Made to Order Valentines

A couple of weeks ago, I received a request to make cards:

"Would love to have you do a special Valentine for each of my Grandsons.

M**  is 9 years old, places ice hockey, and is an incredible swimmer who has won many medals this past year. He also studies Karate and plays baseball (at least he did last spring).  he recently told me that Music is his favorite subject in school.

J*** is 5 years old and will be 6 in March. he is in Kindergarten. He studies Tae Kwon Do and is active in sports (soccer last spring, and this winter, he is signed up for indoor lacrosse) . He is also taking ice skating lessons so that he too can play ice hockey like his cousin M**.

  





Both kids are just all around good kids with great senses of humor and caring personalities. OF COURSE I AM NOT IN THE LEAST BIT PREJUDICED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I am always a little nervous when I send the scans for approval. Thankfully, she was pleased: "These are wonderful!! I LOVE them!!!"

I hope each boy likes his card as much as his grandmother does!





Card Details (Hockey):
Image: Hambo
Cardstock: PTI, reminisce, Bo Bunny
Ink: HP Printer
Tools: Joy! crafts die
Coloring: Prismacolor markers
Embellies: generic dimensionals, unknown ribbon


Card Details (Karate):
Image: Karen's Doodles
Cardstock: GP, SU, reminisce
Ink: HP Printer
Tools: Nesties, SU Scallop punch
Coloring: Prismacolor markers
Embellies: unknown brads

Missed the Game

Have you ever checked your calendar only to discover that the event you were planning to attend had already happened? Well, that happened to me this week. Not so much checked my calendar, but the Catch the Bug Challenge Blog to find out that although challenges are posted once per month, they are only open for a week. I am clear on that now. In fact I already have my card ready for the new challenge, but you will have to wait til tomorrow to see that...

Main Squeeze has told me of times in his childhood when his parents forgot to pick him up after practice. It was a long walk home. Even so I think this little guy would have preferred that to what he did. He showed up late and missed the game entirely! See? There are flowers growing on the soccer field already.

Even though the game is over, I enjoyed making this card. Besides I needed more practice using digi stamps...

Now if only there was a little boy in my life. I have one daughter. My brother has two daughters. Main Squeeze's brother has two daughters. My two closest stamping friends have five daughters between them. Perhaps Princess A has a little boy in her class she would like to send this to. (I am just kidding, I know you don't believe in the existence of boys)... (yet)






Card Details:
Image: Bugaboo Stamps
Sentiment: N/A
Cardstock: SU, GP
Ink: HP Printer
Tools: Fiskars Border punch
Coloring: Prismacolor markers
Embellies: unknown flowers

Bleeping Digital

Digital is the wave of the future. Digital books, digital music and what some people call digital stamps, though I usually just use the word 'images' Michele has a swap right now for cards made using digis. Within it she has a category for Fancy Folds/Techniques/Shapes card. Thinking I should try something new, I signed up for this one.

Now I am fairly computer savvy, but digis just stump me. They never come out the size that I want. And oh, for this card, I used two, cuz the fish is a digi, a whale actually, that I altered a wee bit (I can do that no problem). I know how to change the size, but cannot seem to figure out how that translates on the paper. At least I am no longer resizing by percentages anymore - OY! That was a bear of a math problem. As for the whale, altering the image was easy; took some time to alter the frame around the image (cuz after all that is the size you are changing, not the picture itself.) Printing it how I wanted - ERG, that took many, many trips through the printer to perfect.Only one sheet of paper, though, cuz I am cheap (green?) like that. Finally I got the whale shape printed and cut out. The turtle was a little easier as I was using him as is and his frame is already tight, so though he took quite some time to get sized correctly, he only one test print. (I used the test page from Belassiz; did I mention I am cheap? In fact, once a page is too full to continue to print, it becomes my desk protector when I do real stamping. I say that cuz after I made this card I thought I will never do digis again! I will, though, and I will get better at it. Certainly could not be any worse...

An inked embossing folder was used for the underwater section of the "fish", and there are Stickles on both the fly (on the fishing line) and the edge of the whale tale. Originally I planned on a Happy Fathers Day sentiment, but did not like any of the placements, so I ditched it. Even without, I think GB will likely be finding this in his mailbox in June.





