MMSC#56 and AI contest

Here is my card for today. The layout is based on Midnight Madness's sketch challenge #56. It is also my second submission for Art Impression's monthly contest. This month's theme is, "Feel like dancing". This character's name is Dotty. She just cracks me up! She's got a lot of skirt to color so my previous card I paper pierced and this one I covered up most of her body with the fence. Smart, aren't I? I used the vine to look like grass or some sort of foliage in front of the fence. I needed something in the upper left corner and this rub-on was perfect for it, because of course, Dotty is unforgettable. I added pearls around her neck, because she just needed a little bling on her ensemble.

Thanks for looking!

My dork sister, Traci, had not heard of a doggie backpack. So I put one on Sophie and took a picture. We are going camping/hiking this weekend and I need to start getting her used to the pack. Yes, I am mean, I make my dog carry her own water and provisions.

There, I think this is better

I added a small strip of paper, the same as her dress, for the horizontal piece. I had a piece of sheer ribbon and it wasn't noticeable. I like this better. Now, to go to PWCO blog and upload and to AI contest.

I need your vote!

Midnight Madness announced today that I am a finalist in their Priscilla Award!!! This award goes to the person with the most votes. If you haven't voted yet, I would appriciate you voting for me! My card is #5 and it is the hunter looking through binoculars.

AI contest and PWCO SC #34

AI's Stamp Contest this month is "I feel like Dancing". This is Dotty. I love how at peace Dotty is with her self as she twirls around. I imagine herself home alone with the music blaring and letting it all loose. I used the sketch challenge from Paperwork Co for this week. I thought the butterfly patterned paper went well with Dotty. She's as pretty and light as a butterfly!

Unfortunately the sheer ribbon that runs horizontally between the layers of DP doesn't show very well. I tried putting pearls on either side to make it show more. The card looks 100x's better IRL. The picture here really isn't capturing it as well. I think I have decided to give this card to Foster Grandma Virginia (remember the round blanket I made her?) from work. It is her birthday on June 12. I think she'll be 83 or 84.

**Addendum** I enhanced the photos and posted it here. Wow! Makes a difference doesn't it??

baby hat and socks

I finished this project today. There are a lot of women pregnant at work. This lady is expecting a girl. I had this skein in my stash. Another co-worker gave me a bag full of yarn she didn't want last year and this was one of the skeins. Turned out cute, I think!

This is the picture that is supposed to be on my header. I can't seem to downsize it to make it fit. If you can help me please do so!

Lamb Blanket

Finally! The Lamb Blanket is done!! I made this for a CNA at work who is adopting a baby boy in June. The colors did not show well here. The yellow is a soft yellow, not this mustard looking yellow you see here. This blanket is made in pieces and then sewn together. I am not fond of sewing pieces together. Yikes! that's a lot of work! I am pleased with the way it turned out.

AI contest

Hmmm, not to sure about this one. This is a possibility for the AI contest this month. The theme is Dancing. I just had a hard time making Dotty work. I mean, she is such a lovely lady she deserves a beautiful card! Well, let me know if you think if I should try again. I think I should!

***addendum*** I enhanced the photo quality and posted the picture here. I think it makes a difference.

MMSC#55

The sneak peek for next week's Midnight Madness sketch challenge was posted today. I was home early because daycare closed early which means I had time to stamp while youngest DS was napping. Yay! I stopped at Joann's before going home and picked up this new paper. I think it is very pretty!! I also picked up this Smile Stamp in the $1.00 bin at Michael's. I apologize for using my ducky stamp again. I love this stamp though and it just screamed at me to be used today. Now I guess I need to go back and do this week's sketch challenge! Nothing like doing it backwards!

SSS56

This is my father's day card for my Dad. Sweet and Sassy's sketch challenge this week was to use this layout and make it a card for a man. Guido, the "young" man you see here, is a new stamp I bought using the winnings from my second place prize at Art Impression's monthly contest. He is a front and back stamp as you can see from the two photos.

