It Is Costume Party Time!!

Woohoo! I'm so excited to is Friday! That means you are here for the Sketches by Carly Costume Party (blog hop)!!! I bet you've seen some adorable cards with the fantastic images our very own DT member, Jacqui and The Digi Garden, huh? If you came from Kelly's blog you are right on track. If you'd like to start at the beginning go back to Carly's blog (link below) and get started there!

My card is made with the sweetest image called Macy's Candy Corn Outfit.  Candy Corn is my FAVORITE fall/Halloween candy so you know I had to use this super cute image!  And what could have been more appropriate than papers from Cosmo Cricket's mini deck called Matilda?   I think they were made for each other!

Here is just a little shot of the inside. I used the drippy goo punch for some added fun.

And, of course, the fabulous sketch that Carly drew for us this week...just perfect for those images!  Now, I bet you are dying to see what everyone else has made, right?  Here are the links for ya!

Sketches by Carly

Carly - http://carlys-crafts.blogspot.com/

Ceal - http://simplybeautifulcreations.blogspot.com/

Gloria - http://purpleglocreations.blogspot.com/

Jacqui - http://thepoodlesdoodles.blogspot.com/

Jerusha - http://ilovepapercrafting.blogspot.com/

Julie - http://juliescraftyspot.blogspot.com/

Kathy - http://wintercreationsbykathy.blogspot.com/

Kelly - http://wishiniwasstampin.blogspot.com/

You are here!--->Lorie - http://live-love-laugh-create2.blogspot.com/

Go here next!--->Margreet - http://margreets-scrapcards.blogspot.com/

Sarah - http://auntbeespickles.blogspot.com/

Shakirah - http://shakiracards.blogspot.com/

Sketches by Carly to enter our challenge!

Have a wonderful time on the blog hop and I hope you'll join us for this week's sketch challenge 'cuz you do want to have two chances to win, right?  One winner will be picked from our blog hoppers who leaves a comment on all the DT's blogs, and one winner will be chosen from the sketch challenge players. Each winner will get to choose 5 digis of their choice!
Alright, friends...away you go!

Our dogs...

Hello all! Did you know it is Wednesday already? I think this week is going to go by way to quickly!  I thought I'd stop in and show you all a couple of pages I did of two of our dogs.  We do have three dogs but I rarely take photos of Tara (the big dog).  Guess I should remedy that, huh?  Anyway, take a look, read the journalling and I hope you enjoy!

I hope you'll stop back on Friday for my Sketches by Carly post as we are having a Costume Part (aka a blog hop) with some simply adorable The Digi Garden images.  I just finished my card a little while ago and I have seen some of the other DT members cards...I really think this is something you're going to love!

See you Friday!

Sketches by Carly

Good morning and welcome to another edition of Sketches by Carly!  I must admit on this sketch  two things.  One I did not follow it exactly and two it was hard for me.  Our sponsor this week is Bugaboo Stamps and the winner will receive seven digital images of their choice.  Now that's worth playing along isn't it?

I used an image from the always cute stick figure collection.  This one is simply named School - Boy.  I remembered I had some school digital papers so I found those and printed out the pencil paper, colored up my image and then I was stuck.  I always have a hard time figuring out what to do with little thingies hanging down.  My first thought was ribbon but not for a boy card so...I used arrows that I put different character qualities on like positive, effort and respect.  For the 'dawg pound' part (the school's mascot is a bulldog) I just used word are in Word, then free cut it. 

I made this to give to Kyler to tell him what a good job he's doing so far this year (I know it has only been a week) as it has been a big change for him and he's staying on top of things really well so far.  He liked it (especially the 'dawg pound' part) so it was all a success!

Above is the sketch...I hope you'll give it a try and have some fun with us and possibly win some fun images from Bugaboo!

So, there you have it!  I hope you all have a wonder Friday!  See you on Monday!

Have a great day!

Good Friday morning everyone! What a whirlwind week it has been! I can't believe it is Friday already! We are onto Fair and Rodeo weekend...fun stuff! As fun as that is for me you aren't here for that are you? Being that there are five Friday's in August we get an extra Sketches by Carly week. Yay! Scroll on down...

