Made in the USA {Page Maps}

About once a month Page Maps posts a new sketch challenge on their blog. 

Here is the sketch for March ...

 Isn't it adorable??  All of their sketches are top-notch!! :)  And this month's grand prize is a collection of Webster Pages!!  WOW!!!  I would LOVE, LOVE to win this one!!!!  I have admired them from afar for a while, but not ordered any of my own, as of yet .... crossing my fingers ..... ;*)

So ....  here's my LO for the sketch ...

I took this FUN photo at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, FL, last summer.  Brittany (my oldest ♥) posed next to this cool Naval officer {statue} and HAPPENED to have this cute blue and white striped shirt on!!  :)  It was the perfect patriotic picture.  I knew right away that it was a sure scrapbook page!

A few weekends ago, while visiting family out of town, I was able to visit a local scrapbook store that was going out of business!!!  I made it there on the tail end of their closing process, so the supplies were pretty well picked over.  I was able to find a few nice papers and ribbons for great prices, but my favorite find was this red, white and blue/stars and stripes emblem paper!!  At first glance, I KNEW that it was meant to be!!  This paper was made for my Brit and her *Officer*!!  What a perfectly matched combination!!  :D

Going with the flow, I added lots of red, white and blue, stars and stripes, etc. etc. etc!  The stars and other patriotic graphics were cut using the Cricut cartridge "Graphically Speaking".

The scalloped border in the sketch totally called for a patriotic banner scalloped thingy ---  WHAT are they called??  You've seen them!!  Usually hanging on people's front porch railings for the 4th of July celebrations ... :)  LOL!  I simply cut strips of red plaid dp, did an accordian fold, then carefully attached them to a base of a white scalloped border.  Then I topped off each scallop with blue gems. 

The flag pole holds a red, white and blue flag of ribbons.

Brittany found her a cute *Naval Officer* at the Naval Air Station Museum!  What a cute couple they make! :)  ♥ She's such a cutie!♥

:)  *Thanks for taking a peak!*

New SKETCH Sunday! {Sketches With Heart}, A Blog Hop and more NEWS!

Good morning!!  :)

I'm posting this morning to share with you the NEW sketch for this week for

Here's Sketch #3

And  here's my card ...



The beautiful digi stamp *Butterfly and Thisle* from Heart Song Designs went beautifully with this gorgeous Mariposa dp from DCWV!  I think it's almost my all time favorite paper!  The digi was fun to color coordinate with the beauties in the dp.

This sketch is lots of fun to play with!!  The challenge week starts today and is due NEXT Saturday. 

**The rules are simple, you don't have to use a Heart Song image, but if you have one we'd love to see it! Leave a direct link to your project and be entered to win a free digi of choice from the shop. Have FUN!**

Please join us and link your project for this sketch on the Heart Song Designs Inspiration Blog!!  We would LOVE to see your projects!  :D  You can also visit the Inspiration Blog to see all the FUN creations by the wonderfully talented design team!!

A few more important bits of NEWS!! ...

Beginning in April, Leah, the amazingly talented designer at Heart Song Designs will be releasing a bundle of new images on the first of each month.  So, our weekly event now will be the fun sketch challenge, and we will all be able to eagerly anticipate the release of new images monthly!

Also, to kick of the new monthly release fun, Leah will be hosting a SPRING SHOWERS BLOG HOP on Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2 along with the release of a beautiful new bundle set!!!  *I've seen them, and they are GREAT!!!!  ;) 

A few things to about the HOP:

• If you buy the entire release bundle you will save $6.00 off the price of the entire release ($26.00)!!!  What a savings!!!  And you will be very pleased at what you will get for this price!!  ;)  Check it out on April 1!!
• There will be a Grand Prize for one randomly selected hopper that has commented!!  They will be entered to win the entire New Release set!!!

