Cuddly Buddly Cards & S&S Sketch #36

Here are just a few of the cards I made using some of the free Cuddly Buddly images and OWH Stars and Stamps Sketch #36.

We Have a Blog Candy Winner!

Thank you to everyone who visited my blog during the OWH Bunny Hop blog hop.  And, to those of you who completed the entire 135 participant blog hop - CONGRATULATIONS!  It took me 2 days, but it was wonderful to see all the creativity in blog land.  I have a whole list of websites to visit, tutorials to re-visit and blogs I've added to those I follow.

And now....drumroll please...Random Number Generator chose the number and the winner of the blog candy is:

LISA NORRIS

Thanks to everyone who became a follower.  Spring Break is next week, so I should be cranking out cards like crazy! So be sure to stay tuned...

OPERATION WRITE HOME BUNNY HOP!

Welcome to the Operation Write Home Bunny Hop bloghop!  If you came here from Marilyn's blog, then you are on the right track.  If you'd like to start at the beginning of the bloghop, then go to Operation Write Home Stars and Stamps blog.

This is my first time ever to participate in a bloghop, so I guess I'm not a bloghop virgin anymore, am I?!  Thank you for visiting.  I know there are LOTS of blogs to visit so I'll try to keep it short and to the point.  :-)  BUT, don't skip out early...there's blog candy being offered at the end of the post!

Here is an Easter card using a free image from Sans Designs.  (Update: Someone was kind enough to let me know that this is no longer available as a freebie.  Sorry to tease you like that!) Don't forget the OWH Easter deadline is March 18th.  Less than 2 weeks away!  Be sure to ship a few days ahead of time to make the deadline.

Here is a Mother's Day card using a free image from Coloring Page Tuesdays/Elizabeth Dulemba.  Don't forget the OWH Mother's Day deadline is March 31.

One of the things I love most about the OWH Stars and Stamps blog is the tutorials.  Here is a link to a tutorial where I learned how to make embossed flower cards like the one I made below for Mother's Day.  There are many tutorials that make difficult techniques appear simple enough that even I can do them!

And, in honor of it being a BUNNY hop, I did a few bunny cards that weren't even Easter-themed.

The first uses a free image from Meljen's Designs along with a sentiment I created in Word.  The patterned paper is from Cloud 9 Design.  I also used a sketch from the OWH Stars and Stamps blog - it's sketch #26.  Here's a link to sketches 1-54!  Every week there is a new sketch posted on the Stars and Stamps blog so come join in on the fun.

My second bunny card uses a free image and sentiment created by Sandy Allnock, founder and president of OWH.  This was my first ever attempt to use shading when coloring a digital image.  I was able to print out the image and follow along with Sandy live on OWH/tv as she colored her image.  I have lots more to learn, but the knowledge so generously shared through OWH with all cardmakers is amazing.  Here's a link to the recording of her live tutorial in case you want to give it a try yourself.

And now....drumroll please...BLOG CANDY!  To qualify for the random drawing, simply sign up as a follower on my blog (in the left sidebar).  The winner will be announced on Sunday night, so check back to see if you won! (Update: It took me 2 full days to get through the blog hop and still keep up my other responsibilities in life, like feeding my child!  So, with that in mind, I will not announce the blog candy winner until Tuesday to give everyone the opportunity to make it all the way through.  Thanks for your patience.)

Thanks for visiting!  Your next stop as you hop down the bunny trail is Susan's at http://piecesoffatesusan.blogspot.com. Have a hippity hoppity day!

OWH Midweek Throwdown - At Last!

Ahhhhh, I went to sleep, went to work and came home to try again on a Mother's Day card.  Voila!  It came together this time and the Mother's Day sentiment fit on my card - woohoo!  Amazing how a night of sleep can help your creative mind work better.  :-)

This free image is from Tiddly Inks and I used S&S Sketch #41 for this card.

