends - 2RedBananas

Ink: Memento Tuxedo black, Chalk ink - Warm Red

Paper: Bazzill, Imaginisce - Loves Me Collection

Other: Shimmerz - Royal Red, Dew Drops - Water, Copic markers, Inkssentials white pen, Scrapworks glitter hearts, corner rounder

Okay, I think I'm finished for today, although there are challenges I haven't gotten to yet....... :) Thanks for coming back again! :)

Challenge card to show you :)

2009-03-14T12:33:00.005-05:00

Wow, it's been a LONG week! Lots to get done and sometimes feeling like I'm spinning my wheels but not going anywhere. I did, however, get some challenge cards made :)

This first one is for today's Inspiration Challenge on SCS. I used the Caring Critters and Wrapped in His Love sets. I just love the apple blossom stamp, I keep using it over and over. I also love the bird stamp, she's just so cute!

Supplies:
Stamps: Wrapped in His Love and Caring Critters - 2RedBananas
Ink: Versafine Onyx black, Chalk ink - burnt sienna, yellow cadmium, VersaMagic - pumpkin spice
Paper: Daisy D's, Prism
Other: Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, ribbon, Dew Drops - Fresh Mowed Grass

This one was made for the Verve Visual sketch with a twist. The twist is to make a birthday card. I combined it with the No Time to Stamp challenge of using a white mat.
Supplies:
Stamps: Fancy Florals - Verve Visual
Ink: Versafine Onyx black, Chalk Ink - Orchid Pastel
Paper: Basic Grey - Urban Prairie, Bazzill
Other: Ribbon, Shimmerz - Bubblegum, Metallic Dew Drops - Mardi Gras

This one was made for the Ways to Use it Challenge and also for the Cute Card Thursday challenge. The Ways to Use it was a 'green' challenge. You can use the color green and/or recycled items. I did both, I used the ATC that I made last week and used green :) The Cute Card Thursday challenge is a sketch challenge, very fun!

Supplies:
Stamps: Louie - 2RedBananas
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Chalk ink, Lime Pastel
Paper: Reminisce, plain cardstock
Other: May Arts ribbon, Metallic Dew Drops, Fiskars border punch, Quickutz die, Shimmerz - Celery, Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits

Our quote for the day: "Beauty to me is being comfortable in your own skin. That, or a kick - red lipstick." - Gwyneth Paltrow

Thanks so much for stopping by. Remembers the 2RedBananas blog will start a new challenge tomorrow and this one has a prize :) Have a great weekend!!

Wrapped in His Love - Thank You

2009-03-11T17:09:00.004-05:00

Hi! I thought I was going to have two cards to show you today, but so far just one.

I made this one for the SCS Sketch Challenge. What I love about this card is that I used stamps from the "Wrapped in His Love" set that aren't even the main stamp. This is such a wonderful set!
All three stamps that I used are from that set. I used old paper from SEI and my nesties, my paper piercer, a pink Souffle pen and the MS Butterfly punch with some pearl gems. That's all! And I used the back and front of the same piece of dp too :)

This post is going to be short so I can get back to work on being creative :)

Our quote for the day: "To love someone means to see him as God intended him." - Fedor Dostoevsky

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Banana Split Sunday....

2009-03-09T14:35:00.004-05:00

Hi! I hope you're having a wonderful warm day :) Yes, I know yesterday was Sunday, but well.... you know......I'm blaming it on the time change.....yes, it's because of the time change that I'm so slow in posting ;)

Yesterday on the 2RedBananas blog, Jami posted our most recent news. We are starting a challenge - every Sunday a new challenge will be posted on the 2RedBananas blog, and the challenge is called Banana Split Sunday :) Isn't that such a fun name!?! It's on the blog right now! I'll let you jump over there to read all the details. This is my card for this week's challenge. It's a sketch challenge:

I used Bazzill paper, Imaginisce - the Baby Powder line - Fuzzy Jammies paper,

Imaginisce flowers, May Arts ribbon and some acetate.

