Happy Birthday, Chloe!

Today is my niece Chloe's birthday.  She is just 3 months older than my daughter Kaylie, so I chose to use the red paper and image (Kaylie's favorite color) from Doodle Pantry's Balloon Ants set and Kaylie's favorite sentiment from this set for Chloe's card.  I figured if Kaylie liked it, then Chloe would too, right?!  The ribbon is from American Crafts.  The die cuts are Nestabilities from Spellbinders.

Dustin Pike & Bo Bunny

Okay, have you ever had one of those days?  What about one of those weeks?  I'm hoping that my string of bad luck has run out.  Don't they say that bad things come in 3's?  Well, I'm past due for good since I count 4 rotten things since Sunday! 

Let's count together:
1.  My cute little VW bug died as I was entering a traffic circle on Sunday.  OMG!  People drive so crazy on traffic circles anyway - not the best place for your car to decide to just stop running.  I found an open Pep Boys shop and replaced the battery.  They gave me no guarantees that that was the cause of the problems, but in my opinion it couldn't hurt since it didn't test at 100%.
2.  On Monday, I broke my pinkie toe while substitute teaching in kindergarten.  Lesson learned: kindergarteners cannot listen and walk at the same time.  When the child stopped cold in her tracks as I was talking quietly to her about, of all things, being sure she was all the way in the bathroom BEFORE pulling her panties down, I ran right into the back of her tennis shoe!
3.  Tuesday was my birthday - Thank goodness we celebrated on Sunday evening on my husband's birthday.  I'm in charge of a very large school fundraiser that is expected to raise $17,000 in one evening of Carnival fun, and I got some very bad news that day about new policies that prevent us from publicizing the event the way we have in the past.
4.  Wednesday was kind of the cherry on top of the pile of bad!  I left school after a really rough afternoon with the first graders, and my not-so-cute-anymore VW bug wouldn't start.  I had to have it towed to the VW dealership, and it may be the fuel pump - more money, more aggravation.

Wonder what tomorrow has in store for me?  They say, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!"  I think I'm going to be as strong as Superman.

So...what does my tale of woes have to do with Dustin Pike and Bo Bunny?!  By the end of the day yesterday when I made this card, I totally felt like this cat (a pre-colored image from Dustin Pike).  But, Bo Bunny paper (Peacock Lane collection) always makes me feel happy!

Bugaboo Dual Challenge

This week Bugaboo is offering up a dual challenge - not one, but two challenges.  One is a sketch challenge (see sketch below my card) and the other is a color challenge (pink, green and black).  You can do either/or OR you can do both.  Having always been an overachiever, I decided to take on both challenges!  I love the pink, green and black color combo AND sketch challenges are some of my favorite, so it wasn't hard for me to combine the challenges.

I used a Bugaboo digital image called Coffee Time...May Your Cup, patterned paper from Echo Park, pink cardstock from Bazzill, and Viva Pearl Pen.  The Copic markers I used on my image are: RV21, RV23, RV25, YG11, YG33 and E33.

Designed 2 Delight - Autumn Mums

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!  Yes, today is my birthday and I figured that I deserved a little shout out.  I'm 46 years old today...unbelievable!  Where has the time gone?  Just a minute ago I was 35 and getting married.  And just before that I was in my 20's, and my whole life was in front of me.  Hmmmm, maybe being closer to 50 than to 40 is making me feel like I'm on the "downside" of being over the hill.

Anyway, on to happier thoughts, like this beautiful fall image from Designed 2 Delight for the Friday Image Challenge.  I loved coloring these Autumn Mums.  The set includes potted mums, mums alone and 3 sentiments - what a deal if you didn't get it for free for playing along last week.  The paper has been around in my collection for quite some time - it's Chatterbox.  I used 2 Nestabilities dies around the image and 2 different border punches in order to qualify for the Designed 2 Delight Design Team Saturday Challenge Die Cut Divas as well.

 Copic Markers:
flowers: YR04, YR07, Y15
leaves: YG11, YG13
vase: E33, E35, E37, Y11, Y15

Hambo Hoedown - Pig Sub for OWH

This week the folks at Hambo Hoedown sent us (those of us who played along last week, that is) this cute digi called Pig Sub.  The challenge was to make a card for Operation Write Home.  As my 8-year-old daughter says, "Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy" since almost every card I make is for Operation Write Home.  They always need general themed cards that can be used throughout the year, so I decided to pair this underwater piggy with Echo Park Splash paper and a thank you stamp from Stampin' Up which I thought completed the Hambo sentiment perfectly.  I wanted to make a Yellow Submarine and when I showed that 8-year-old daughter of mine the card, even she broke out into song.  How did she know about a song that was released when her mommy was just 3 years old?!

Now that I'm starting to color with Copic markers, here are the numbers I used on this image:
RV21, RV23, Y11, Y15, N1 and E02

Heart Sheep - Doodle Pantry

As promised, it's a week full of Doodle Pantry.  Here is a glimpse of my other favorite "character" from Doodle Pantry - the sheep.  This pre-colored image from the Heart Sheep set makes a great Love card for Operation Write Home when paired with paper from We R Memory Keepers.

Happy Birthday to my husband Kyle who is turning the big 5-0 today.  I love you, honey!

Cowboy Birdie #3 - Doodle Pantry

Here's the last Cowboy Birdie card I made last weekend - but it probably won't be my last ever since he's so darn cute in his hat and boots!  Can I get a "Yeehaw?!"