So this week I have used one of Carly's (yep the one who draws the sketches) digital images.  This one is called Carly's Puppy and can be found HERE.  This was such a fun, upbeat card to make.

And a little peek at the inside for ya too.  I wanted to put that sun on the outside but darn if I could make it look right.  Instead, I used butterflies on the outside so I could play along with Flutter By Wednesday's.  The challenge was to decorate the inside of your card and to be sure to have something fluttery on the card too.  This one works in both ways...yay!  Did you know that I decorate the inside of almost all of my cards?  Yep!

And here is the sketch for the week.  I only went off sketch at the bottom where I put the sentiment but I think I followed it pretty well.  Our sponsor for this week is Kelly Little.  She has a wonderful envie full of crafting goodness for you!  (Trust me...you'll wanna play along with this one!)

So, there you have it!  Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow morning with cute teacher themed gift.  Till then...have a wonderful day!

Fall/Winter Designed2Delight Blog Hop

Good morning and thanks so much for blog hoppin' with D2D! Remember, all New Release Digital Stamps will be on SALE until August 23. Details HERE. Below will be links to the other design team members amazing cards. This month we are featuring fall/winter images and a couple of really cute new images!

This Fall Mailbox image is one of the new images that Faith has released this month.  I love the pumpkins and the bird with the heart is so cute.  I tried to make this a bit more masculine as it is a birthday card for a man.  I do love it though! 

I just had to share with you the pile of markers it took to make the Fall Mailbox card.  How many are there?  19!  Crazy, huh?

And when I saw sweet School Maisie Belle I knew I had to make a back to school card with her.  It looks like that cutie is all ready for back to school with her ruler, scissors, and paint brushes in her pockets! 

For more inspiring ideas from this new release, please visit the other designers' blogs:

Sketches by Carly

While you won't see this on the Sketches by Carly blog ('cuz I just finished the card this morning) this is my card for the sketch this week.  This week's sponsor is Sweet n Sassy Stamps and the winner will win 3 digi images of their choice so I know you'll want to play along!

And below is the sketch. You can put the flowers on your card or not...it is up to you.  Obviously flowers wouldn't go very well with my mouse and pumpkin image so I left the flowers off of mine.

I hope you'll come on over to Sketches by Carly and join this great sketch challenge!

Celebrating you today...

It's Friday and a beautiful day outside so far. We are headed back up in the 90's for the weekend but I'll take it!  Today is my first Friday back with Sketches by Carly after taking a little break and we have a fun challenge for you today.  It is:

That's right...use any sketch you'd like from past Carly sketches.  The sketch I chose is #39 and you can see it below:

Our sponsor for the week is the Paper Shelter but I've had these images and dies sitting out on my desk for a little while just begging me to play with them...so I did!  All images and papers (except the white) are from PaperTrey Ink. 

Well, what do ya think?  I think it is super cute and I'm sure happy with the way the images worked with the dies.  This is a birthday card that I'll be sending off pretty soon...I hope the recipient likes it!

Alright, now make sure you hop on over to the other designers blogs (listed to the right) to check out what they made and which sketches they used.  They are all amazingly talented!

Have a fantastic Friday and weekend everyone!

Monkey Around?

Good morning friends!  I know it has been a long time since crafty (and it shows in my coloring) sharing but I have a cute little card for ya today!  My hubby and I are going to go spend a couple of days away (it is SO hard to find a house sitter this summer but we did it!) so I thought I'd make him a cute little (actually not so little at 5"x5") card. 

This card is made with the super cute Monkey Around image from Designed2Delight.  I made my own sentiment (and yes I put it too low on the tag) with a dual meaning--the one you are all thinking and then we are going to do some hiking so that is kinda monkey-ish, right--climbing and such?  Okay, so that is stretching it a bit but go with me on this!  LOL!  I am taking the month of July off from the Sketches by Carly team but used today's new sketch. 

Hopefully, I'll be back soon...I know I have some cute images to work with for the Designed2Delight release on July 20th!

See you soon!

The Bride And Groom

I know, I know...it has been forever since I posted last. Well, not forever but a week. Thank goodness for the fabulous Sketches By Carly challenges or I would never be posting.

