I am combining three challenges today--first Splitcoaststamper';s F4A154--make a cute Valentine with a heart-- the Stampin Up  Only challenge to create a clean and simple Valentine card and the second is the Blogger's Challenge--remember this!  I have not played along in so long although I always mean to--so today I am!  The challenge over there is to create your own background.  That sounded too fun to pass up.  So I pulled out the new SAB set Madison Avenue and used the leaf type elements with some masking and sponging to come up with this....

Can  anyone me what I am going to do when the colors Pool Party and Island Indigo retire!  My goodness I use them on almost every card lately! I just love this combo.

Stamps: Madison Avenue, PS I love you (retired)
Paper: Island Indigo, Pool Party, Whisper White
Ink: Pool Party, Island Indigo
Other: ribbon, printer paper for masking, sponges, marker for edging, Heart Framelits

Hope you have a fabulous weekend--by the way why not play along with my sketch challenge over the weekend--only three players so far (insert sad face) I need more!  Click HERE to play along. 

I can not believe how fast it is approaching, Easter will be here before you know it. And this AMAZING weather has had me outside all day everyday--but I did come on in for a few minutes to make and Easter card for this week's blogger's challenge. Be sure to check out the full details on our list mom's site Lisa Somerville.

I decided mix it up a bit, I used Stampin Up papers and the cross is stampin up but the sentiment sets are not.   The top one He Is Risen is from Our Daily Bread stamps and the lower sentiment is from Eureka Stamps.

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Stampin Up! Creative Elements, Crosses of Hope, He Is Risen Our Daily Bread Stamps, Only God--Eureka Stamps
Paper: Pool Party, Pear Pizazz, Very Vanilla, SAB dp
Ink: Brown
Other: pearls, Border dies,  Decorative Label Punch, markers, butterfly embosslit.

Now it is your turn to play along.  It is a blog hop so you can add your Easter card to the linky below! Be sure to add the DIRECT LINK to you creation for the challenge and NOT a link to your blog home page.
TGIF!!
Mary Jo

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you--today we are celebrating birthdays on the Blogger's Challenge group--maybe because our list mom Lisa just had a birthday?!  Happy Birthday Lisa!

My card for this challenge is one that is over due--not the card it self but the use of the stamp set.  This is the first stamp set I got from the SAB catalog and I have NEVER used it.  What the heck--uhh, too much stuff?????  No!  It is just not enough time in the day!

Red and Black are two of my favorite colors!  Purple too but I don't seem to use that too much?

Stamps: Elementary Elegance
Paper: Poppy Parade, Very Vanilla, Everyday Enchantment DP, Mocha Morning DP
Ink: Poppy Parade, Basic Black
Other: Markers, Curly Label Punch

Come on and play along--you can link up right here on the blog hop!  You can view the challenge details on Lisa blog HERE.
Mary Jo

I can not seem to get back on track with life since my little vacation!  Funny--I still just want to sit around and craft all day--NOT going over too well with "some people"!  Although my friend Chera said it was ok to do so and I think that MUST count for something!  Anyway it is Friday and I have been trying to get back on track with the Blogger's challenge and so far so good.  Why don't you play along too--you can view all the details HERE.  This week Lisa gave us a challenge to make something 3d.  I am already working on teacher gifts so this is a perfect fit! 

I had so much fun making these and they were so simple too.  I chose paper from a back to school pack I had in my stash and went to work.  I used modge podge to attach the paper to the clothes pins, added some three dimensional glitter embellishments and then added magnets to the back of the clips.  Simple, fast and so cute.  I added some matching paper to a coaster and clipped them right on there to keep them together, bagged them up and they are ready to go!  Thanks Lisa, another gift done for the teachers!  Yippee. 

Come on and play along with us.

So I am in Atalanta with my stamping girlfriends for a girls weekend!  Have such a great time.  I was able to get a bunch of scrapbook pages done and then ran out of the 12 by 12 so moved on to cards. Problem--I have no stamps or ink, just a the Country Club Simply Scrappin kit.  So I had to make do.  I wanted to make a card for the blogger's challenge--especially since the list mom Lisa Somerville is here with us!  The challenge this week is a sketch...

And my card made with only the scrappin kit and the stamped sentiment from the Loving Thoughts stamp set.


It's a blog hop so come on and play along. That's it, short and sweet--off to the hot tub and a movie!
Mary Jo

Yeah!  Finally.  I have been wanting to start playing along with my friends and finally made it work--now the goal is continue making it work.  Come on and play along with us.  Lisa our "Boss"  has a great challenge for us today. It is a color challenge--black, white and a splash of red!  Love it.  And it is a blog hop too, that means you too can play along!  You can get the details on Lisa's blog.

Here is my card for this challenge....

I think I am one of the last people to get this flower set!  I so love it.  And I combined it with the SAB set you can earn for free - Outlined Occasions.