Please plan to join us for lots of Spring fun, inspiration and possible PRIZES!!!  :)

Hope you have a wonderful Sunday ♥

Friends are Sunshine! {WT315 & F4A57}

Here's a card I made to submit for the WayToUseIt challenge on SCS {use your colored inks} and the Free4All challenge {Hello, Sunshine!}

This is another one of this week's new release digi stamps from Heart Song Designs.  Gotta love it!!!!  :)  What a selection we have!  Wonderful images for every occassion!!! :)

I cut this adorable card with the rectangular opening from the Cricut cartridge "A Child's Year".  It provides the perfect little window for the sun to peak through!  I have had the chance to use this cartridge much lately, and it's been so fun!  It's such a great cartridge with so many features and wonderful cuts!!

I love this technique for creating clouds.  I saw it on someone's blog post, and I am so sorry that I cannot remember who, because I would GLADLY give them the credit!  Sorry!  *If you end up stopping by, please comment so we can thank you!!  :)

This technique it is very simply done using torn paper, and inking with a dauber (or spouncer, which I personally love) along the torn edge.  For the next layer, move the torn paper so that the dips and curves do not match.  *Also remember to leave a little white space showing between to allow the contrast of the colors to show even more.

Thanks for stopping in!  ♥  Hope you have a great weekend!  I'll be back on Sunday with more Sketches with Heart SKETCH FUN with Heart Songs Designs!

Sweet Stop Sketch 100 {SSS100 & C4CC17}

I unexpectedly got some crafting time in today, so I will be posting several here this evening!

First off, I played along with the Sweet Stop's 100th SKETCH (with a *sweet* spin!!)  WooHoo!!  ;)  It was a really good one so I 'played' it twice!

Here's the first ....  "Sweet Friend" cupcake ♥



Yep, an image that I LOVE from Heart Song Designs, one of the cupcakes!  Colored with Copic markers and embellished with Stickles (to me the icing just screams for stickles!!) :)

And the second card ...  which will also double for this week's Crazy4Cocoa Challenge {polka dots} ...

This one was fun, too!  I just grabbed several polka dot papers and such, and made a few of my own, too!!  :) 

Thanks for stopping by!!  ♥

100th POST ... and a special birthday! {FCCB+MoJo183}

I just noticed!!!  The previous post was my 100th post!!!!!!


WooHoo!!!! .....  I should celebrate somehow ....  :)  Well, maybe for 200 I will ;)

I wanted to share a card that I made for the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog - Challenge #52 - bithday!

My youngest niece will be "1" in May, and I knew what I wanted to do for her birthday card.  Sooo.... since it totally involved Cricut cuts, I thought I may as well create it now (EARLY - Yay!!!) to submit for this challenge.

One of my favorite Brina pics!  ♥
We had so much fun dressing her up in Build-A-Bear clothes!!  ;*)

Here's her card ....

I used one of my FAV cartridges "A Child's Year".  It is just so full of fun cuts of little kids!!!  And they have such a classic look, too.  :) 

I also used the MoJo Monday sketch for this week {183}.

♥♥ Happy Birthday, Brina! ♥♥

Silvery Lavender Christmas {Crazy Hazelnut's, Jingle Belles}

Well, I created this sweet card, using a not-so-familiar Lavender to play along with this week's challenge on Die Cut Dreams Christmas Club - and when I looked back - AFTER I made the card, I found that the challenge called for lavender, lace AND a sketch!!!  Oh well! :)  So, we'll see if I can muster up the time and lavender supplies to create another tomorrow!

Here's my card ...

I created this card with the sketch for this week's challenge at Jingle Belles Christmas challenge blog ...

And I'm also submitting this for the Crazy Hazelnut's silver challenge this week.

It really was fun to create.  I pulled out little bits of lavender and silver stuff and played with it all until I got the look I wanted.  Then of course, I had to spritz the base of the card with Glimmer Mist.  Although not always as visible in photos, it really provides a beautiful, subtle *glimmer*!  I love it!

Well, thanks for stopping by! :) 

A tisket - A tasket - Here's my Easter Basket! {Card Patterns 107, C4C79}

Now, it's time for an Easter Basket - another New Release for this week at Heart Song Designs!

I colored the sweet basket and eggs with Copics - playing along with the Crazy4Challenges colors for this week ...

Also, playing along with this week's sketch challenge at Card Patterns (sketch 107) ...
 

:)  Thanks for stopping by!