I cut two scalloped circles with my Quickutz flower cookie cutter dies out of the Fuzzy Jammies paper and one from acetate. Then I cut the center out of one of the Fuzzy Jammies paper circles. I adhered the acetate to the back of the Fuzzy Jammies paper circle that I cut the center out of, so it looks like a window and then I attached my image and smaller flowers to the second Fuzzy Jammies paper circle. I put 1/2 of a pop - dot on each of the scallops and then sandwiched them together to make the 'shaker box'.

Once again, this card was made with one piece of dp, using both sides :) I just love that!

Okay, now it's your turn to play, go to the 2RedBananas blog and make your project using the sketch. Then use Mr Linky to post it so we can see too :)

Our quote for the day: "Be strong, be true, be forever who you are." - Karla, Tarzan II

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Yellow and Blue make Green

2009-03-05T21:01:00.006-06:00

Hi! I can't seem to catch up with my posting so I'm posting two cards again today. Hope that's okay with everyone :)

This first card is a layout I've used before, but I really like it and I LOVE this little HouseMouse stamp, he's called Easter Surprise. I used Imaginisce For Peeps Sake line - Pretty New Dress and Drapin' Daisies papers. They're fun papers because they already have a little bit of glitter on them. I stamped the image on white with Versafine Onyx black . I colored it with prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits and then added some extrafine glitter on the egg shell with a Quickie glue pen, if you haven't used one of these before, the great thing about them is that the wet glue is dispensed through a roller ball pen tip so you can get really fine lines of glitter if you want to. I tied the yellow twinkle ribbon in knots and then layered the other papers on. I love this twinkle ribbon when I use it tone on tone. I tried the blue ribbon on this card first, but I just didn't like it as much. This yellow ribbon really shimmers against the yellow background, I love the way it looks :)

To finish the card, I added some gems that I had in my stash. It is really an easy card to make but it works really well with smaller images that you want to focus on especially by using dp that has a small print on it :)

This second project is not really a card.....yet. Oh and here is where the title "Yellow and Blue make Green" comes in, the first card was yellow and blue and now you get the green :)
This is an ATC (Artist Trading Card) that I made for the SplitCoastStampers challenge for today. I've been wanting to make some of these for a really long time and just haven't done it. They are little cards 2 1/2" X 3 1/2". Many people make and trade these and then use them on a regular sized card. Well, I won't be trading them, I'm doing well keeping up with making my stuff, but I had fun making it and I think it would be fun to have some on hand so when my mojo isn't with me, I can just grab one and make the card based on it.

I used old Reminisce paper that I had in my stash. I stamped one of the images from the "Louie" set and colored him with prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, then I added celery shimmerz to his outfit. The gold paper is cut with the Quickutz diamond cookie cutter die. I used just a bit of ribbon across the corner of the card and then put metallic gold dew drops on the top of the ribbon. I will be making more ATC's, it was fun :)

Our quote for the day: "Some people walk in the rain...others just get wet." - Roger Miller

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

Challenges

2009-03-02T21:51:00.004-06:00

Wow, today was a great day despite being interupted to do important things, I got 2 challenge cards finished!!! I haven't been doing many challenge cards for the past week or so, so I was itching to get back into it! We are going to start hosting our own challenges on the 2RedBananas blog so be sure to look for more information there :)

This cards was made for the Technique Challenge on SCS. I used an envelope for part of it, very cool. I also got to use 2 of the newly released stamp sets. Both from Jami Bova, Wrapped in His Love and Caring Critters. I thought they worked really well together. I also used prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, celery Shimmerz, pop-dots, a glaze pen, ribbon, a crimper, and a Quickutz diamond die.

It was really fun to make, and I can see myself making more in the future. I think this one will get sent out in the mail tomorrow :)

This second card was made for House Mouse Challenge 27. The challenge is to incorporate chipboard onto your card, so this is what I came up with. I have a tendency to forget about chipboard so this was a fun challenge for me. I used 2 House Mouse stamps, Sweet Dreams and Smell the Flowers. The papers I used are from Bazzill Basics and Webster's Pages - purple majesty. I colored the image with prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits (surprise, surprise :) and then painted the lilac with lilac Shimmerz. I used grosgrain ribbon, and hero arts flowers, and then because I didn't put any dew drops on the last card, I used 6 of them on this one :) Some from the Grapes and Leaves collection and some from the Fresh Mowed Grass collection.

