First Doodlebug Blog Hop

Hi!

Welcome to my stop of the first Doodlebug blog hop! To start at the beginning of the hop and not miss any design team projects or your chance to win an awesome giveaway start here. If you are arriving from Jessy Christopher blog, you are right on track!

My project for the hop is this colorful card using Doodlebug's Create-A-Card base and Colorwheel collection.

The focal point is an adorable Doodle Pop owl. I love his two eye sizes! Makes him pretty handsome, don't you think?

Doodle Pops are layered accents that make it quick and easy to add texture! And cute!

I thought it would be fun to include three Doodles Card Stock Sticker sentiments instead of one! And to place some color coordinating Mini Jewels in front of each for a bit more sparkle.

I hope you enjoyed my crafty card share!

Now, would you like to know what Doodlebug Designs is giving away?

Five lucky winners will receive one of everything in this brand new Hello Spring collection that debuted last month at CHA!

Here's what you have to do to win:

• Start here, at the Doodlebug Blog and “hop” on over to every blog you are sent to (be sure to hop in order).
• Leave a comment on each blog.
• At each blog, you will be directed to another blog. Be sure to visit and comment on each blog, to increase your chances of winning!

IMPORTANT: Begin the blog hop at the Doodlebug blog so you make sure you visit each blog.

• When you hop back to the Doodlebug blog, leave a comment saying that you are done AND email us that you’ve completed the hop and send us your shipping address to: doodlebugdesign.blog@gmail.com.

Hop will close Friday, March 2, 2012 at 6:00am

Doodlebug Designs will announce the lucky winners on Friday afternoon on their blog.

Ready to keep hopping? Your next stop will be with Lori Allred. Good luck with the giveaways and thanks for hopping by!

Kathy :)

Hi

Looks like we made it through another Monday! ;) It wasn't the nicest day around here...it was cloudy, chilly and misty all day! I'm looking forward to having some new studio lights installed so on days like yesterday, I can just crank up all the bright, full spectrum lights and pretend it's a lovely sunny day! I could even whip up a virgin fruity drink, stick a cute little cocktail umbrella in it and call it a vacation day! ;)

Okay, enough day dreaming! Let's get crafty, shall we? I have a card to share. This is another, "I'm just going to play and see where it takes me." project.

I'm in a tag phase right now! Along with die cutting using both the positive and negative pieces. This pretty leaf die is from Taylored Expressions and the butterfly is My Favorite Things.

Thought I'd see what it looked like to stitch around both positive and negative cuts. I think it looks pretty cool.

At first I tried a darker thread, but I like this more subtle look.

I used some letter dies from Papertrey Ink to create an outline to stitch for the sentiment.

The patterned paper is from Cosmo Cricket's Circa collection.

Well, today is a bright and sunny day, much nicer than yesterday! I'm going to go soak it all in! I'll be back tomorrow with a Doodlebug share. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Kathy :)

Happy Birthday

Hello!

How was your weekend? I hope it left you feeling well rested and ready to take on a new week! I managed to make the time for cooking, crafting, reading and hanging out with my boys.

A couple weeks ago I challenged myself to create a card using only papers from my scrap bin. At one time that wouldn't have been much of a challenge because I had a ton of scraps! Currently, since I donated all my scraps, I have very little! I have no more than six pieces of patterned paper and half of those are Christmas themed! With one piece of patterned paper, a piece of cream card stock for the base and another color coordinated piece of card stock, I made the following card.

This patterned paper is so cute, I thought I should be able to come up with something fun!

I also had some rubber accents left over from another project that match this paper.

I always enjoy incorporating some stitching accents.

The final touches include this manila tag with negative die cut letters and a sentiment from Pebbles. The twine is from Doodlebug and the mini paper clip is Tim Holtz. I can't remember who made this adorable patterned paper. It coordinates with the Simple Stories 100 Days of Summer collection.

I hope you like my crafty share for the day. And I hope you have a terrific Monday!

I'll be back tomorrow with some more paper goodness! Thanks for stopping by!