Artsy Tulips {Heart Song Designs, iCopic}

Wow!  It's been a b*u*s*y few days and haven't had much time to craft.  BUT .. I was able to create 3 tonight that I've been pondering.  :)
First I'll post this one ... 

It's my *take* on the new sketch by Heart Song Designs (see details here; JOIN US this week and play along for a chance to win a freebie!).  I also used one of this week's new release images from Heart Song Designs "Artsy Tulips"!!  Isn't this a fun digi stamp?  :)  I printed and colored 2 copies of the image so that I could layer and "pop" a few pieces. 

Check out the store for this and other FABULOUS images!!!  **The whole new release bundle set for this week is only $9.00!  Now THAT'S a deal!!!

I also played along with a Copic challenge (that I just found!) - iCopic Lover.  They host weekly challenges for projects using Copic markers.  Challenge #22 was using the colors green, lime and turquoise - which I thought was a perfect fit for this Artsy Tulip image!

Thanks for peaking in!

New Release Sunday! {Heart Song Designs}

I'm so excited to introduce you to this week's NEW RELEASE digi stamps from

Are you ready for this?!?!?!

TA-DAH!!  Aren't these great!!  Sentiments AND images! :)

A busy week hindered me from *playtime* with these new images, but PLEASE stop by and see what the rest of the Design Team created with these wonderful stamps!!! Also, stop by the Heart Song Designs Shop to check out the New Releases and many, many other ADORABLE hand-crafted digis!!  They are afordable and resizable to suit your projects!!!! 

*Check back later this week, as I WILL have some projects posted featuring these great images!!

Today also kicks off the second *Sketches With Heart* sketch challenge!!  You don't have to use Heart Song images to play, but we WOULD LOVE it if you would!.  There's a great sketch this week!!  Stop by the inspiration blog catch a glimpse and get all the other details!

Happy Sunday to you!

Welcome, Baby Jacob!

I'm sharing a card today that I created for a co-worker friend of mine who is about to have her first baby!! 

Jacob will be a much loved little one!!  :) 

The pretty little clothesline garden is from Heart Song Designs! 
The cute sentiments is from Sentiments4You!  I just found this site, and they have a wonderful selection of digi sentiments!  AND she gives a "Friday Freebie" each and every week!!  Check it out!! :)

I'm posting this card for:

Splitcoast Stampers - F4A56 - "How does your garden grow"
Do It With Digis - Challenge #6 "Boys and Girls come out to play"
Really Reasonable Ribbon - Challenge #20 "One for the Boys"

Hope you have a great weekend!!  Come back by on Sunday to see another New Release for HEART SONG DESIGNS!!

Happy Friday! ♥

O Christmas Tree! {Fantabulous Cricut & more}

Yes, It's Christmas time again, here at the orchard!!!  :)  (get it?  Apples, ... orchard .. ?  :)

There are several Christmas card challenge blogs that I've found and have enjoyed playing along with.

This card was great fun to create!  First of all, there were several challenges that I wanted to post to, so I *challenged* myself to combine them!!  BOY!  Had no idea how much brain work would go into THAT!! :)  But I think I'm really pleased with how it all came together!!

So, here's the card ...

I started out with a 5 1/4" square white embossed card.  I used my "A Child's Year" Cricut cartridge for the adorable sihlouette! (That cart. is full of them and they are ALL SO WONDERFUL!!!!)  I also cut all my circles, ovals and stars with the Cricut  (Plantin SchoolBook and Accent Essentials).

So.... here are the challenges that I'm submitting this card for:

Card Patterns:  Sketch 106

Fantabulous Cricut: Challenge #51:  "Hip to be Square" - Green & Gold
Crazy 4 Challenges (C4C78):  Use a tree
Crazy Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge:  #11 Go for Gold!
Diecut Dreams Christmas Club: Challenge #57 - Starlight, Starbright!

Ok, that was fun! :)  I've done multiple challenges before, but this is the most in one wack!  :)  I see ladies all the time who post for multiple challenges, and it always amazes me! ;)  FUN!

Heart Song Designs {New Release Sunday!} & A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

INTRODUCING . . .