This is a fun challenge that they post every Monday and you have until the following Sunday I think to get your card posted. Sometimes they have a prize sometimes they don't. But you should check it out if you love House Mouse and Friends stamps.

Our quote for the day: "Love me when I least deserve it, because that's when I really need it." - Swedish Proverb

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

Bunnies & Eggs

2009-03-01T08:52:00.004-06:00

Good Morning! It's the last day of our sneak peeks, which means all nine stamp sets will be available in the 2RedBananas store tomorrow - Woo Hoo!! I know you're going to love them.

Today's card is made with the set "Bunnies and Eggs" illustrated by Abbey Westemeyer. It's a fun, whimsical set with 3 images and a sentiment. I used the bunny holding the basket (obviously) and the sentiment. This was a fun and easy card to make. I started with a purple base and used some lime green and soft blue cardstock. The dp I used, I've had in my stash for a while, but I really like the softness it added to the card. I used the Fiskars Threading Water punch at the bottom of the dp and threaded some soft blue fiber through the holes and tied a little blow. My only other embellishment is the metallic dew drops, these are FUN!! These are from the Mardi Gras set, but if you really know Mardi Gras, the set comes with this soft purple, gold, and turquoise (not green). They're really look good together though, so it's okay :)

Oh, I did color my image with prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits and highlighted with Inkssentials white pen.

You can see other projects made with this set on Teresa's blog and Maraya's blog. You can then go to the 2RedBananas blog to enter to win your choice of one of the newly released stamp sets :)

Our quote for the day: "My eyes are an ocean in which my dreams are reflected."

- Anna M. Uhlich

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

A Second Post for Today :)

2009-02-28T16:45:00.005-06:00

Hi - It's me again, can you believe it? Well, this morning's card was not my favorite.....there I said it, out loud :) I like it okay, but to me it needed some more colors. If it would have been an elegant card, I would have liked the fewer colors, but this is whimsical and to me that means COLOR! :)

So, I tried again. This one uses navy blue background with some patterned papers that I picked up at Archiver's the other day. I was in the Hot Spot, where everything is $1.99 and they had these Me&MyBigIdeas paper stacks. They are 5" X 7" pieces of patterned papers. This set is called "Modern Milan". I think they're fun :)

Anyway, I stamped Louie in Versafine Onyx black and colored him with prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits. Then I added Gold Glimmer Blingz to the gold as well as on his hat. He is pop-dotted onto the green dp. I used this really cool ribbon to tie the bow and photo corners to help attach the green dp. Then I put Dew Drops from the Water collection in the corners.

I even decorated the inside of this one. I strip of the cardstock, a strip of the dp and I stamped the shamrock in Versafine onyx black and cut it out and adhered it to the strip.

I hope you liked this second rendition of the Louie and Louie Too sets that will be released Monday, March 2nd. :) I hope you're having a great day!

Louie & Louie Too :)

2009-02-28T09:37:00.005-06:00

Good Morning! We have snow on the ground this morning, not alot, but snow just the same :( But I will continue to make spring cards to tell myself that spring will SOON be here :)

This morning we are introducing you to two new sets that are just in time for St. Patrick's Day, Louie and Louie Too. These leprechauns are having so much fun, they just make you smile!!!

For my card I used the "March" sentiment from the March Journaling Spot set and created my own background with it just by stamping it in rows over the base of the card. Then I used some pieces are green shimmery paper from Reminisce (leftovers from my stash). I stamped Louie and the Shamrock in Memento Tuxedo black ink and then colored them with prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits. I added Inkssentials White pen to the hightlight on Louie. I also added Shimmerz in Celery to the shamrock and to Louie's suit so it all shines so nicely :) I cut each of them out and pop-dotted them onto the card for dimension. The ribbon I used is one of our brand new ribbons and it is fabulous!! I love how it coordinates with this card. You can see it here.

See the Shimmerz?? :)

You should jump on over to the 2RedBananas blog to see anther project and to read about the Inspiration Challenge that will be open until Monday, March 2nd at 4pm EST. It's an easy and fun challenge and right now your chances of winning your choice of one of the newly released sets are excellent!

Also, go visit Maraya's blog, Deb's blog and Jami's blog for more fun projects using these stamps!!

