Easter using MDS

I really love My Digital Studio.  I recently downloaded a few stamp sets that I didn't own.  I printed them out on card stock and made a few cards with them.  That is one of the greatest things I love.  You don't have to have MDS to purchase the downloads.  You can purchase the download and save it. What I do is open a Word document and insert a picture (my download picture).  Then you can print it out on cardstock and voila!! Here's a link to tell you a little more about MDS.   AND SU has recently printed a MDS catalog so you can keep up with your downloads.  Here are a couple I printed out yesterday and made into cards.

These are the little girls from Easter Blossoms (Occasions Mini).  I just love her!

This is a single stamp that is not offered anymore so MDS is perfect in that you can buy retired stamps.

 

 Here is the card that I made with Chocolate Bunny.  I also used Beveled Windowpanes that I recently bought.  The butterflies are an embosslet.

Close up of Beveled Windowpane.  These are sturdy acrylic frames.  You get 12 in a package in three different sizes.

This card uses Easter Blossoms.  The cardstock is Very Vanilla and Springtime Vintage DSP.  The little tags are from Tiny Tags stamp set and punched out the Tiny Tag punch.  I tied them onto the Vanilla ribbon with .....dental floss!!

Close up of my bow and tags.

Easter Baskets - Hope your Easter was good

I hope your Easter was wonderful.  We had a beautiful day here in North Carolina.  My mom and sister, Angela, came over about noon.  We sat outside on the deck visiting and enjoying the day while our ham was cooking.  We had a nice lunch  and the Easter Bunny visited everyone (but me!)  I made little baskets for everyone with candy inside. 

I kinda miss dyeing Easter eggs.  That was always a tradition with me and my kids.  They had so much fun using the wax crayons and rub-ons that would come with the Paas dye packs.  We would do the eggs the day before Easter.  Then, they would leave the eggs out for the Easter Bunny to hide for them the next morning.  After we came home from church, I would make up some reason to stall them in the house while Sonny scurried around in the yard hiding the eggs (or vice versa.)  What great memories of them running around finding all the hiding places ... and of us counting the ones they found to make sure none were hidden too well!!

This is the basket I made for my friend Judy.  I used the Scallop Envelope Sixxiz Die and the retired DSP, Night & Day.

Here is the basket I made for Sonny.  I used some retired SU DSP also and a template for the Rounded Box that I found on Splitcoast Stampers.

Mom's basket uses the So Saffron Pattern Pack paper from a retired stack and the chick from "The Good Egg"

On Angela's basket, I made a crumpled paper flower along with Easter paper that I bought locally.

Happy Easter

Have a wonderful Easter!

Last March Monday Mailer

I received my final March Monday Mailer today and wow, is it cute!  I now have an Easter bonnet to wear!!  (Ha)

Isn't this sooo cute?! 

And here is the card I sent my Monday Mailer for her last one this month:

I made her a flower pin that she can remove from the card and wear! 

Here's the inside view.

Easter Cards .... finished!

Well, I've finished my Easter cards and they are in the mail!  Now on the other things.  But first, I will share the cards with you.  I don't think I've shared these cards with you yet, but if I have you can have a second look!!

This one uses Fifth Avenue Floral - one of my favorite stamps.

This one uses Eastern Blooms - love those flowers!

What kid doesn't like Big Bird?  Hope Jayce does because this card is going to him!

I went to the eye specialist on Friday.  He examined my eyes and saw no evidence of tearing of the retina.  But he said it still could happen - you are not "scot free" until three months after you see the symptoms.  I am supposed to go see him again in a month.  BUT, I totally did not like this doctor.  He was just a tad too full of himself and his importance.  He bustled into the room & after a brief handshake, sat down at his laptop and spent about five minutes looking at something on the computer - don't know if it was my records or his previous patient.  Then he argued with me about a previous eye problem I had a couple of years ago (one which he saw me for but didn't diagnose it correctly.)  I am going to try and see another specialist in Charlotte (the one who did diagnose me correctly last time.)  I don't doubt this dr's diagnosis, but in case I do have a problem down the road, I would rather not see him!!