Today starts a new challenge over at SBC and what a great sketch it is!  We are sponsored by The Paper Shelter today and I got to use one of their adorable images that is just perfect for me right now.  Yep, a wedding image.  The winner will get a $20 gift certificate to the store...wow!  Anywho, I colored and used purple for this card since it is one of the wedding colors (the other is gold), added some hearts and their name at the top.  The embellie on the ribbon is another heart and then I painted it will Illuminate Smooch.  The ribbon embellie was finished with a twine bow.  Oh, and the lace of the view is all sparkly as well as all the little creases in the dress. 

It has been such a busy week.  Kyler had his 8th grade graduation (I'll post a photo or two later) for which grandma flew in from WI.  We didn't really stop moving until...well, not yet!  It has still been super busy but maybe Sunday will be better?  Today is Kyler's last day of 8th grade and his last day at ECS.  I am getting a little choked up just thinking about it.  This school's tag line is 'education for the whole child' and indeed it is.  They have taught his body in PE, his mind in his core subjects, and his soul in Bible.  Not only has it been amazing for Kyler but it has been a place of friendship for me.  I feel like I'm having more separation anxiety than Kyler is!  I am going to take a deep breath and try not to break down and just bawl at some point today.   

Well, there you have it.  Have a wonderful Friday and weekend!  See you back here soon!

A weed is...

Good morning friends! I cannot believe how busy this week has been and how fast it has gone!  At least it is Friday and I get to share with you today!  Today is week #2 of the new sketch from Sketches by Carly.  We are sponsored by Digi Doodle Shop and the winner of will win a $10 gift certificate from them!

We got to pick an image to use from Digi Doodle Shop and yep, I chose this dandelion.  I a specific thought in mind for it but when I went to make that card it did not translate well so I started over again and came up with this card-that I really like.  The sentiment is from Ralph Waldo Emerson and says "A weed is just a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."  I think that is a little bit like us...we are like weeds with God ever pruning us to turn us into a beautiful plant working for His name. 

Anyway, have a wonderful weekend!  See you soon!

Have a beautiful day!

Hello there friends! I know...it has been forever since I posted and I really do apologize!  Today is the beginning of a new sketch at Sketches by Carly and I like to play along if I can so that is why I'm here today!  I do want you to stop by tomorrow, though--I have an exciting announcement for you that will bring me (and hopefully you) to my blog much more often! 

I decided to combine both of my design teams today.  A-Manda Creation has a super cute new kit out called Outdoor Artist.  It is SO perfect for those photos of your kiddos play with chalk on the sidewalk.  In fact, I'll have a fun project for you to see with that specifically in mind next week!  Anyway, I thought the kit was cute enough to make a card with so I designed this card with the SBC sketch in mind. 

On the inside I used some basic grey and white cardstock with one of the adorable butterflies from the kit to make the inside just as much fun as the outside.  I can't wait to send this off to someone!

So, that is it from me today but I'll be back tomorrow with fun news!  Have an amazing Friday!

Look at that bling!

Good morning!What a week it has been!  I've been ill this week with allergies/cold that I woke up with on Sunday...yep, on Mother's Day.  My boys have taken really good care of me, though, so I'm feeling much better today!  Yesterday was track and field day at Kyler's school so I was outside all day for that and unfortunately it was super windy...no fun at all! Okay, no fun for me the kids still had a great time!

This is the second week of the Sketches by Carly Challenge.  Make sure you check it out HERE.  There are two version to this sketch...basic, like mine, or more stepped up.  You chose which you'd like to use!  Fun, huh?  This card is for my soon to be daughter-in-law's shower on Saturday.  Her colors are purple and gold.  I think she will like it!

Well, busy day ahead and weekend, too so I best get it started!  Have a wonderful Friday!

Working it Out!

Good Friday morning friends!  I hope you've had a wonderful week so far!  Mine has been busy but good and that is okay with me!

Welcome to a new Sketches By Carly week.  For this two week time period you get to choose which sketch you'd like to use either the basic sketch or the stepped up sketch.  Head on over to the SBC blog to see them.  And, yes...I do know it isn't my week to post a card for the sketch but what a perfect opportunity to play with this sketch, huh?