Kathy :)

It's Getting a Little Squirrely Around Here!

Hi!

Yippee yahoo! It's the weekend! And a nice sunny day too! Time to enjoy some family time, reading, crafting, and cooking. A few chores and errands too, but it's all good, right?

I wanted to pop in and share a photo with you. We live in a woodsy neighborhood of North Carolina with lots of mature tall trees which means we usually have a family or two of squirrels running around the back yard. A couple weeks ago my husband saw this trio on our deck railing while he was looking out of the kitchen window.

It's hard to believe that he was able to run and get the camera and still catch them in their bathing frenzy! Only seconds later they started scattering about. This is the exact same spot he photographed this squirrel last summer.

Squirrely was feeling a bit hot and tired! Funny critter! Makes me smile!

Hope you enjoy your weekend activities. See you soon for more crafting shares!

Kathy :)

Food for Friday

Hello!

How about I mix it up a bit and talk about food on Fridays? Not every single Friday, but if you enjoy cooking and baking, weekends are a great time to try new recipes or a favorite dish that you've been meaning to make for a while.

Before I share a couple of my latest recipe trials, I want you to  know that I'm just an average cook. I can boil water, find my way around a kitchen and make simple healthy meals. Other than that, you will not see me starting a cooking website anytime soon or creating my own recipes. I can, however, tell you about the latest recipes I've tried and let you know if they were successful. I have a very choosy husband (sounds better than picky eater) and a 10 year old son who has been known to simply look at a meal and know he's not going to like it! In other words, our family is a lot like yours so if I can cook a meal without burning the house down and if my 'boys' like it...yours might too. :)

Creamy Shrimp and Mushroom Pasta

I don't know how it happened, but our 10 year old son loves seafood and mushrooms! I know...it's amazing! Perhaps it's a gene I passed down. He sure didn't get it from his father! This week I indulged Christopher and I with a dish of Creamy Shrimp and Mushroom pasta from Chaos in the Kitchen, while dad enjoyed leftovers from another night. ;)

This is an easy dish to make and if I had a rating scale of five stars for best recipe, this one might earn fives...at least four. Please note, this recipe calls for 9 tablespoons of butter! That's over a stick of butter people! The author claims that it sounds like a lot, but it's "not the same" if you don't use that much! Additionally, the recipe calls 3 oz. of cream cheese! Oh boy! The nutritional facts for this recipe are also given and with that much butter and cream cheese, you will go over your daily allowance for saturated fat and cholesterol in just one meal! I just can't do it! So I used half the butter and 2 oz. of cream cheese and it was fabulous! Just not as creamy. Maybe we're not used to rich foods??

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

Here's a recipe for those kids who will not touch seafood or mushrooms until hell freezes over...how about taquitos from Pennies on a Platter. These would also receive a four to five star rating. Oh they were good! Serve them with light sour cream, salsa and or guacamole, a side dish of corn and you're all set! By the way, they were pretty darn quick to make too...a double bonus!

Frosted Banana Bars

Saving dessert or the best for last are these delectable Frosted Banana Bars from Taste of Home. This is another recipe I tweaked a bit for health purposes. I didn't think four cups of powdered sugar in the frosting was necessary! I just couldn't do it. I figured two cups was plenty so I made half the amount of frosting! The bars I baked look almost the same as those in the picture with a tad less frosting which makes them very good! For those who appreciate icing that's not sickening sweet, you should appreciate this alteration!

Another thing you might be interested in knowing about me, since I'm recommending recipes to you is that less than two years ago I was the Queen of Lean Cuisine! I at them for lunch and the whole family ate frozen meals for many dinners too. They were convenient and great for portion control...some were not too bad tasting either. But there are a few problems with a frozen meal diet...like the impact on the environment from all the packaging! Frozen meals are notorious for not including enough vegetables and often contain preservatives and ingredients that are less than healthy, not to mention the amount of sodium!

We decided to change our ways and went from one end of the spectrum to the other by cooking and eating meals from scratch! Scratch cooking doesn't have to be difficult or time consuming either. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make here...you don't have to be an excellent cook to turn over a new, healthier leaf! :)

Kathy

All You Need is Love and a Cat

Hi!