Easter Blessings

Here's one of the Easter cards I made.  Again, I used a challenge to give me some inspiration.  This was done for the color challenge on Picture Perfect Creations.  I did a card for this earlier - this is my second one.  I don't think I have used this stamp from the set, Peace Within!  Not sure why though.

I love the bird and basket of flowers!  It reminds me a lot of one of the stamps in the set, "Flower for All Season" which I have just ordered (FREE from Saleabration!!).  I also used the FREE Saleabration Scallop Trim Border.

Recipe:  Stamp:  Peace Within, Abundent Blessings

Cardstock:  Pretty In Pink, So Saffron, Elegant Eggplant, Watercolor paper

Ink:  Black & Watercolor Crayons

Acces:  Aqua Painter, Modern Label Punch, Photo Corner Punch, Scallop Trim Border, Pink Taffeta Ribbon, Pewter Jumbo Eyelet;  Crop-a-dile; Dotted Texturz Plate, Big Shot

For My 14-Carrot Friend Challenge Card

I'm still working on my Easter cards but I think I'm almost done!  I took advantage of some of the challenges out there in Blog Land when I was running out of ideas for my cards today.  Here's one I did for the challenge on Stamping 411.  The sketch was a very easy one today.

Here's my take on the sketch:

Isn't that bunny the cutest?  He's in a clear set that I have from Inky Antics.  I colored him with my Copics and my Spica Glitter Pen (pink & orange).  The paper is from Stampin' Up.  I ran the orange piece through the Big Shot using an texture plate that I have had about 10 years from Fiskars.  The punch on the pink cardstock is the heart border punch from the Occasions Mini.   

Sweet Treat Easter Cards

I've been working on Easter cards lately.  I've been trying to come up with different ideas for 3 cute little boys in my life - my neice's two boys and my grandson - using the Sweet Treats Cups.  They are such fun to work with.  I don't know why I have let them sit on my desk for about 4 months without doing something with them!!  One problem I have though is I keep eating all the candy that I buy to go in them!!   I had some yummy Starburst Jelly Beans and some gummy rabbits but .... they're all gone!  So this weekend I bought some regular ole jelly beans at Big Lots and they are not near as tasty to me so I think they will be safe!!   Anyhow ... on to my cards!

This little fellow is made from punches.  Isn't he cute??

And who can resist Big Bird at Easter???  Plus, I love the red and yellow combo. 

Hope these give you some inspiration for your Easter cards!

Easter Projects

So, are you going to watch the Oscars tonight?  I think that's all I've heard lately on TV - mostly Oprah, The View, Rachel Ray ....  With the addition of 10 movies up for Best Picture, it should be interesting!  I'm pulling for Sandra Bullock to win Best Actress, Jeff Bridges for Best Actor and Maggie Gyllenhaal for Supporting Actress.  As much as we go to the movies, those are the only two I've seen of all the nominated movies.  I really want to see Precious, Julie & Julia, A Single Man, Up in the Air, Invictus and Hurt Locker.  We were going to go see Hurt Locker today (it's still playing at Concord Mills) but the weather was so beautiful, we opted not to sit in a dark theatre.   We actually took a walk this afternoon around the neighborhood and saw a lot of our neighbors out enjoying the sunshine.

You can call me the Chicken Lady this weekend!  I cooked about 25 POUNDS of chicken Friday!  I am in charge of the team cooking for the local Soup Kitchen next Tuesday and we are going to make Chicken Spaghetti.  I didn't think we'd have time to cook the chicken, chop it up and put it in the casserole which has to cook for 45 minutes by the time we have to serve (11 am), so my partner and I decided to divide up the chicken and cook it at home.  That way all we have to do Tuesday is cook the spaghetti and put the casserole together on Tuesday.  My house smelled like Chicken all weekend!!  I'm having steak for dinner tonight!!

I have been busy being creative this weekend also.  I made a cute Easter frog card for my grandson.  When I finished it, I decided to do a couple of Board Books for two of my granddaughters that I had picked up at Target's Dollar Spot.  They turned out really cute and I think the girls will like them.

