What's on My Kitchen Counter

The picture on this card is of my Mom circa 1965. She is about 30 in the picture, and she is a knockout sitting on the beach in Florida with the wind in her hair. I have always thought she looked like a movie star in this picture. I have to tell you that she is my hero. She has faced some giant hardships in life, yet she still smiles just like she is smiling in this picture. I have been so blessed to have her as my Mom. I know it isn't Mother's Day but I woke up thinking of her and just sat down and made this card. Hugz!!!

Time again for the House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge (#152)! This time it is about Transport/Transporting/Transportation - you know going somewhere by some means (mentally or physically - LOL) or moving something by some means. These sweet little mice are so creative and they have found a way to make a sailboat out of a teacup. They must either be totally relaxed or making that sail tired them out - either way they are awfully cute! Wonder where they are going? This is my last card as a guest designer in the challenge. I had so much fun doing cards for this challenge and appreciate all the encouragement the DT members provided. You are all a very talented and sweet group. Hope this finds you transporting somewhere relaxing and fun, and I hope you will grab your favorite HM image and join us in the challenge! Hugz!

I have officially become addicted now! This is my third Magnolia card, and I can't wait to make more! I found a fun challenge called the Marvelous Magnolia (#41 - Lovely Layers) Challenge and they have levels you can enter depending on how experienced you are with Magnolias. Isn't that fun? This week the challenge is all about layers and I have a bunch of them on this card. My papers are from SU! and The Paper Studio, my stars are from Hobby Lobby's mini tree embellishments, the gems are from Recollections, the ribbon is some Christmas Tulle from Hobby Lobby, and the little bow at the top is from the wrapping around Allie's blanket (she gave it to me today when we moved her into her dorm - I feel like I have added just a little bit of her to this card - yes, I have tears in my eyes as I type this - so hard to know all your babies have grown up - sniff). I also made another card today with a little piece of that blanket wrapping Allie gave me. It is for the Mixed ...

The Sassy Cheryl's Challenge this week is all about Birthdays and who doesn't need another Birthday card? I need a bunch of them personally. I love this sweet image from the Avery is Thankful set. That cupcake is the closest I have gotten to a cupcake since Christmas. It looks pretty yummy to me! Hugz!

It's only a few more months before Winter is here, and I am counting down the days already! Since I am so looking forward to Winter, I chose this beautiful Snow Birds Birdhouse image from Pattie's Creations for the new Anything Goes Challenge at Pattie's Creations . I think this is my new favorite Pattie's Creation image - the birds were so fun to color! The challenge will run for 2 weeks and remember there is a prize for the entries not using a Pattie's Creation's image and one for the entries using a Pattie's Creations image. Be sure and check it out. I am also entering this card in the Crafty Boots Challenge which is Christmas in August - how fun is that! Hugz - cool ones if you are wishing for cooler weather and warm ones if not!

Isn't it fun to learn and try new things? I love it - makes me feel younger and more alive - these days that is something I really need as I am discovering new wrinkles and aches every day - LOL! This past week I learned to make burlap rosettes with Allie and we made a bunch of them as you will see from a few of the projects I am posting here. HERE is the link to the directions if you are interested. There are about 20 different kinds of burlap flowers you can make (yes, I pinned them all in my boards if you follow me on Pinterest - LOL) so I am going to be at JoAnns this weekend to get more burlap! I am thinking up some fun things to use as "prizes" at work and this large candy bar is one of the ideas I have come up with. It also fits the {Pin}spirational Challenge which is based on this wonderful picture: Allie and I worked on a few altered projects for her dorm in the last few weeks and my favorite one is a floor lamp we found in my parents' storage she...