Stamps:  Fabulous Florets, Outlined Occasions
Paper: Black and Whisper White
Ink: Black and Real Red
Other: markers, embossing folder
Your turn

I have missed the last few week's of the Blogger's challenge due to being so busy with end of school and a couple of family deaths and of course my sister in law is actually doing better (a few weeks ago we didn't think we would have her around this long) now we think she will be around for a bit!  Not sure how long but we will take what we can get!  I hope you are all having a great week.  Enjoy all the fabulous projects that the girls have made for this challenge.  Masculine is hard for many so I am sure you will get new ideas on this hop.  Here is my card for the challenge. 

I am so in love with this stamp set (I know I am repeating myself from past posts) It is so easy to work with.

Enjoy your weekend!
Mary Jo

Here is my card for this week's blogger's challenge.  As much as I love this set I am not too happy with this card.  Lisa gave us an inspiration photo to work with and I combined it with the MoJo Monday challenge.

Here is my card...Super simple...

And here is the inspiration photo..





Be sure to check out all of the samples in the blog hop below.  And why not play along too!  Hope you have a great day.  Sorry for the short post. 

Running a bit late this week on posting due to Blogger difficulties. This week we have a sketch that our mom (Lisa) created for us.  I combined it with the Latenightstamper's challenge for this week to make a Father's day card and with the VC_Rocks color challenge too.  The colors are Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, and Certainly Celery.  (hmmmm, seems I missed the celery on this, lol!--be right back after I fix that!)  I back and it is all fixed now!

I am still having so much fun with this set. Can't believe it a definite must have for easy masculine cards.

Stamps: Stamps: Open Seas, Plane and Simple
Paper: Crumb Cake, Baja Breeze, Certainly Celery, dp
Ink: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Baja Breeze
Other: embossing folder, modern label punch

Check everyone's samples below--and even play along if you wish!

Happy today!
Mary Jo

This week Lisa our group MOM wanted us to use ribbon or lace on our challenge entry.  Well that is easy as I add ribbon to most of my cards--of course she may have wanted us to do something extraordinary with that ribbon or lace but I will pretend THAT never crossed my mind,  shhhh.  You can find more details for the challenge on Lisa's blog.

I am so loving this new set--I know I probably said that already but I LOVE it.  I combined this with the Sketch Frenzy Sketch challenge for the week--only problem is it is LAST week's sketch.  Go figure, forgot this is Friday so a new one is being posted, lol.  Oh well here is the sketch I followed

Come on and play along with us.  It's a blog hop!!!
Mary Jo

Welcome to Friday!  TGIF!!!  This week Lisa gave us a sketch to work with on the Blogger's Challenge group.  It is a fun one.  I combined it with the Latenightstampers challenge for the week to use flowers and my personal challenge to use this stamp set I have had for quite a while and never used. 

To see the sketch and play along visit Lisa's Blog and check it out!  We would love to have you play along.
Here is what I came up with.

Stamps:  Nature Walk, Engraved Greetings
Paper: Concord Crush, Pear Pizazz, Whisper White
Ink: none
Other: markers, embossing folder, ribbon. rub on. 

Nice and simple--need cards for my Mom and she don't like too much bulk so you will be seeing a bunch of simpler ones for the next week or so.  Have a great weekend.  And don't for get to play along with one the many challenges you can find on my blog--this one is a good one.

Mary Jo

This week we have an inspiration challenge on the Blogger's Challenge group.  These are always fun to check out because there are so many different interpretations!  Everyone is inspired by something different.  It will be a fun one!  Here is the inspiration photo that Lisa gave us for this week...

I just love birds, love to hear them in the morning outside my window, love any time of image or stamp with a bird on it, just love birds.  So I am excited about this week's challenge.  Our group mom, Lisa, is so good at picking the themes each week!  Thanks Lisa.  And the cool thing is the the Latenightstamper's challenge that I run is to use animal stamps so this fits both challenges.  Oh yea, I also through in a challenge from SUDSOL, their case challenge.  So better get onto my cards.  Yep, I said cards, there are two--and they are not my normal style--but I really am liking them.....

This first one is for the SUDSOL case challenge too--the smaller image is the card we are to CASE.

It may happen if EVERYONE would JUST BELIEVE. Ok maybe I am pushing it a bit, but I have had more than enough of this stinkin snow! PLEASE make it go away! Even the snowman wants to see the sun, lol.
Today's Blogger Challenge was a sketch challenge. Hop on over to Lisa's blog to see the original sketch. Because of the mood I am in I decided to take a look around my studio to find something I have not used in a LONG time. I found a whole bunch of large vanilla envelopes with tons of stamped images from swaps or just from friends sharing and this image really spoke to me. I only had one of it so I could not do too much besides color but it seemed perfect anyway for my frame of mind, lol. If you happen to know who this stamp is by let me know so I can edit this post. Not sure if it is digial or regular or even where the heck I got it from. Anyway, on to the blogger's challenge blog hop! Be sure to check out all the samples--these ladies are creative!

Here is my card....

