Celebrating Memorial Day

This month's DT challenge for Tombow was to show how we celebrate Memorial Day. To be honest, we don't really do very much. I do reflect and give thanks for those who gave their lives serving our country and for those still serving.

One thing we do now is take the wreaths that were at my grandparents funeral and put them on their graves. Two of my brothers and their families as well as my family meet at the cemetery.

Cutie Patootie nephew. I just aimed the camera at him while I was holding him.

Yesterday we BBQ'd and I made cupcakes. For my project I decided to make another cupcake holder by Cutting Cafe, only this time the two cupcake holder. I used Tombow's Mono Adhesive Power Bond to put the box together. I am loving how it turned out.

I cut the stars with my Cricut. I cut 3 of cardstock and one of patterned paper for each star. Then I adhered them together using Mono Adhesive Permanent. By cutting 3 or more and layering them, you get the effect of chipboard. I added a button to the center of the stars using Tombow's Power Tabs.

To make the medallion cupcake toppers, I cut a piece of patterned paper 1.5" x 12" and scored every 1/2" and then accordian folded the strip. I adhered the ends together with the Power Bond adhesive.

I then cut 3 circles (2 cardstock and 1 patterned paper) for each topper and adhered together with Mono Adhesive Permanent and then adhered a cut star to the center. I used Mono Multi Liquid Glue to add the circle to the accordian piece. I had to hold it down til it dried and wish I would have had more Power Tabs as they would have held instantly. I also added a circle piece to the back.

With Mono Adhesive Permanent I adhered a popsicle stick to the back and inserted into my cupcakes.

I hope you enjoyed this project. Let me know if you make any of these cupcake boxes. I would love to see yours.
Be sure to stop by Tombow's blog tomorrow and Thursday to see what the other DT members created for their Memorial Day Celebration.

**this is my 3rd post today, so be sure to scroll down to see the others

***don't forget there is still time to enter these hops for prizes:
Inky Antics: ends TODAY at midnight CST
FredSheSaid: ends June 3rd

Last QKR Post

Today is my last post as a Design Team member for QKR Stampede. Maribeth also owns Biblical Impressions and Eureka! stamps and invited me to stay on. I agreed to work with Biblical Impressions line and my first post will be Friday for our first Biblical Impressions blog hop.

For this card I stamped in black and embossed with QKR's Large Roses stamp. This image is 4.5" x 4.5". I stamped it on Georgia Pacific white paper and colored with Tombow Dual Brush Tip markers and blending pen.

Papers are from My Mind's Eye and ribbon is some that my bestest online friend Michelle sent me. The color was PERFECT!

By coloring and blending on paper that isn't watercolor paper you get a little bit of "peeling" with the paper. I love how this give texture to the flowers and makes them look real!

The colors I used from left to right are: 025, 873, 925,491, 243, 192, 158, N00

My card is 5.5" square.

Entered for this ColourQ challenge
and Wrap it Up with Ribbon on Tip Top Tuesday

After the Storm

WOW! What a night we had last night! I heard 19 tornadoes spotted in NE! We were so fortunate to not have gotten hit. Tornadoes were spotted close to here and the wind was ferocious. Here are some pictures I took after the storms.

Mashed grass and flooding

some of the debri, we keep loosing more and more of this tree, the boys started cleaning up the large pieces, so I didn't get a picture of all the branches lost off our big tree on the corner

this is what is looks like all over our yard, plus lots of leaves

Aren't these clouds cool?

Happy Memorial Day

I wish you all a safe Memorial Day and a time to take a moment and remember those who not only gave their life for us while fighting for our freedom, but those who are still actively fighting.

Saturday I did some cleaning in my stamp room and came across an envelope full of card kits. I'm not sure where they came from, but I am thinking from my friend Melissa. Maybe some blog candy I won?

I had fun putting these together. I have no idea what they are "suppose" to look like, but here is what I came up with. I made several cards and will share 4 with you today and the rest later.

For this card, al the elements were there. I only added the green jewel centers and they came from another kit.

I watercolored the gifts with SU!'s Vintage Violet. It matched the paper perfectly.

This sentiment was already stamped inside:

To finish off this card, all I added was sponged ink around the edges

Here is how it opens:

And for this card I added the rick rack ribbon from another project that I wasn't sure how it was to be used on the card. I also colored the frosting chocolate.

Inside:

FSS Gerbera Daisy in a Jar

One of my favorite flowers is a Gerbera Daisy. When I saw these colored images by FredSheSaid, I knew I had to create something with them. How fun would it be to receive a whole set of cards made with these designs?! Once again My Mind's Eye papers were perfect for this image!

When I was making this card, I commented to my artistic son that all my cards are starting to look alike...bottom 1/3, top 2/3, with knotted ribbon. He said "well change it up and do something different then" LOL! So I punched a hole in the image piece and tied a bow instead of the knot that I usually do.

When I was headed to take a picture he says "you aren't going to leave it like that are you? It needs something on the other side to balance it out". So, I came up with the idea to add this parenthesis element that I cut with my Cricut. I'm so glad he said something because I love how it turned out.