Our quote for the day: "Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards." - Soren Kierkgaard

Thanks so much for stopping by and enjoy your blog hop today!

Just Ducky :)

2009-02-26T09:08:00.005-06:00

Good Morning - Spring is in the Air, oh wait I'm dreaming again :) It's supposed to rain/snow here today, so I don't think spring is quite here, but I'm going to make spring cards anyway!

Today's sneak peeks are using Abbey Westemeyer's "Just Ducky" set. I LOVE these little guys! So cute! I also love how bright they want to be :) I stamped my images in Memento black and colored them with Copics and highlighted with the Inkssentials white pen.

The paper I used is from Imaginisce's Twitterpated line. I also used Wrinkle ribbon from May Arts and dew drops (can't forget those :) I almost forgot, I pop-dotted the duck to give him some dimension and keep him from fading into the background.

This close up picture shows the sentiment a little better. I stamped it directly onto the dp. I love this saying with this image :)

Other dt members peeking this set today are:

Wendy

Deb

and remember to go to the 2RedBananas blog to enter to win one of the new releases, right now you chances are really good to win :)

Our quote for the day: "A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline." - Harvey Mackay

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

Happy Birthday Sara & Gunther's Greetings

2009-02-25T14:59:00.004-06:00

Happy 15th Birthday Sara!!!
Yes, our baby girl is 15 today, I just can't believe it! I can remember this day 15 years ago like it was yesterday. I can truly say that I have enjoyed every 'stage' that she has gone through....so far anyway :)

We are so proud of you Sara - the young lady you are and the young woman you are becoming! We hope you have a wonderful birthday!

Now to the awesome set we are sneak peeking today. It's called "Gunther's Greetings" and was designed for a specific puppy, Gunther. You can see Gunther on Curt's blog. You can also see projects Curt created with this set! His blog has a ton of inspiration for you and I promise you will leave there smiling, Curt's happiness is contagious :) If you want to ready the story behind Gunther becoming a stamp just jump on over to the 2RedBananas blog and you can read about it, see more samples with the set and enter to win one of our new releases by playing in our Inspiration Challenge.

My card was made with a brown cardbase, and some of the new My Mind's Eye French Flea Market paper. When I looked at the stripes I saw a rug for Gunther to lay on :) so that's what I created. I stamped on of the sentiments directly on the dp too. I colored Gunther with prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits and added December Sky blingz to his bandana. The heart stamp is part of the set as well. I stamped it onto red cardstock, cut it out and added royal red Shimmerz to make is sparkle as well! I also used the brown wrinkle ribbon (again).

Our quote for the day: "With a stop light, green means 'go' and yellow means 'slow down'. With a banana, however, it is quite the opposite. Yellow means 'go', green means 'whoa, slow down', and red means 'where the heck did you get that banana?'" - Mitch Hedberg

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

Quotes & March Journaling Spot

2009-02-24T08:49:00.007-06:00

Good Morning! Today is the second day of the 2RedBananas "Week of Peeks". Today we are showcasing the stamp sets "Quotes" and "March Journaling Spot". Both of these sets are very versatile and can be used on cards, layouts and altered treasures. When you visit the 2RedBananas dt blogs you will see what I mean :) Also visit the 2RedBananas blog to get the details of our Inspiration Challenge so you can have a chance at winning your choice of one of the newly released stamp set.

This first card I made uses the "Quotes" set along with Imaginisce paper. I was just looking at the "So Happy Together" paper with it's curved lines and this card popped into my head (that doesn't happen often :) I started with the Co'ordinations paper as my cardbase and then cut the Imaginisce paper so the hearts were still hanging down. I stamped the quote in Versafine Onyx black and then added the celery grosgrain ribbon and the new metallic dew drops. At the end I covered the hearts with Glossy Accents, you can see this in the closeup picture.

See the glossy accents :)

This second card was CASE'd from the Joy of Card Making - A Second Helping, Wendy Johnson's card - pg 119 if you have the book. I love both of these books. I used the "Quotes" stamp set, Imaginisce Flower Trails paper from the Twitterpated line and some of the new satin ribbon that's in the store :) The clip and the brads are from my stash.