I am sure you notice that I took this picture out side and of course you see all that stinkin white stuff around.  My summer chair is already out because I was enjoying the beautiful Spring like weather just a little bit ago--no a funny joke mother nature!!!!
At least the sun is out! That is a positive!
Mary Jo

It is Friday so that of course means our Blogger's Challenge group will be making some great cards for you enjoyment and you can play along too if you wish since it is now a blog hop!  Our challenge theme for the week is Birthdays!  Can't get any easier than that.  I combined my sample with two other challenges.  One being the Latenightstamper's challenge to use a bit O' green and the other being a one on one swap challenge card to use the colors Always Artichoke and River Rock.  Not sure why but I really do not use River Rock much so I am grateful for the chance to do so.  I was looking to make an elegant yet simple card and I really think I did just that!  Don't you love when that happens, lol!  Anyway enough chatter, here is my card....

and the inside too (I don't show you the inside much just because I am so stinkin lazy, lol)





Hope you enjoy checking out all the samples.  Have a great day!  TGIF!
Mary Jo

Here is my card for this week's blogger's challenge.  And yes, I do know it is Saturday but what the heck I was busy getting ready for my Sale-a-bration open house!  This week Lisa gave us a color challenge to work with--Peach, Green and White.  Perfect Spring Colors.  I chose to go with the new in colors Peach Parfait and Pear Pizazz!  Love these colors.  This is actually one of the cards we did at today's open house.

Stamps: Punch Bunch, Occasional Quotes
Pap0er: Peach Parfait, Whisper White, Pear Pizazz
Ink: Peach Parfait and Pear Pizazz
Other: pearls, ribbon, scallop circle punch, tulip border embossing folder

That is it for today!  Big day tomorrow and I am beat so I am off to lay in bed and read!  Ahh, life is good.  Be sure to check out the blog hop below.

Mary Jo

Once a month our list mom, Lisa, gives us a sketch to work with and this is the week.  You all know I love sketches so this is one of my favorite times.  The sketch was a fun one.  Come on and play along if you would like.  Or just check out all the great creations by our team on the blog hop at the bottom of this post.  Here is this month's sketch.

And my card.  I am still having fun with this Plane and Simple set!  So easy to make masculine cards with this one.  I think I must of had my friend Rose on my mind when I made this one because she is the queen of brads and I may have topped her with this one???? Maybe-maybe not!



Stamps: Plane and Simple
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue, Marina Mist. Botanical Gazette dp, Whipper White
Ink: Kraft, Chocolate Chip and Marina Mist
Other: circle scissors plus, brads (lots of them) corner rounder

Hope you have a wonderful Friday and an even better weekend!
Mary Jo

So I never did get this posted yesterday.  This week on the Blogger's Challenge we are doing embossing.  I chose to do dry embossing and combine it with the LNS challenge Let's hear it for the boys.  I love how this masculine card turned out!  Really rustic and outdoorsy!

Stamps: In Wilderness, Vintage Labels and Lovely as a Tree
Paper: Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Ink: Basic Black,
Other: re-inkers, alcohol, sponges, lattice embossing folder, brads

Hope you are having a super weekend!
Mary Jo

Ahhhh, Friday. I love Friday's not only because of the weekend but because I get to participate in the blogger's challenge.  And the cool thing is that you can too now that it is a blog hop!  This week Lisa wanted us to post a project with a love theme.  So I thought I  should work on my hubby's valentine.  But then I remember the new tutorial I just posted for the bunny pants and some of the other ideas that I offered up for you guys to use it for and though--yep--I need to make my hubby a box that looks like boxer underwear for Valentines!  I think this is just too cute.  Don't you?

The stamps that I used for this are all from the Jumbo I Love wheel.  I took it off the wheel and cut the individual parts apart to form lots of adorable love stamps.   When I do this I take the entire piece of rubber off the wheel and then attach it to a piece of cling mounting foam, then cut it apart and then I have an entire set of cling mount stamps! Mini tutorial on doing this can be seen HERE.

Here is a picture of the bunny pants and "his" underwear together.  Would be really cute if I made it a bit smaller and it fit right inside the pants, lol!  I may have to try that!



So now you can see that the bunny pants can hold either the cards (that are included in the original tutorial) or a whole bag of peanut butter hearts with room quite a bit of extra room!  You can view the Bunny Pants tutorial HERE.

I hope you will play along this week with our challenge.  After all it is the month of Love so I know you need a card or some type of project with a Love theme.

TGIF!!!!!!!
Mary Jo

This is the easiest challenge in a long time.  I seem to make more birthday cards than any other and I am sure you do too, so why not play along! It is a blog hop!  Check out the talent on this group of ladies. Here is my card for this week.

I purchased this Celebrations Quick Accents kit so long ago and keep forgetting I have it.  Thought it would be a fun kit to use for a class--especially using the FREE sale-a-bration set Punch Bunch. 

Stamps: Punch Bunch, Party Hearty
Paper: Pacific Point, Bashful Blue, Real Red, Pear Pizazz and Whisper White
Ink: : Pacific Point, Bashful Blue, Real Red, Pear Pizazz
Other: Celebrations Quick Accents brads, word window punch, scallop circle punch, circle scissors plus.

TGIF
Mary Jo