It's hard to tell in the picture, but I added brown glitter to the center of the flower and Crystal Effects to the jar.

I decided to use up the scraps I had from this card and make a matching notepad. I had printed off two images, so was able to use it on the notepad as well.

Cruisin' By

Cutting Cafe has a new set that came out this month called Cruisin' By to Say Hi. I LOVE this pink car! How fun this would be to drive around in. I would get more attention than I do in my green car. LOL! (oh and Regina has a green car in the set too!)

This is how I put the card together first and then decided it needed a little something more.

So I added some gray shadowing with my Tombow N95 Dual Brush Tip Pen and some "Regina inspired" black dots around the car image as well as the sentiment. I like this much better.

I used more My Mind's Eye (LOVE these paper pads!!) and the buttons are from Bo Bunny.
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Don't forget there is still time to enter these hops:
Inky Antics
FredSheSaid

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**medical note: I finished 10 days of IV's yesterday and today start 10 days of oral antibiotics. Hopefully this nips the pneumonia in the bud. I am feeling much better and want to thank you for your e-mails asking how I'm doing. Please pray that I can tolerate the oral meds. The dr. isn't sure I will be able to handle the full 10 days, but needs me to try and see how long I can take them. She is thinking I may only be able to handle 2-3 days. I have to stop if I start reacting to them, so am hoping I can take the full 10 days to get the best results and get my lungs cleared again. I went out last nite and walked a little bit. I can tell my lungs aren't working at full capacity as I couldn't go very far, but hope to add a few steps each day.

FSS Blog Hop

This is my first hop with FSS! I love FredSheSaid digital images and know you are going to be so inspired by all the lovelies from the Design Team. If you have come from Michelle's blog you are in the right spot. If not, you will want to go back to FSS's blog to collect your words along the way.

We have three sponsors joining us this hop...so our prize is larger than normal! Two of them will be joining our hop! Welcome ladies!

Prizes:
Bearly Mine Designs - £15 gift voucher
Pizzazz APlenty - prize package worth $15.00
Custom Creations from Carolivy- 3 digital downloads
$30 GC to FSS Store

Okay, on to my project.

My mom's birthday is coming up (June 1st) and I have several of these gift bags I've made without the design and was pleased to see that FSS's

Hummingbird & Columbine Pre-Coloured Set in blue matched perfectly!

My mom's favorite color is blue, so this was perfect. I am going to fill it with some of her favorite goodies from Bath & Body then take her out to eat.

I cut the image with a Nestibilities Die and adhered the top of the image to the flap of the bag. The bottom of the image closed the flap of the bag with a piece of velcro. 

You are at the end of the hop. My word for you is alive! Now it's time to head back to FredSheSaid's blog to follow the directions for a chance to win the prize.

Friday June 3rd @ midnight EDT the blog hop will end.

Here is the list in case you get lost along the way:
Tracey-Lynn – http://fred-she-said.blogspot.com/
Donna – http://bearlymine.blogspot.com/
Carol L –http://customcreationsfromcarolivy.blogspot.com/
Dani – http://paulettespapers.com/
Vickie – http://vldesigns.blogspot.com/
Anne – http://stargrovesblog.blogspot.com/
Robin – http://robinscreativenest.blogspot.com/
Darsie – http://craftingwithdarsie.blogspot.com/
Nancy – http://inspiredbystamps.blogspot.com/
Marlena – http://www.marlenaspaperparadise.com/
Valerie – http://valscrafts.blogspot.com/
Michelle – http://inspirationblooms.blogspot.com/
Debbie – http://debbiedee.blogspot.com/ **you are here**
FSS Challenge Blog - http://fss-challenge.blogspot.com/


** don't forget to post on the Inky Antics's hop from yesterday here.

Honey Pop Blog Hop

Welcome to the Inky Antics HoneyPOP Blog Hop! The talented Inky designers are featuring our five newest sets from the popular HoneyPOP Collection. If  you’ve come from Michelle’s blog you are in the right place. If not be sure to go back as hers is the first stop and there are words to collect along the way.

Each design team member is creating two projects for the hop. Here are my cards...

My first one used Turtle HoneyPop. I used My Mind's eye paper and colored with colored pencils and Gamsol.

My favorite is using Pretty Posy HoneyPop

I used more My Mind's Eye patterned paper and Nestibilities Dies. I also used a very light gray Tombow marker for shading.

Here is my inside. I paper pieced the flowers.

The blog hop starts today and ends on Monday, May 31st at midnight Central time. Please visit each DT members’ blog to view their HoneyPOP creations and leave feedback for them. At each stop along the way, you’ll find a SECRET WORD to collect. When you’ve gathered all six of the SECRET WORDS, return to the Inky Antics blog and rearrange the SECRET WORDS to complete the sentence in the entry form. Three winners will be drawn at random, and they will each receive one of the new HoneyPOP clear stamp sets and a coordinating honeycomb pad.

My SECRET WORD for you is with. Your next stop will be to visit Jovi’s blog.