My second Magnolia image/card ever! I am starting to be addicted! I colored this pretty girl with Prismas and some paint I was using to redo a lamp this weekend. I used the inspiration photo from the Magnolia Down Under Challenge : Doesn't this picture inspire you? I had to play in the challenge after looking at the picture and then seeing all the wonderful DT creations! I also was inspired by the challenge at Pile It On (#33) which is to use NO Designer Paper (I used a piece of an old dictionary page I found on the floor of my craft room and piece of corrugated cardboard from a box I was about to throw out) and the Flower Power Bloggers Challenge at Splendiferous Creations by Lisa Somerville which is focusing on flowers (one of may favorite things to focus on). I am also entering this in the Challenges 4 Everybody which is Anything Goes (that is always inspiring). Before I close, I want to tell you about a very cool challenge I found this week called Path of Positivity Ch...

In Alabama, the weather has been a bit cooler giving us a little hint of Fall - I have so enjoyed it. Now if the Summer bugz could go away, I would be thrilled! The new Squigglefly challenge is to use Twine, Ribbon, or Floss on your creation. There are many new images this month in the Squigglefly store and all of them are super fun. I used two of them for this challenge. My first card is made using an image from one of my very favorite artists, Dawn Collins, called Say Cheese . Dawn is a wonderful artist, a super creative card maker/designer, and she has a fun new business repurposing old furniture and other finds. I love her great sense of humor and style. Inside this one says, "And in your case they were right on the money!" I used baker's twine from SU! to wrap around the first layer and to make the little bow On my second card, I used an image by Judith Hart called Retro Flower . I used a scrap of ribbon under my flowers in the bottom right and also...

Hello friends. Eleven more days and my little one is officially going off to college. I miss her already! She is a Pinterest jumkie, and she found a cute way to hang pictures in her dorm. A few of the pictures she selected to take are black and white photos which fits in well with this week's Sassy Cheryl challenge: "Remembering Black and White Photos." I had this old film stamp that I bought at a Garage Sale years ago, and thought it would work perfectly for the challenge. My SC image is from the Avery is Thankful set . I made it sound like this idea just came to me right away, but that is not true - this one stumped me for awhile! I recommend you check out the Sassy Cheryl blog - the girls on the Design Team made the cutest cards for this challenge! Fun stuff. Hugz!

The new Squigglefly challenge is to make a Thinking of You card . Rhonda's DT group (the group I am on) is off this week and Holley's group is doing the inspiration - they were so inspiring that I had to make a card too. I made my card with an image that is new to the store called Firefly Frenzy - Maddie (Cheryl Grant). When I was making this card, I remembered I had an old SU! set that had a mason jar image and I used that for the jars behind my image. If you look at the bottom left where the flowers are and look to the right of the arrangement, you can see a little purple flower. That is my first attempt at a dryer sheet flower. I know it is small and hard to see, but I finally tried one (Benzi and Emzi I hope you are reading this - I know I told you both in the past I was going to try one). Hugz!

The new House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge is "Liquid Refreshments" - any type of liquid refreshment can be used on your card. This is one of my favorite House Mouse images of all time. It would be hard to get much cuter than this! I used a SU! image as the base behind the tea cup and the Friendship banner. Be sure and grab your favorite House Mouse image and join us in this fun challenge - but be sure include some type of liquid refreshment on the card (in the image or on the card somewhere). I thought about using some Diet Coke or coffee as a medium on my card (those are my favorite refreshments - LOL). Happy Monday! Hugz!

I hate to admit it, but I am not fond of Anything But A Card challenges. It isn't that I don't like to make things besides cards or that I don't have lots of other ideas besides cards...but the idea that I can't make a card freezes the part of my brain that allows creativity to surface. That's my assessment of the problem anyway. I worked through it this week and this is what I came up with for the Sassy Cheryl Anything But a Card Challenge : It is a little tag book I am going to complete this weekend for one of my friends. I am trying to get her to forgive me for forgetting her birthday this past Monday. I still have 3 of the little tag pages to complete, but I am going to have to get some shells today at the craft store to finish it off. I will give it to her when I take her to lunch (another forgive me ploy) this week. I have to admit I am birthday challenged. I have got to get a good plan together to correct this flaw!!! Tell me your plan because the o...