I'm so excited that it's going to be 75 degrees today! That's about as perfect as you can get! I absolutely love days like these when you can open the windows, let the fresh air in and hear the birds outside! Ah....it's the littlest things that make me the happiest!

Another little thing that makes me very happy is our kitty cat, Latte. He's the fluffiest lump of love and a such a wonderful companion! He (the boss) spends his mornings with me in the office, laying on his beloved cardboard couch, basking in the sun!

Anyway, I've been working on a scrapbook page of Latte. A page that's inspired by one of my all-time favorite scrappers, Kinsey Wilson. She and I are hand stitchers and she is known for her detailed stitchy designs! If you don't know of her or her work, you really have to go take a peek...I promise you you will be awed and inspired!

So I wanted to create my own stitching pattern/creation and came up with this...

If you would like to see any of the photos in more detail, click on any of them to enlarge.

This pattern was cut using the Silhouette. I used negative and positive parts of the die cut as a guide for stitching.

I used some of the die pieces throughout my layout.

Here's another one of the manila tags with reverse die lettering...I made a bunch of them recently.

I thought some vellum butterflies would make a great accent as you can imagine a kitty cat watching them flutter about.

The title is also a Silhouette die cut. It's a new one that I just had to have! ;)

This project was created just for the sake of playing. I think it helps take the pressure off of having to come up with something exceptional as with design team assignments. Playing freely is relaxing and I think the results help to boost creativity.

So, I'll show you a few photos of our kitty kitty. He's just so lazy and funny!

Here he is next to his favorite cardboard 'couch'. He starts out curled up on it, but when he really gets sleepy and wants to get comfortable, he rolls off the side! It's really funny...he just spills over the edge!

After sleeping on one side for a spell, he'll rooooollll the other way! He's had plenty of sun on his back so now it's time to warm his belly! ;)

Here's a close up of that fluffy furry tummy! I'm sure you can imagine the large dust bunnies that waft around our home with this belly and a brother who is equally fuzzy!

This guy's got fuzzy fur feet to match! See that eye peeking at me...I don't think he's too pleased that I'm interrupting his nap and snapping photos! ;)

He's decided to ignore me and roll back over in an attempt to end our photo session! Okay, Latte, resume napping! You are the champion of nappers! ;)

One last photo...a recent scrapbook page I created for Latte's brother, Java. See...he's just as furry and cute! He's darker than his brother.

I hope you enjoyed my 'cute' post! :) And I hope my kitties put a little smile on your face today!

Kathy :)

Doodlebug Mix & Match

Hi!

It's great to have you here for a visit! I know I say that a lot on my posts and I sincerely mean it! I love sharing my crafty projects with you and having the opportunity see yours too! I gain so much enjoyment and inspiration from your posts and projects that I hope to provide the same for you!

Today's crafty share is a couple cards using Doodlebug goodies. Several of the design team members were challenged to mix and match a few of the Doodlebug collections. As I've mentioned before, they all coordinate perfectly together so this was a pretty easy assignment! And fun!

On both cards I used Create-A-Card bases which makes the card making process so much easier. There's a lot of bright colors and styles to choose from! I always pick different envelope colors from my card base for even more contrast and color.

The three collections used for this card are Colorwheel, Nifty Notions and Welcome Home. I bet you can guess that this adorable green chair is from the Welcome Home line?!?! :)

All of Doodlebug Design accents such as their twine, gems and brads work with any collection. This polka dotted red brad is from the Birthday Celebration collection.

If you are new to paper crafting or know someone who is, to get them started, a couple of Doodlebug kits would be perfect since they all work beautifully together and would minimize the amount of product they would have to invest in to get started! Can you tell how much I love this company? ;) I'm only a good sales person if it's a product I like!

My next card uses the same three collections.

I really like these file folder Create-A-Card bases! Very cute! And the Welcome Home collection....I'm smitten over these petite little houses!

