Sparkle N Sprinkle Challenge for September

Hi Everyone,
Welcome to  the 1st of September. Its time for the challenge posts that I usually start the month with.

If you are looking for my post with a project for Craft-Dee BowZ September Challenge, then scroll down to the next post. If you are looking for the post with the project for the Sparkle N Sprinkle Challenge, then you are in the right spot.

Today Sparkle N Sprinkle is releasing a cute little owlette set created by artist Becky Muir. For a chance to win the Owlette stamp set and an embossing powder and a glitter, Sparkle N Sprinkle is kicking things off with a Mystery Designer Party!

On one of the participating blogs below, a Commenter will be selected to receive the prize. No one knows who the Mystery Designer is, so you may wish to visit each Sparkle Team Member's blog to leave a comment. The winner will be announced on September 3 on Facebook, the SNS blog, and on our blogs:

Belinda Shupe

Shona Erlenborn

Craft E Marie Berquist

April "Stampwilly" Williams

With Special Guest Designers:

Barbara Bruder  (you are here)

Donna Ellis

These little owls are so cute and they have great personalities!!

Aren't these owls the cutest!!!

I just had to put an owl on a tree branch so that's what inspired my 2nd card.

Please visit the Sparkle N Sprinkle Creative Challenges blog and check out the September Challenge. The challenge starts at midnight.  There will be 3 winners and the prizes are digital images,and you could be one of the winners.

Since the prizes are digital images that means no waiting for the postman!!!

Thanks for stopping in today and don't forget to leave a comment to be eligible for the prize of the Owlettes Stamp set.

Craft-Dee BowZ Challenge for September

Hi Everyone,
September is here and fall is knocking on our doors. So since fall is getting ready to make it's appearance I thought I'd make a fall themed card.

Well since it's the first of the month, you know what that means, time to check out challenges and announce winners etc.

Over at the Craft-Dee BowZ Challenge this month, the theme is Anything Goes with a Handmade Bow. it's always my favorite theme!!! Let me share with you the card and bow I made for you. 

I made a multi-loop bow for this card. Now, what I did differently is I used 2 different ribbons stacked one on top of the other. The orange is a wired ribbon (my fav kind of ribbon, I might add) and that skinny green ribbon looks great as an accent on the top. I actually layered these two ribbons together as I wound them around the pegs on the tool. I wrapped the ribbon 3 times. That will give a really full bow. I tied it as usual and fluffed it out and look how this turned out.  Perfect!!! Since fall is around the corner, we received some orange, yellow and green ribbons to use on the September Craft-Dee BowZ projects. Perfect for the fall season. 

On this card I used a Great Impressions scarecrow and decided to have him hang out of a window. I actually cut 2 windows and made it appear that the window is open with him hanging out. This card is a 6"X6" card. 

I use the Craft-Dee BowZ tool on all my bows. It is the perfect tool. Easy to use and extremely portable.
Click here and go to the side bar, look for the Buy Now button to start your order.

The Craft-Dee BowZ Challenge starts at midnight for the September  challenge. Please take a moment, click here and check it out. Submit a card!! You never know, you might be the next winner of a Craft-Dee BowZ tool. 

It makes bow making a breeze !!!

A Delightful Birdie

Hi Everyone
Wow!!! It's the last week of August, can you believe it. I was reading the Sunday paper today and noticed that one of the craft stores in the area has their Christmas trees on sale already. Maybe I should get my house decorated ............NOT........ yet!!! Well, we need to get thru Halloween first.

Recently, I picked up some die cut shapes. These are from Creative Imaginations and I bought " Love Blooms Shapes". This set came with birds, some flowers and keys and a few other shapes. I decided to use a center step card to show off some of these really nice images.

I also added a few stamped feathers since I used the bird as my focal point.The feathers tied in very nicely.

I really like the look of the different step cards and the shutter cards as well. But, if you are like a lot of ladies I know, they are not so inclined to make a center step card, too hard to measure and cutting with a craft knife, forget it!!! In order to assist you all who shutter at making those kinds of cards, let me come to your rescue. I have added blank center step cards to my Etsy store, Creative Essences. Tomorrow I will add a few more blank step cards designs and also a blank Tri-Shutter Card design to the store. The different card styles will all be sold in packs of 5 and can be ordered in cream or white card stock. 

For your convenience, I have added a link on my right sidebar to take you directly to the store. 

This cute birdie card was fun to put together and hope you enjoy it as well.

Thanks for stopping in today, see you soon!!

Out with the Old

and in with the new!!!

Hi everyone!!!

Well fall is slowly approaching and you know, that means change is coming. I teach at a few local stores in my area and I had been doing a class called the Baker's Dozen. Well I am retiring that class and will begin offering a new class called The Card Shop Cards class in September. This class offers 3 cards, in the 5"X7" size with lots of layers, glitter, die cuts, embossing and more. Here is a sample of one of the cards in the first class:

 This new class starts in September, please check out my calendar page for more details.

Just had to share with you the new class news. LOL

Stamps used Sparkle n Sprinkle - Dahlia set 500
glitter- Sparkle N Sprinkle - Purple Mist
Sizzix Embossing folder
Inks - Memento
Flower - Sizzix
Tag - Spellbinders

I am submitting this card in the following card challenges:

Crafty Calendar - August Anything Goes 
Splendiferous Creations -  Flower Power
Brown Sugar – Green, Blue and White
Creative Corner - No.32 - Anything Goes
Sister Act Card Challenge -  No. 20 - Anything Goes
Totally Papercrafts  No. 180 - Favorite Colors

Well I have a stash of new sets to go thru and start working up. Hope to see you soon. Have a great week.