Card Details:
Image: Dustin Pike - with some parts of the image removed (card shape) , Bugaboo
Sentiment: N/A
Cardstock: SU, GP
Ink: Memento, SU
Tools: Embossing Folder, Brayer
Coloring: Prismacolor markers
Embellies: Stickles, ribbon

True Love for Bodacious?

Renovations to Bodacious' villa are going to take quite some time, so I am bringing Belassiz something to read. She is, of course, an intellectual, so those glossy magazines with their gossip just won't do. A classic novel is what she needs...

Perhaps it is an ulterior motive on my part. After all, we want her to choose from her heart and not what those decorator mags tell her she "should" like. Though honestly I question Bodacious' choice of love. Anyone who would agree to such a wager may not be the catch he thinks she is. I am willing, however, to put my doubt aside and do what I can to help Bodacious. I am sure that if he IS her true love then he will know her and what will most likely move her, so she has nothing to fear. (But again, her doubts make me question her suitability for a mate for Bodacious - oh wait, that's right, I am supposed to be putting these thoughts aside... Please excuse me)
 
Bernarde just might be making a lucky escape... Whoops! Did I say that out loud?

If you are visiting me for the first time, Welcome! If you have been here before (also welcome!) then you are probably getting used to these crazy posts. No? Well, you will be soon, cuz I am hooked on Teapot Tuesdays!



Card Details:
Image: Elizabeth O. Dulemba 
Cardstock: SU, GP
Tools: Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Nestabilities 
Coloring: Prismacolor Markers
Embellies: (unknown) mini rhinestones, SU Stampin' Dimensionals

Just Because

Have you heard about Bugaboo Stamps and their new Challenge Blog? The fourth Saturday of every month they will be offering a new challenge and a new chance to win free digis! As if that is not enough, every Friday they have Freebie Friday. A wonderful way to introduce their stamps and give you chance to try them out, perhaps in their challenge. After all, if you use one of their digis you are entered into the contest TWICE! Now before you go rushing over there, check out my card for Bugaboo's very FIRST challenge, "Valentines With a Twist". Create a card, tag, layout or item that could be used for Valentine's Day. The twist? You may not use traditional Valentines colors. In other words no red or pink.

You may assume, based on her name, that Princess A's favorite color is pink, but you would be wrong. In fact, when we bought the house and gave her the option to paint her room any color she wished, she chose orange with red trim! Needless to say, it was not difficult at all to make a card with her in mind and not use pink.

This is Lulu and her doll. She was a freebie some weeks ago. (Thank you Bugaboo!) I think she is just right for Princess A because of their many similarities. Princess A would more likely gravitate towards a turquoise item in her wardrobe and her doll would be coordinated if possible. Of course she does not always carry a doll. Usually it is some sort of critter in her arms, Mel the bunny, Wexler the frog, Jewel the monkey, and of course most recently, Osiris her kitten.

SCS Sketch Challenge #265 gave me the layout and the rest grew from there. The background is stamped with a jumbo Stampin' Around, "Kindness", from SU and all card stock is SU as well. The ribbon was something I found in my stash and the sentiment was made from snap-together alphabet stamps. Lulu and her doll are colored with Prismas.

I appreciate your hanging out with me til the end. Now feel free to click on over to the Catch the Bug Challenge Blog for your chance to enter!

Ring around the Rosy, Dragon Picked Some Posies...

Do you know Dustin Pike? I just discovered his blog and am anxiously awaiting his opening of his new website. I admit I was not a fan of digi stamping, as I don't consider it stamping if there is no rubber involved, but this dragon and all of his cohorts have won me over! So no, I can never call it 'stamping', but they sure make for some cute cards! And for all you diehards (like me!) he is coming out with a line of rubber stamps starting in May!!

This cute little guy was a freebie at Easter time; the original image has him holding an egg with a chick. I put him into my photo editing software and removed the egg and chick and then drew in the missing part of his hand. A technique akin to masking in my mind. He is colored with three different shades of green Prismacolor Markers coordinating with the greens in SU's Bold Brights family. (This card and 5 others just like it will be sent off as part of jbmak's Color Family swap on SCS.)

The flowers are Doodlebug Paper Posies which I must have received in a secret sister swap, cuz I am certain I did not buy them. In fact I have no idea if any shops around here even carry them. A Cuttlebug embossing folder was used for the background and all cardstock except the white is SU. The white is GP.

I hope you love this guy as much as I do. As I told the swap hostess, I am going to have to just close my eyes to get these in the mailbox; otherwise I don't know how I will part with them!