This 3rd card uses the "March Journaling Spot" which I stamped onto the card and then onto the Imaginisce - Twitterpated, Mushroom Fancy paper (the back side). I cut out the inside of the kite and stamped Happy Birthday on it and then pop-dotted it onto the original image. The other papers I used on this card are also from the Imaginisce Twitterpated line. I also used dew drops, wrinkled ribbon, and the new stardust glitter pen in red.

The week is just beginning so be sure to stop by again tomorrow to see more sneak peeks! :)

Our quote for the day: "Joy is the feeling of grinning inside." - unknown

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

Wrapped in His Love

2009-02-23T08:41:00.007-06:00

Good Morning! The Week of Peeks at 2RedBananas has officially started! Yes, I'm the slow one and the last to post, but I'm here :)

The set we are sneak peeking today is "Wrapped in His Love" by Sgt Stamper. Once again Jami is AMAZING! I love how versatile this set is! You don't need many embellishments when you use her sets.

I started with a prism cardstock base and added layers of the new My Mind's Eye Bella Bella "French Flea Market" collection. Once again these are double sided papers (my favorite). I stamped in Versafine - Vintage Sepia

You can see here how much the Angel Wings Shimmerz adds sparkle to the card. You can also see the Cat's Eye chestnut roan chalk ink I used to edge the papers. I love that stuff :)

I added May Arts brown wrinkled ribbon and Dew Drops in the water collection.

Can I tell you again how much I love this set! You can go to Jami's blog and Deb's blog to see more creations with this set.

Tomorrow will be sneak peek of another set and different dt members will be showcasing that one.

We are also doing the blog hop a little differently this month. Here are the details:

Our blog hop this month involves a challenge for you. We would love for you to play along for chance to win your choice of one of the new releases! It’s an inspiration challenge. Here’s what you do… during the week, you stop by our blogs and check out the sneak peeks. Then you choose any three things from any three projects and create your own. It can be a card, a layout, an altered item…whatever. For example, you may use a layout from one persons card, colors from another, and a certain embellishment from another.

Just post your project to your blog or SCS and tell us in your description where you pulled your three inspirations from. For instance, Jami's layout from her Wrapped in His Love card, Maraya's color combo from "Gunther's Greetings" (wondering what that one is yet :) and the ribbon treatment that Deb used on her "Just Ducky" ( just another name to tease you :) card. Then go to the 2RedBananas blog and give us a link to your project. (If you upload to SCS, be sure to add 2RedBananas as a keyword)You can enter as many times as you like!!

On Monday March 2nd at 4:00 pm EST/3pm CST the challenge will close and we will choose 2 winners. Both winners can take their pick from the new releases. If there are lots of entries, we just may have to choose more than 2 winners, so be sure to tell your friends to come play along too.

Be sure to play along and stop back tomorrow to see what's new!

Our quote for the day: "Don’t worry about mistakes. Making things out of mistakes, that’s creativity." — Peter Max

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

What I've been up to......

2009-02-21T08:42:00.011-06:00

Good Evening! Wow, it's been a while since I posted, sorry about that. I have been busy though :)

First, Sara's birthday is coming up soon and she and a good friend of hers had a party together because her friend's birthday is the beginning of February. They had about 25 people swimming at a hotel and then 7 girls came home with us and spent the night. I was a little bit nervous about having 25 15 year olds all at one time, but they were so well behaved. The hotel wouldn't let us have pizza in the pool area so they had a little lobby area right outside the pool so we had it there. The kids were GREAT!!! You couldn't even tell we ate in there!

Okay, time for the cards I've been making. This one was made for the SCS Limited Supplies Challenge. I just love "the Gift" stamp set. I looked at some of the cards I've been making lately and other than the HM Challenge card, I had no circles. So, I decided to get a circle on this one. I used papers from Sandylion - a line called Lollia (I've had it for a long time!) and again "the Gift" from 2RedBananas. I stitched around the circle and the stitches on the striped paper were already there. I colored with prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits and added Angel Wings Shimmerz to the fabric and flocking to the bunnies tails. You can see that in the smaller picture as well as the way I pop-dotted the bunnies :) I also used the celery May Arts grosgrain ribbon. I just love the color of this ribbon!

You can see how the cloth Shimmerz and how the bunny tails are fuzzy and the bunnies are pop-dotted so they are higher than the cross, for dimension.