I'm getting good with the punches!!   I did the tree free hand in Chocolate Chip and stamped the Weathered Background over it in black.  The weeds in the background is Inspired by Nature and the dragonfly is from Unfrogetable.  I used the Sweet Treat Cup with green jelly beans for the face. 

Here's  the punches I used:

Large Oval - stomach

Small Oval - legs, face and inside of stomach

BoHo Blossom - feet

1/2" Circle - eyes

1/4" Circle - inside of eyes

Here's one of the Board Books.  This one is for Kennedy. 

I used a couple of Prima Flowers with an orange brad, inked the edges in Pumpkin Pie, and inked the "k" with Pumpkin Pie Craft ink and embossed it with Hologram Embossing Powder.

The "girlfriend" was cut from a piece of Basic Gray paper I had.

These pages have SU Felt Flowers and a rub-on (laughter) that I found in my stash.

This one has another Felt Flower, rub on (forever) and FRIENDS is cut from some DSP that I used on the cover and back of the book.

More rub-ons and ribbon.

This is the back of the book.

So, what are you making for Easter???

Snow, Snow Go Away! Plus A Punchy Bunny

I took this picture yesterday about noon.  The snow was coming down fast and furious.  All day, we would have snow for about an hour and then nothing for a few hours, then the snow would start back up.  When I went to bed, it was just raining.  Luckily, there was nothing this morning in our yard so I was able to get out and drive today.

This is the card I made for my Monday Mailer this week:

Isn't he cute?  He was fun to make but I don't know that I will make another one!!  I found this bunny on another blog - sorry don't remember who's!!  But, thanks for the inspiration!!

Stamps- A Good Egg

Punches:  
Ears-Small Oval
Head-Heart
Nose - 1/4" circle
Eyes, Paws -Two-Step Bird  
Overalls-Slot and Small Tag
Body-Curly Label
Fence-Jewelery Tag

I used the flowers from the Sizzix Die, Little Leaves for the foilage.  The DSP for the fence is from the Hostess set, Patterns Pack III  and the cloud background is from the Good Neighbors pack in the Saleabration catalog.  I used the Scallop Trim Border punch (free from Saleabration) on the cloud paper.

Good bye to the Olympics ....plus an Easter card

I'm sad that the Olympics are over.  I really enjoyed watching them.  I really got into Curling!  I think I could do that sport!!  Now, I have to wait 4 years to see it again!!  Today's hockey game between USA and Canada was a real nail biter.  There was no "Miracle on Ice" this time but it was a great game.  If we had to lose the game, at least it was Sidney Crosby ("Sid the Kid) of the Pittsburgh Penguins who did the dirty deed by scoring the winning point.  All over the US, people were coming together to watch the Gold Medal game.  In red states and blue states, tournament MVP Ryan Miller was on the tube and hockey was on the national consciousness.  I've always loved hockey and I think this gave the game a well-needed boost.  For the NHL, the 2010 Olympics generated excitement for a forgotten sport and provided an invaluable national spotlight on the game heading into the league's playoffs. 

While I was watching the game today, I was working on getting some organization to my stamps .... mainly my sentiments.  I have all my stamp sets stamped in a loose-leaf notebook in alpha order, but sometimes don't get much past "L" when looking for a stamp.  And I don't know all the sentiments in my sets.  So, I found a little 4" x 6" Photo Book that was empty and got busy.  I stamped all my stamps on 4" x 6" copy paper and organized them by categories (Love, Birthday, Friends, Thinking of You, Get Well, etc).  Unfortunately, I am going to need at least 2 Photo Books!!  Hopefully, this will make stamping a little easier to find the right sentiment.  I'll let you know!

Here's my first "easel card" that I made last week.  It's an Easter card.  The Easel tutorial can be found on Splitcoast.

I used my new stamp set, Abundant Joy (from Occasions Mini).  I watercolored the flowers and used some of the Champagne Mist Shimmery Ink around the edges and on the flowers.  The scallops around the oval frame are made by punching several 3/4" circles and gluing them around the frame.

Here is the card opened up.