BFB Too Rich for a Bride

My latest Blogging for Book read was "Too Rich for a Bride" by Mona Hodgson. This was the second in a series (her first Two Brides Too Many), but stood alone pretty well. I would like to read the first one now though.

Ida is the eldest of 4 girls and is joining 2 of her sisters in Cripple Creek, Colorado to work for the successful Mollie O'Bryan (a real historic person). She is not looking for love, but wanting to prove herself as a business woman in the early 1900's.

As you can imagine, she is faced with lots of trials, mostly involving men wanting her out of the business and two men pursuing her heart. The author does a good job of keeping you interested to the end.


Here is a sneak of the book.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review

Bouquet of Flowers

Hello! It felt so good to finally finish this card up yesterday. My new "poke" is in my arm and not on my hand, so I can create...YAY!!! Now if I just didn't get tired so easy. Ü

This card I am sharing with you is one I started for QKR's flower blog hop. If you missed it, be sure to go here for the details and see all the lovelies the DT created for the hop.

I used QKR's 16220 Bouquet rubber stamp. I stamped the image with permanent black ink and colored with Tombow markers and blending pen. The papers I used are from My Mind's Eye Stella Rose line.

from the top: 905, 873,969,977,158,192,026,491, NOO

D2D Challenge Reminder

This week's challenge on Designed2Delight is to make your own flowers. The image I used for my card is called Ladybug Balancing Act. I added crystal effects to the center of the image flower and on the lady bugs' dots.

I created a fabric yo-yo flower with a button center for my handmade flower.

Just For You

It is time for another Tombow Blog Hop. This month we are pairing up with Penny Black. I received some fun goodies from Penny Black to play with! Did you know they have paper? The DT rec'd some fun bright colors of paper as well as several fun stamps.

This month Tombow's product feature is Dual Brush Pens as well as Fastener Tabs. My card is a simple one that anyone can put together, but has some fun features using Tombow's Dual Brush Pens that I wanted to share with you.

For the main image, I colored Penny Black's Reverie (just color the rubber with the brush tip pens) with Tombow's Dual Brush pens. For the "stem" I used #977. Then I colored the "berries" with #452 (a light aqua) and then "pounced" with #443 (a darker aqua) and #296 (a blue green color) to give the berries a multi colored look. Then you need to "huff" (this is warm moist air that will help the color on the rubber stamp) and stamp onto your cardstock.

With color #026 (an antique gold) I colored Penny Black's Letter Background stamp and stamped right over the Reverie image.

I colored the Reverie stamp again with #098 (olive) and stamped off onto scrap paper once and then onto the olive cardstock. I wanted the color to be subtle, but give the solid cardstock some pattern without taking away from the main image.

For the "plaid" on the aqua cardstock, I took my brayer and sat it on the table so that I could "spin" the rubber roller. Then I took 4 Tombow Dual Brush pens #452, 443, 026, 076, and while turning the rubber roller, I held the brush tip of the pen to the roller to add several stripes alternating the colors. Then I "huffed" on the roller and rolled it onto the cardstock. I repeated the process and rolled in the opposite direction to make a plaid pattern.

I finished the card off by adding a bow with some Jillibean ribbon, Jillebean "just for you" sticker, and Tombow Foam Pads to pop up the stamped image.

Be sure to stop by Penny Black's blog and Tombow's Blog this week to see what both DT's created with this month's pair up.

Stop by tomorrow and I will show you another project using other Penny Black stamps I received and Tombow's Dual Brush Pens and Fastener tabs.

Yummy Cupcake

Regina Easter has designed some DARLING cupcake images and cut files. She challenged the Cutting Cafe DT to create any project with a cupcake theme. Tomorrow on the Cutting Cafe Blog she will be featuring all our projects so be sure to stop by and oooohhh and ahhhhh over all the lovely projects. Not only can one winner win ANY 3 sets from the cutting cafe from the monthly inspiration random draw, but Regina is also having a buy one get one free of lessor or equal value through Wednesday!!

I *LoVe* this cut file called Cupcake Holder. You can create a box to hold one or two cupcakes. It is soooo easy to create. I used my Make the Cut program where you hook your Cricut up to the computer to cut your projects. Easy peasie!

I used SU! patterned paper that I had won in my friend Bridget's blog candy awhile back. The bottom is cut with some aqua paper that I had on hand, don't know the company of it.

For the tag I used two digi sets All About Cupcakes where I cut and colored one of the mini cupcakes and then adhered it to a tag from All Occasion Tag set. I printed the tag on the reverse side of the cupcake box lid which is the yellow.

The box lid has a circle hole that cuts out so you can fit a cupcake right down in it. I finished the box by tying a bow around it using my vintage rayon seam binding and adding the tag with a quilter's pin. With my wire tool I curled the end of the pin so no one would get poked. (okay, so mainly me LOL!)

This was so quick and easy to make and I've decided that this would be so much fun to make for the teachers I work with next year for their birthday. This one is going to go to the school nurse tomorrow. Hopefully she doesn't read this before school so it will be a surprise. Ü