Chick Parade - with Sentiments!




Vintage Blooms

 Aren't these great!!!  And, yes, the Chick Parade image comes with those sweet sentiments for personalizing your hand-crafted projects even further!! :)

I had a chance to play with these great new digis, and here's what I did ...

First of all, I'll show you the sweet Chick Parade!  Using the MoJo sketch for this week, I created this card with the sweet, gentle help of my precious 4 year old niece Liliana!  ♥

We used this great dp and die cuts from Cosmo Cricket, which is full of Easter fun!  My sweet partner gave me advice from start to finish! She helped me know where to place things, what colors were good and let me know when we were finished. "Yep, Vanessa, it's all finished now." :) She LOVED the chicks!! 
Ahh!! Making memories for SURE!  :) 
Isn't this such a fun digi?  It's like a little Moma Hen 'parading' off to church on a spring morning with her little chicks in tow.  SO SWEET!!!


Now for my Vintage Blooms card ...

I love this new image!!!  and I tried to go a little "shabby chic" with it.  This dp from October Afternoon is called "Thrift Shop" and totally made me think *Vintage*.  :)  I was really happy with the results! 

and now ...... FOR THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!! 



Heart Song Designs is goin' Sketchy!

Beginning today, Leah will be hosting a weekly sketch challenge on the Inspirations Blog! 

Here is this week's sketch

which I used to create my Vintage Blooms card for today!!

And YES, there IS a prize to be WON!!! 

So please stop by today and see what the rest of the Design Team came up with

and get in on the FUN!!!

We would LOVE to see what you create!!!!

Blessings to you all!  Thanks for stopping by! ♥

"Shelly Sheep" Loves Me Anyway! {Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps w/ Card Patterns Sketch 105}

It's BLOG HOP weekend!!!!!  :)

WooHoo!!!!

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps is having a HOP this weekend!!  *Click on their button above to see all the fun details!!  They are giving away one free digi of YOUR CHOOSING to all blogger participants!!

Here is my "THINK SPRING" card   :)  ...

                                     

This Sweet 'n Sassy ewe is probably my most favorite-est Sweet 'n Sassy stamp!!!! It was my very first Sweet 'n Sassy, but I honestly think this sheep just has the sweetest face!!

 

I added her lashes ( as I often have :) and her freckles, and I think she looks like a Shelly. So...

I will call her Shelly!!

So, on with the HOP!!!  Should be GREAT!!  Can't wait to see all the cards this weekend!  :)  Have fun! :) ♥

Beach Babies! {Lasting Memories}

For Christmas, our 3 wonderful, beautiful children surprised us with a small stack of photos taken of them at the beach!  They had planned this with my sweet sister!!  To have a photo shoot and surprise us with framed photos!!  It was wonderful!!

So, this week on Lasting Memories Layout Challenge, the "You're the Boss" challenge was just perfect!!!  I could do whatever I wanted!  WooHoo!!  :)

Here's my layout!

In addition, my kids gave me a 12x12" shadow box!!!

So I could create a scrapbook layout and FRAME IT!!! Do they know their mom, or what? :)

And since it was going in a shadow box, I could add actual shells!!  They didn't have to be flat!

They're the BEST!!!



Thanks, babies!!  ♥

Happy 'Cupcake' Day! {SCS, C4C77}

Time for another cupcake!!  I LOVE the cupcake digi stamps from Heart Song Designs!  They are so versitile and can be adapted for so many *sweet* occasions!  ;)

For this card, I went with the Crazy4Challenges sketch for the week, and I added the sweet felt flowers for the Ways To Use It Challenge at SplitCoast Stampers.  :)  ... sawwwweet! 

Thanks for stoppin in :)

My Papa - the Fisherman! {Sketchy Thursdays}

Due to a computer "blip" I could not post this before the deadline - barely missing it!  PHOOEY!!  Well, at least I scrapped some more memories!! And I wanted to share it anyway!!

The Sketchy Thursday sketch for the week was cool, consisting of 4 photo slots.  I've had this collection of photos from a wonderful visit with my DEAR grandfather in Louisiana. 

"My Papa - the Fisherman!"



