Happy Easter

I'm sliding in at last minute here with a card for the current House Mouse and Friends Challenge Blog. The challenge is Easter and you can find it HERE. I chose to make a joy fold card for this cute image. If you have never made a joy fold card you should try it. It adds a fun spin to the traditional top or side fold card. You can find the directions HERE courtesy of Splitcoast Stampers. Below are some additional pictures to show you how the card opens.

Supplies Used:
Cardstock: Bazzill
Designer Paper: We R Memory Keepers
Tools: Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, SU slot punch
Ink: Colorbox Pigment Ink and Memories Black Ink
Techniques: Image colored with Prismacolor Color Pencils. Jellybeans also have a clear glaze added to them with the Sakura Glaze Pens for added extra shine.

Wishing you all a Happy and Blessed Easter!

Summer Tilda and a Childhood Memory

Hello my crafty blogging friends! I am entering this card into the Paper Sundae Challenge Blog which this week the challenge is "childhood memories". My image is actually two Magnolia stamps that I masked together to create the scene. The background is Magnolia's "fence and summer background" from the Summer and Sea collection. Tilda who is perched on the fence is "Jam Tilda" from the Yummy for Your Tummy collection. I decided to make an easel card but chose to keep it pretty simple with no designer papers and very few embellsihments. I wanted to keep the image as the main focus. Cardstock is by Bazzill and the border punch is by Martha Stewart. I colored the image with Prismacolor color pencils. I also used my Spellbinders Nestabilities for cutting the ovals and fancy tag shape.

You can find the Paper Sundae Challenge HERE. My mother was born and raised on a farm In Kentucky and my father was from Southeast Missouri. I grew up in a suburb of Chicago but I spent many a summer in Kentucky and Missouri visiting my relatives who had farms. One of my favorite memories was visiting my great grandmother who had a farm in Lutesville Missouri. I often would sit on the fence and watch the baby pigs. One summer I got a bit daring and actually climbed over the fence to try and go pet the baby pigs. I found out real fast that mama pig was not going to have any part of that. She chased me all the way back to the fence where luckily my older brother appeared in time to pull me over the fence before mama pig got a hold of me! I learned pretty fast that the fence was there for a reason.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone is having a great week!

Bugs and Kisses

Hello my crafty blogging friends! It has been a month since I last posted and almost a month since I have made a card. One of my brothers passed away the beginning of March since I last posted. The last month has been an emotional roller coaster since his death. His death was unexpected and quite a shock. He was also the care giver for another brother of mine who is very ill with MS. My crafting time came to a halt with all that has been going on the past month with taking care of my brother's final arrangements and caring for the other brother who is very sick. Slowly things are starting to fall back into place though and I hope to find time to start crafting again and make the rounds of visiting you all and seeing what you have been crafting since I last visited with everyone.

This card was made for a swap that I hosted on the Card Swap forum of the CardMaker site. The theme was "Black and White With a Splash of One Color". 18 very talented ladies signed up for my swap! The swap due date was the same week my brother passed away so I am just now getting around to sharing with you the card I made for the swap. I love the color red with black and white and what better to use for red than a ladybug! I had fun with this swap and really enjoyed seeing all the cards everyone made.

Hoping to be back this week with another card as I really need some "me" time to do some crafting. Hope all of you are doing well. Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to tell those you care for that you love them. Life is very short.....I will miss my brother very much.