This card was done for the Color Challenge on SplitCoastStampers. The colors were Olive, Rose Red and More Mustard. I used Jami's "the Value of Joy" set, Co'ordinations paper for the cardbase, some dp that I've had for a long time. I colored the puppy with More Mustard and an H2O pen, the rest of the image was colored with prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits. I used Mocha Shimmerz on his bandana.

This third card was made for the Flutter by Wednesday challenge. The challenge was to use purple and blue. What I really love about this card is that I used both lilac Shimmerz and December Sky Blingz on the butterflies and you can really see the difference in the two. The Blingz is a little bit 'chunkier' and by that I mean that the pieces of sparkle are bigger. :) You can see it better in the closeup photo.

See how smooth the Lilac Shimmerz is and how the December Sky Blingz has more 'chunks' :) I know, very technical terms......but you get the idea, right? :)

The 2RedBananas "Week of Peeks" starts tomorrow. Be sure to check it out and see creations using the new stamp sets that will be released Monday, March 2nd.

Our quote for the day: "When lives entwine, hearts are bound together by little gestures of kindness." - unknown

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

House Mouse Challenge

2009-02-16T08:17:00.005-06:00

Good Morning! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and Valentine's Day. Ben went to a dance on Saturday night, so we went to his date's house to take pictures (a group of 3 couples went together and it was cool because the boys were all friends and the girls (who go to a different school are all best friends). Anyway, they all looked so nice and they had a great time!

Yesterday, we left at 5:30 am to drive to a volleyball tournament 2 hours away. The girls got 3rd place and played really well! We got home about 6:00pm and Ben had a soccer game at 9:20pm. Yes, I was REALLY tired last night :)

Today starts a new week and it's going to be an exciting one!

A new challenge for today, and this time, 2RedBananas is part of it! We are sponsoring the House Mouse Challenge :) It's a sketch challenge and Jami created the sketch.

This is my take on the sketch. I used the "Warmth for Winter" image and colored it with Prismacolor pencils and minerals spirits, then I went over all the yarn with Angel Wings Shimmerz so it shines :) The "warm wishes" is from "Snowman Love". The papers are from October Afternoon - Hometown collection and the ribbon is from May Arts. The brads are from my stash and I have no idea who made them, sorry.

This is such a great sketch to play with. I hope you'll join us in the challenge.

Our quote for the day: "Where there is great love there are always miracles." - Willa Cather

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

Two More Cards for Today

2009-02-13T18:35:00.004-06:00

Hi!! Another evening post for me! Well, today is snowed......all day long. Originally they said we were going to get about 10" but then they came back and said oh probably 2-4". Well, I think it finally stopped tonight and we have probably about 6-7". Lots of snow :) I did run my errands this morning before the snow really got started!

Today I have two cards to share with you. Only one of them was for a challenge and it wasn't this first one. This first card is sooooooo ME! The only change I would have to make is that the saying would be, "Some mornings you just know it's going to be a two pot day!" because every morning is a two - four cup day for me :) I loved these stamps as soon as I saw them and a friend of mine saw them first and showed them to me because she KNEW that I would have to have them.....thanks Tracey...I think :)

Supplies used for this first card:
Paper: October Afternoon - Hometown Collection , Bazzill Bling
Stamps: Stampendous
Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx black, Chestnut Roan Chalk ink, Copic markers
Other: May Arts ribbon, Dew Drops - water, Blingz - Wintergreen, EKSuccess photo corner punch, EKSuccess corner rounder

This card was made for the Limited Supplies Challenge on SCS. The challenge was to 'Stretch' yourself and use at least 2 things that you don't normally use. My things were: large pieces of 'busy' paper, my die cuts, and chalks (I had to dust them off to use them :) It was fun trying some things that were not my usual routine, I really like stretching!!

Supplies for this card:

Paper: Imaginisce - Twitterpated line

Other: Scalloped punches, Inkssentials white pen, May Arts ribbon, EKSuccess photo corner punch, Heidi Swapp distresser, chalk, Quickutz fox die

Our quote for the day: "Blessings brighten when we count them." - Maltbie D. Babcock

Thanks so much for coming by and have a great warm evening!