I made my card for my Jazzercise instructor...you see Tuesday was instructor day through Jazzercise so I made the card and took it in for all in her class to sign.  Today, Friday, is the one year anniversary of her teaching the 12:05 pm class so we are going to give her the card and probably a nice big coffee card as she loves coffee!  Sarah is such a blessing in so many of our lives that we can't wait to thank her for what she does!  Inside the card says 'time to celebrate'.  Isn't that workout birdie from Doodle Pantry just so much fun? 

Above is a photo of the prize pack that you will have a chance to win if you play along.  It is sponsored by Kelly Little and you can see more about that on the SBC blog as well. 

Well, that is it for me today!  I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and a wonderful weekend!

Sketches by Carly

Oh, my goodness...I am a bad design team member today!  After a little e-mail from Kris I was prompted to remember that I didn't post for Sketches by Carly this week!  ACK!  So, here we go!

This week we are sponsored by Bugaboo Stamps and the winner of this sketch will SEVEN images!  I have used the I Do image.  I thought it would be cute to start making cards for my son and his fiance.  I don't know how many cards I'll actually need but hey...you can never have too many!

Okay, above is the sketch.  I hope you'll be able to play along!  Have a great weekend!

A girl and her flowers...

Good morning friends! I hope you had a wonderful weekend! I absolutely adored this new image from Design2Delight so...I had to have and make a card with it right away.  I also had to use the current sketch from Sketches by Carly.  (You'll see another card with this layout on Friday!)  Isn't she cute with her flowers and bug friends?  I just love it!  My intention is to stamp a sentiment of some sort on the bottom horizontal piece of patterned paper.  I just wanted to leave it open as far as what type of card it will be.

Well, this is a pretty short post today but I hope you enjoy this little share.  I am going to link it up at Shopping Our Stash as it is something girlie/Mother's Day.  I know the image is new but I've had the paper for quite some time.   Have a wonderful day!

I appreciate you...

Happy Friday friends!  Thank you for stopping in today!  The first and third Friday's of the month are always fun for me  because I get to share with you a card I made for the current Sketches by Carly challenge! 

This week we were able to use an image that we wanted to I chose the Lily of the Valley image that is in the May set from PaperTrey Ink.  Lily of the Valley are my favorite flowers so when I saw the set I knew I had to have it.  I haven't used it a whole lot but I still think it is lovely.  I was trying to go a little more clean and simple with this even though there are lots of layers.  I actually think I achieved that.  I really like this card!

This current sketch is sponsored by Di's Digital Downloads.  The winner will receive a $10 gift certificate.  You have one more week to make a card with this sketch, link it up to the SBC blog for a chance to win so you better get on it! 

Busy weekend at our house.  We have two events on Saturday plus cleaning in between those events for the event at our house on Sunday afternoon.  We do, however, have a nice weekend coming up--we'll be up into the 70's this weekend.  YAY!

Well, I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Gift Girl

Good morning friends!  I  hope you've had a wonderful week.  I know I'm glad to be to Friday!  Today I get to share with you the card I made with Carly's current sketch at Sketches by Carly.  It is a fun sketch with lots of potential...as usual!

We are sponsored this week by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps so I used their super cute Ava's Gift digital Stamp.  I know her colors don't necessarily match but I do know that some little girls don't have to match perfectly when they get dressed either so I went with it!  I just pulled some paper out of my huge stash and went to work with the sketch.  This card feels very home-y to me.

Above is a shot of the inside and the sentiment that I decided to use with this card.  It is from PaperTrey Ink.  An oldie but goodie for sure!

Today is the beginning of a weekend that starts in what look like tragedy, Good Friday, and ends in the most glorious way!  I felt God leading me to fast today (sun up to sun down) so if you think of it say a little prayer for me. 

I hope you have a wonderful Friday!  Kyler's birthday is on Monday so we'll be having his party tomorrow.  It is just a big gathering of his friends to play some football and eat some bacon cheeseburger pizza, as well as celebrating with some yummy Snicker's cupcakes.  It should be lots of fun for him!