I added some pretty flowers to the 'neighborhood'! ;)

If you haven't had a chance to try the Doodles Card Stock Stickers sentiments, they are a must! There's oodles of phrases, colors and the font is pure Doodlebug!

I hope I've given you a good dose of Doodlebug fun today! :) All week long on the Doodlebug Design Blog, you can find mix and match projects from the design team. So if you have a little bit of this collection and a bit of that line....you can get a dose of good ideas for combining them together!

I've got to get this post up...I'm a little behind today because hubs and I were talking to an electrician this morning about installing some proper lighting in my studio! It's for my birthday coming up next month. What a great present, don't you think? Hubs is the best!

Have a super day!

Kathy :)

Hi Friend

Hello!

The other day I was in the mood to play around with some shipping tags and die cuts. I made a bunch of tags with negative words and then decided to put one on a card. It turned out to be a fun card to make because it started as one project, became a card and came together with bits of this and pieces of that.

I think Kraft paper and manila shipping tags look fabulous together! And white ink on Kraft is a look I really like too!

The little bicycle, from Simple Stories, was a small scrap in my bin. I cut out something right next to it for another project, but didn't want to throw that cute little bike away! It makes a darling accent!

The washi tape was the first and only roll I owned until Bella Blvd. came out with some last month at CHA. Since it was my only roll, I didn't know where to store it so it sat on my desk. As I was grabbing bits of this and that for this card, I saw it sitting there and thought it was a perfect match.

The reason for this project was to have a fun...not to worry about design or assignment, but just enjoy and let the process take me where it may. I really like butterflies and vintage buttons so I added those.

Hearts make me happy to so I included a few of those along with some stitching goodness.

This activity was really fun and one that I hope to repeat again real soon! Funny that it all came together one thought at a time without a plan. And it's one of my fave cards! Go figure!

Have a happy Tuesday! :)

Kathy

Cute Cuts Challenge and a Winner

Hi!

Awesome to have you stop by today because Bella Blvd. is holding a challenge week with special guest Shannon Tidwell! There will be fun challenges each day througout the week and at the end, there will be a $100+ prize package of Bella Blvd. goodies! Holy cow! I wish I could join! Actually, I have joined the fun by creating a couple cards for today's challenge which is to use any Bella Blvd. Cute Cut(s) on my cards! I just wish I was also in the running to win some Bella Blvd. goodies...since I can't get enough of them! :)

So here's my first Cute Cuts card...

I’ve lost count of how many scrapbook pages and cards I’ve created with this new Baby Boy collection! I can’t help myself, it’s so darn cute and fun to play with! I’m really smitten with the Cute Cut images like the animals and this adorable onesie!

How do you like my little onesie hanger? I made that little cutie out of wire! I have this little, insignificant talent of making mini hangers! Complete with wrapped wire top! :) If you must have one, I sell them in my Etsy shop.

My next Cute Cuts card is spring themed.

With spring being my favorite season, I’ve really enjoyed creating a lot projects with the Spring Flings & Easter Things collection too. Any spring craft or celebration I can think of works with these colorful papers and accents! Both my son and I have spring birthdays and this versatile line is perfect for birthday celebrations too!

Oh how I love rainbows! They make me happy, the way they magically appear with the sun after a spring rain! Can you picture it?

Must snap out of rainbow daydream! Ah yes, my card, I used the new Green High Five Alphas. I can't wait until these come out! I'll have to stock up...love the variety of colors, fonts and sizes!

Now that you've seen my Cute Cuts cards (say that three times fast!), you must hop over to Bella Blvd. to see the scrapbook pages some of my teammates created! Hopefully, you will be inspired to play along with us this week! It's going to be lots of fun! And one of you will walk away with the $100+ prize!

Before I leave you, I would like to thank all of you who participated in my blog party over at Doodlebug Design last Friday! I have picked a winner from the comments left and a big congratulations goes out to meredemaison! Please contact me with your address so we can send your ultra colorful and fun Birthday Celebration collection!

I'll be back tomorrow with another crafty to share for you! Thanks for stopping by! Hope it's a great day!

Kathy :)