First Attempt to Complete the OWH Midweek Throwdown

HAHAHAHA!  Okay, I went into my craft room fully intending to come out with a Mother's Day card for the OWH Midweek Throwdown.  I started pulling Thank You stamps off my shelf and suddenly realized what I was doing. DUH, I came in to do a Mother's Day card.  Back to the computer for some digi stamps.  Back to the craft room to color.  Started pulling a few things together.  Found a sketch to use.  Got done and there was NO ROOM for a Mother's Day sentiment!  But, this card was done in HONOR of my mother who loves owls.  Does that count?  No, I didn't think so.  I have another image colored and will try to make a Mother's Day sentiment fit on the card this time.  Wish me luck!  Maybe I should just get some sleep and try again tomorrow?!

This digi stamp is from my good friend Nikki at MelonHeadz Illustrating.  The patterned paper is from Paper Salon.  I used S&S sketch #37.  Good night!  :-)

Hambo Hoedown Challenge #5 - Lion

This week's Hambo Hoedown Challenge is to make a masculine card using the lion digi, one of the two provided sentiments and stripes.  I followed S&S Sketch #29 and the patterned paper is We R Memory Keepers - Maple Grove which was leftover from a scrapbook page I did for Thanksgiving.

I got an AWARD!

Thank you, Gracias, Merci, Danke to Ginnie (Rainbows N Butterflies) for my first ever Stylish Blogger Award!  I'm figuring out this blog thing slowly but surely with the help of blog friends like Ginnie and Yolanda who are always willing to answer my questions and be my own private help desk.  They've helped me so much that this weekend I'm paying it forward and helping a friend start her first blog!

I am supposed to share 8 random things about myself and then pass the award to 8 other wonderful bloggers.  Since I started making cards for Operation Write Home I have become totally addicted to other cardmaking/digi stamp blogs.  I love seeing what others have done, learning from them and getting inspiration from them!

Here are 8 random things about me:

1 - I used to be a competitive springboard diver - back in the day, high school and earlier that is!

2 - I broke my wrist last year during ice skating lessons.  I thought I could keep up with my 8-year-old daughter.  I guess I can't anymore!

3 - The reason I can't keep up with my 8-year-old daughter anymore is because I'm one of those women who gets labeled as an "older mom."  My daughter was born when I was 37 years old - you do the math!

4 - I am Caucasian, no one in my family speaks a second language and yet I am fluent in Spanish!  How?  I have a bachelor's degree in Spanish translation and languages come easy to me.  I studied Spanish, French and German all at the same time in high school.  It was heaven!

5 - I'm one of those "anal" scrapbookers/cardmakers who has to measure everything.  I would lose it completely if someone hid my ruler from me!  Sometimes that comes in handy though.  I was organized enough to prep scrapbook pages for a scrapbook cruise so that I was able to complete 100 pages during a 7 day cruise!

6 - My biggest fear is running out of paper products like toilet paper, tissues, paper towels.  So, I have a HUGE supply in reserve.

7 - I made the switch from PC to Mac 3 years ago and I will NEVER EVER EVER go back!  Just upgraded to iPhone 4 today - woohoo!

8 - I love to teach!  I always wanted to be a teacher, but my teacher mom and my high school Spanish teacher dissuaded me.  It didn't matter though because after 2 bachelor's degrees and an MBA, I decided to become a teacher after all.  Before my daughter was born, I was a high school Spanish teacher and now I'm a substitute teacher at her private school.  It's in my blood - I can't help myself!  I even taught Zumba classes when I wasn't teaching school.

Here's what to do next:
1) Thank the person who gave this award to you and link it back to their blog

2) Share 8 things about yourself

3) Pass this award to 8 other individuals

4) Leave a comment so that they can pass along the recognition!

Here are 8 bloggers that I'm passing the award on to:

Nikki
Velda
Shirley G
Seongsook
Jan
Pam
Julie
Sara

You should be able to right click on the award, and copy and paste on your post!