Craft-Dee BowZ Back to School Blog Hop

Hi Everyone!!!!
If you arrived here from Vicki's blog then you are in the right spot. If not, then you may want to start at the Craft-Dee BowZ blog to get all the details.

This month's theme is Back To School. What a great theme!!! Perfect for this time of year!! I decided to add a slight twist to this theme for my post. Remember back to your high school school days. Buses, lockers, books, football, homecoming!!  I remember the fun homecoming game and the dance and the king and queen being crowned.All these things remind me of Back to School. So I decided to focus on "homecoming" as my back to school theme.

The colors I used are the actual colors of my high school. Red and gray. Go Colonels!!! 

What a great card to send to the the Homecoming Queen. 

Here is a close up of my bow.

I didn't want to overpower the bottom of the card with a really frilly bow, so I used a double loop bow..

Well, I am the last of the designers in the blog hop today. I hope that we have brought so ideas for you to use in your projects!! Please stop at the Craft-Dee BowZ blog to make one last comment, let us know what your favorite project was. Remember, making a comment on each designers blog and the Craft-Dee BowZ blog will make you eligible to win a Craft-Dee BowZ tool.

Here is the blog hop rotation:

Patty 

Amber 

Brenda 

Vicki 

Barbara (You are here)

Craft-Dee BowZ -(to leave one last comment)

See you soon,

It's Back to School Time

Hi Everyone,
It's August, end of summer and ......... now we hear the dreaded words................. BACK TO SCHOOL.
I remember when I was a kid, back to school, well it wasn't one of my favorite times. LOL Although I got new shoes and new clothes. I loved that.

Back to school, hmmmm,  I had a hard time finding stamps that fit the theme this month, and believe me I looked hi and low. LOL

After much searching through all my stamps, I decided to use an image of a little boy and girl. I imagine them going off to school with flowers for their teacher. This stamp reminds me of me and my brother when we were about that age. Since its time for back to school, I also wanted to use a chalk board look so I finally found a stamp of a pile of books and I stamped it on the black card stock. And since I was back to "no school stamps" I used my VersaMark marker to print  "Back to School"  at the bottom of the chalk board.

I thought I'd make one more card and I searched and found some of the cutest stickers with the Back to School theme. Let me share this card with you. 

Now wouldn't this card be great to give to a little one on their first day at school.

School has started already in some of the school districts in my area, so this really is right on time, I guess.

 Love the black and white stripe of that ribbon. I also used a rich red and a beautiful golden yellow ribbon as accents.To make my single loop bow for these cards I used my Craft-Dee BowZ tool. The Craft-Dee BowZ tool is THE tool to use to make your bows. It makes bow making a snap!!! Click here to place your order.Need it shipped internationally??? Go to the side bar and email Donna.

I am so glad you stopped in today. Thursday I am teaching a class at Stampaway, the stamp convention in Cincinnati, Ohio. Donna will be meeting up with me Thursday afternoon as we visit a few stamp stores in the Cincinnati area. And she will be manning her booth Friday night and all day Saturday at  the convention.If you are planning on coming to the Stampaway convention, stop in at the Craft-Dee BowZ booth and say hi to Donna

Hope you have a great week

HUGS

Craft Dee BowZ Challenge for August

Hey everyone!!!
Do you believe it, August 1. Holy smokes!!! I am afraid that one day I will go to sleep and miss out on a whole year or something. I guess the old saying holds true, "time flies when you are having fun". O, duh.... that's what is causing the time to fly..........I'm having too much fun. LOL

Well since it's the first of the month, you know what that means, time to check out challenges and announce winners etc.

Over at the Craft-Dee BowZ Challenge this month, the theme is Anything Goes with a Handmade Bow. ahhh my favorite theme!!! Let me share with you the card and bow I made for you. And oh, there is a back story to the ribbon I used.    LOL

The DP I used on this card is from DCWV, Collage Art Stack, and I LOVE this CS/DP. I just might have to buy another stack.Do you ever buy paper 'cause you like to look at it????? This is that kind of paper, to me.

That verse and frame on the card is from a a new Sizzix set that has stamps and dies packaged together. Its Graphic 45 Stamp & Die Cut. (Sizzix 659045) Love that you can stamp a frame from the set and then use a die to cut it out.Comes with 4 dies and 4 stamps. 

OK see that ribbon, here is the story. Well I went to Tuesday Morning the other day and there were washcloths that were bundled together for sale. And they were neatly tied with this pretty cloth ribbon.So I bought a bundle and brought them home and I saved the ribbon when I opened the bundle.Wasn't sure when I would use it. A few days have passed. I am working on this card, deciding what papers I wanted to use for this design, and I started to look for a ribbon that would go with the colors in the CS and there was that ribbon, sitting on my table, the ribbon from the washcloth stack. And it matches. It was just meant to be. LOL

So there you have the story of that ribbon. LOL

The Craft-Dee BowZ tool is the tool I used to make this bow and all my bows

. Have you picked one up yet??

BTW, Craft-Dee BowZ will be in northern Cincinnati, Ohio at the Stampaway convention, so, stop in her booth and say "Hi" Donna would love to meet you.( I will be there in her booth too, off and on.) Convention will be Friday nite August 9 and all day Saturday Aug. 10 at the Sharonville Convention Center.

Lots of fun and 40+ stamping/scrapbooking vendors.

The Craft-Dee BowZ Challenge has started for August. Please take a moment, click here and check it out. Submit a card!! You never know, you might be the next winner of a Craft-Dee BowZ tool. 

It makes bow making a breeze !!!

See you soon, and thanks for stopping in today!!!

HUGS,