My grandfather LOVED to fish!!  He also loved to hunt ... really anything outdoors!

This visit to Louisiana, my heart was FILLED with joy as I watched my Papa fish at Granny's pond with my family! Shane and the kids had a great time, and Papa smiled, his precious sweet smile, the entire day!

To include all the wonderful memories of this day, I flipped the sketch and made a few small changes to create the second page of the layout.  

Here is the 2-page layout together!  :) 

What a wonderful memory!! ♥ (I miss you, Papa!)

Home for the Holidays! {Jingle Belles}

Time for another Christmas card!! :)

Jingle Belles is a great Christmas card challenge blog hosts challenges each week to tackle Christmas cards one week at a time!!  And in poking around there, I found a few other Christmas challenge blogs!

This week's Jingle Belles challenge is "Home for the Holidays".  

"Home" with my mom, dad and sisters is Florida!  So, I decided to create my card with my Seashell Collage embossing folder.  I also inked the embossing with bronze ink, powdered it and embossed it again.

I'm also linking this to Crafty Hazlenut's Christmas Challenge, which also challenged to emboss!!  Woo-hoo!
...
Bah, Humbug! Challenge Blog is also ... EMBOSSING!
...
Die Cut Dreams Christmas Club's challenge is to be inspired by a song - "There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays" ... has gotta be it!!!  Our Florida home is a wonderful place to be for the holidays!!
...
and
Christmas Stampin All Year Long 's challenge is to BLING!

USING this week's SCS sketch!  SC323!

So, there you have it!!!  My Seaside HOME for the Holidays ... with embossing and BLING! :)

Wisdom & Age {Sweet Stop}

I found this great quote in a handy-dandy quote book that I have and thought it went so well with sweet Ollie the Owl from
Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. Isn't it great? :) I think so!

Using the Sweet Stop sketch for this week SSS98, I put this card together, thinking "manly" - I do not make enough of those! I colored Mr. Ollie with Copics to accent the colors in this cool dp from Cosmo Cricket.

You make my ♥ Smile! {Happy Monday Challenge}

The Happy Monday Challenge for this week is Spring Pastels!!


I love this kite digi! I colored it with Copics, and layered it on this wonderful dp from MME (Penny Lane, I believe)!!! Added the ribbon tags along the side as they made me think of the little bows on the kite tail!

Happy Tuesday!! Thanks for stopping by!

Theadore's Easter Wishes {TLC315}

Theadore again!! YES, AGAIN! :) I can't get enough of this little guy!!


I created this card for the new technique challenge on SplitCoast Stampers to create a card with an "odd" shape - anything other than an A-2, also to add an embellishment that is unusual. I found these adorable Cupcake picks at Hobby Lobby!! They make a PERFECT little 'sign' for Theadore!!! :)

Thanks for stopping by!!
~Vanessa

It's a Million Little Things {Crazy4Cocoa}

Crazy4Cocoa .... :) Sweet Cocoa!!

This week's challenge was to use Ric-Rac! :) I also used the Sweet Stop Sketch SSS98 for this card.

:) Thanks for peaking!!

New Release Sunday! {Heart Song Designs}

Welcome to another New Release Sunday for Heart Song Designs!!

It is my pleasure to introduce to you ...

the beautiful Lovely Tulips ...

and the creative Bloom Trimmers ...

These new digis are great! First I'll share my Lovely Tulips card ~

I chose to use these beautiful blooms for an Easter card for my dear grandmother. They are so fun to color. I used Copics for mine. They really are beautiful and very realistic!

I also had a chance to create with the ingenious Bloom Trimmers!

Leah designed this wonderful set of blooms, leaves and butterflies. The combination can be trimmed, colored and crafted to fit any occasion!

FUN STUFF!!

I printed 2 sets so that I would have 2 stems of leaves, 2 butterflies and 2 of the smaller flower to create a birthday bouquet for my card. There are also accents of Stickles on the blooms and butterflies!

Please stop by Leah's shop and gather up some wonderful digital stamps for your crafting ventures!! :) Also, don't forget to visit the rest of the design team to see what they've created with these great images!!

Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!!

~Vanessa