My Dad is the guy that wears black dress socks YEAR ROUND and pulls them up as high as they can go, which is either lower calf or mid-calf depending on the length. My Dad has huge calves and he really doesn't need to accentuate them any more than they already stand out. He also has a tendency to wear black dress socks with sneakers with the laces undone. Finally, my Dad thinks he looks HOT in pink shirts. Dad really thinks he can dress himself nicely. No matter how many times my Mom, poor Mom, tries to dress him nicely, Dad just can't pull it off. Even when Mom gets him in nice clothing he then pulls his belt too tight or up too high. Oh, and Dad is the guy that loves to have his pants unbuttoned (Think Frank Barone here) any chance he can get. At least Dad is secure enough in his manhood to wear pink.

Okay, despite my Dad's faux pax (is that a X or a Z?) with dressing and thinking he looks devilishly handsome, I have the BEST Dad. If I need something, Dad is there. He has literally dropped everything to come running when I have needed him. One time my DH was in the ER for dehydration. I didn't know what I was going to do with the kiddos while I was with DH so Dad started the trek up to our house despite doing something for someone else. That is only one small example of the things he does.

So Dad, I know you are waiting for GQ to call, but I need to be honest with you, it just ain't going to happen! Love you, Dad!

SC 280

I decided to try a Splitcoast challenge this week. This is SC 280. Cherry Dress Tilda is a new Tilda for me. I just think she's adorable (even without a mouth and a nose). I wanted to put more into this than the sketch called for, but I didn't have the appropriate embellishments. My stash consists of 99% flowers and 1% other. I did find the cute little lady bug and added it on the corner.

Thanks for looking and please don't forget to leave a comment.

PWCO sketch Challenge #32

This is my submission for Paperworks Co sketch challenge. As I was looking through my stamp collection I saw the ducks which were right on top. I absolutely giggle every time I see this stamp. I couldn't resist using them again. I decided to make a birthday card because I am behind on my SCS birthday RAKS for this month. I have sent out zero, zip, nil. I did start to cut some extra pieces to make a few more, but then ran out of paper. The ducks are from Penny Black, the other two stamps are SU. I never know about the paper because I just pull it out from my stash. I made the flower on the upper right hand corner.

Thanks for looking!!

SSS55

Oh boy, am I behind on making christmas cards. I try to make 10 cards a month. This is May and this is my first card. I haven't done too well this year on keeping up! I love the way this card came out. I don't like how time intensive it was. I opted not to go for a shading effect on the coloring as I was trying to save a step. I think for a mass produced card I would skip all of the bottom embellishments on the card front.

I used Sweet and Sassy's sketch challenge for this week as my layout. I gathered scraps of christmas paper for the dp and I bought this cute, cute little snowman from Whipper Snapper.

I then added a very tiny bit of a cotton ball around the bottom of the snowman for a snow effect.

Pictures of Sophie

The first picture is of Sophie tucked in for the night (not really. I have to let her out before I go to bed).

The second one...Well, kind of speaks for itself. I can't believe I have a bird and dog who don't understand the predator/prey relationship.

SSS54

Here's my submission for this week's Sweet and Sassy's challenge. I decided to use this sketch for my Mother's Day card for my Mom. I completely blanked that it was Mother's day this weekend. Thankfully my parents are coming tomorrow (Saturday) to watch the boys do a kid's triathlon so I can give it to her then. I posted 2 pictures of it because I couldn't decide if it looked better with the white background or the gray. Thanks for taking a peek!

PWCO sketch #31

This is the first time I have played along with Paperworks Sketch Challenge. The challenge was to have a main circle with little circles around it. I used one of my new Tilda stamps named, "cross-stitch Tilda". I started with the polka dot paper as the background paper, but it was too much. I used this pretty paper instead and paper pierced it for her dress. The embellishments are various buttons and flowers I have in my stash.