Are you as ready for cold weather as I am? I am tired of being hot and can't wait for Fall. I would say Winter but Fall and Winter are pretty much the same in Central/Southern Alabama most years. We rarely get snow and when we do, we all run outside and enjoy it for the 15 minutes it lasts. Seriously! I love the way it looks so I was really drawn to this Snow Covered Lamp Post created by Pattie. It worked perfectly for the newest Pattie's Creations Design Challenge which is embossing of any type. First I printed my image and sentiment, colored it up, "aged" the edges with some SU! Chocolate Chip ink, and then did 4 layers of versa mark and SU! glossy embossing powder. Then I bent it all up to "crack" the glass. I love this technique as it instantly gives you a vintage look which is what I wanted for this Christmas card. Hope you are staying cool! If you would like to join us in the embossing challenge at Pattie's Creations, grab an image and c...

This week the Squigglefly challenge (SF3113) is to make your card Masculine. Masculine cards are one of my favorite kinds of cards. I used the Wreath Nest by Marla Shega. I love the detail on this image and it was great fun to cut out an extra branch and bow and pop them up for dimension. This is my hubby's kind of wreath. If we didn't have a screen door covering our entry door, we would probably have a bird's nest in our wreath too - we have them in our awnings and the rafters in the garage. This reminds me of Fall - a season I am so looking forward to this year! Grab a Squigglefly image and your favorite manly papers and embees and work up a masculine card for this challenge (remember that is you don't have a Squigglefly image there are some free ones in the store). The card I made is going to be my Christmas card for my boss. Hugz!

I had a few extra minutes this afternoon so I thought I would try to do a few of the SCS Dirty Girl Challenges: handmade flowers, vintage, beleek technique, and die cuts. Sure wish I had time to more - there were some fun challenges this year. Hope you had a great weekend - HUGZ!!!!

After several years of admiring Kevin's Magnolia cards (and all the other lovely Magnolia cards out there), Kevin finally pushed me to try one ( HERE is a link to Kevin's wonderful blog - McCrafty's Cards). I am so intimidated by them because the people who do Magnolia cards all look like they have Master's Degrees in coloring and rooms full of just the right dies and flowers. Seriously! But Kevin encouraged me and so here is my first card done with a Magnolia image. I know it is CAS in every way for a Magnolia creation, but it will have to do for now until I can get 50,000 more flowers, dies, and cool texturing things. I am entering this in these challenges: Simply Magnolia - Anything Goes Magnolia-licious - Anything Goes Magnolia Down Under - Distressing Hugz! Hope your weekend has been wonderful!!!

I had some time to check out the Haunted Design House Challenge this morning, and it was such a challenge that I had to join in. The HDH team all made Chunky ATCs which I have never heard of until this week. A chunky ATC measures 3.5x2.5x1.5 and is usually made of wood. Mine is made of 10 pieces of cardboard glued together and covered with metal tape (from Home Depot). I took some other cardboard pieces covered in metal tape and cut them with my TH gear die. A clock hand from a broken clock at my parents' house seemed to fit perfectly and drove my choice of sentiment. I asked my DH what he thought and he was speechless. I think he is still trying to figure out what ATC stands for - LOL! I think I will make some more of these - it was awfully fun! Hugz!

Cream and white - one of my favorite color combinations. How lucky I am that the newest Sassy Cheryl challenge just so happens to be a Vintage cream and white challenge . I used the Just Be Yourself Sally image which is available at Sassy Cheryl Stamps or Squigglefly. I seem to have a great need right now for cards that express hugs. I know that getting a handmade card (or any card) is like getting a hug anyway, but I need cards that REALLY pack in a hug. I decided this one should have an obvious hug message as it is going to a couple that really really need a hug and they are too far away for me to give them one. Hope your week has gone well and that you are getting in a lot of crafting or whatever makes you smile and feel less stressed. HUGZ, Nancy