What's Your Favorite Color

That was the last challenge posted on the Phindy's Place Challenge Blog posted two weeks ago. Since that challenge was posted, Phindy's Place on PCP reached a 1000 member milestone, and so last week was all about challenges to celebrate.

We were also allowed to submit one of the challenge cards from the 1000 Member Celebration on the Favorite Color challenge. I have two favorite colors Red and Pink. Both are bright happy colors. One of the challenges for the Celebration was a non-traditional colored Christmas card. Since that rulled out me using red, I went with pink. This image is called "It's all downhill from here" and I think she's just about the cutest thing ever. Papers are from Summer Driggs. The pearl heart circles were some I bought in a pack and came in the circles.

I'm late in getting this blogged, but this last week has been hectic with trying to get the teepee mailed and keep up with the Celebration Challenges. I'm so glad I did because I actually won the Non-Traditional Color Challenge and a GC at the Phindy's Place Store. WOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by.

I'm In a Spin Again

Boy am I ever spinning after the time I've had getting the challenge making a spinner card on the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog. I kind of got sidetracked, and I'm late in getting my challenge card done.

One of the Freebies on Tiddly Inks PCP forum was a Harmony Border, and I immediately got an idea of using it for my spinner portion and having the notes spin down the bars of music. The next thing that came to me, was the sentiment. It had to have something to do with music, and "YOU are the song that makes my heart sing" came to mind. Yeah, I know it's cheesy but what the hay? I went into Photoshop and created the word art. The last thing I had to come up with is the perfect image to go with the rest. Well now that wasn't a challenge, since what woman wouldn't want a card from Charles holding a tulip and a cheesy saying like this. What little coloring there is was done with Copics.

I used my Make the Cut software to design the zigzag path for the spinner to follow and then cut it with my Cricut. I put a second copy of the border underneath so it really looks like one piece of music. The hardest thing I had to deal with, is that I didn't have any pop dots. When I tried punching a dot out of cardboard and attaching the penny, the cardboard just kept separating in layers. I finally used a hole punch and punched a dot in my foam tape. I will definitely be buying some pop dots the next time I get to Hobby Lobby or Michaels.

I'll be adding this card to the box of OWH cards I'm mailing tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by, and I love comments.

Be There But Not Square!

This week on the Sassy Cheryl's Challenge Blog, the dare was to create a card that wasn't square. OK, I had an idea for a card that I had seen somewhere and was going to use the template for it. Before I could take action, another challenge used that shape, and I didn't want two cards with the same shape. I put on my thinking cap(do any of you remember Tom Terrific from Captain Kangaroo?), and I had an idea for making a mug card. This is pretty simple to create if you have a Cricut and MTC. I knew there was a Sassy Cheryl image of a snowman with a hot beverage. Fortunately for Cheryl, I didn't have it so I had to go shopping at the store, and needless to say, while I was there made a few more purchases. I mean how can you leave with only one image?

When I found this image called "Cappuccino Snowman", it was a sign. Up until about the summer of 2004, I had been a one cup of coffee in the morning for the caffeine kind of person. That summer I went to California to visit a friend, and she got me hooked on lattes. She had an espresso machine, and we started every morning with a Sugar Free Caramel Latte(VENTI). When I returned home to the town of no Starbucks and craving a latte, I invested in my own espresso machine. Now I can have a latte anytime I want one and have the Points(Weight Watcher speak) for one. Since it's made with a cup of milk, it's a great way to get in my calcium(that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it). My snowman is colored with Copics.

It was a simple job to create just a mug with my Make the Cut Software and my Cricut, but when it became a latte, it needed foam, so I added some joined circles to the back of the card shape to give it the foam look. I cut the cup shape out of white cardstock and then out of this Snowman paper from The Paper Studio and glued them together. The sentiment was created in Photoshop, and then I used the joined circle shape to cut the sentiment. Lastly I took some chalk and added some cream tones to the froth and to the sides of the card. My last touch was to add some of the punched heart remains from my Martha Stewart Looped Heart corner punch to the froth sentiment and a heart charm to the bow.

If I tell you I love you a latte, that means I REALLY love you. Thanks for stopping by.

Monkey Moo's Birthday Teepee

When my cousin's child(my other daughter) was 3, a friend saw a teepee made on the PBS network. She took some notes and passed them along to me. For Peggy's 4th Christmas, I made her a teepee and painted it. That was 15 years ago and since then, I've made many and given them to friends for their grandchildren's enjoyment. Now you would think the grandparents would give the kids the teepees to take to their homes to play with, but no, they keep them at their house.

Well MonkeyMoo is turning 4 in December, and I've had his teepee sewn together for at least 18 months, but dreaded the actual painting of it. I tend to try to better myself with each teepee and try not to do too much duplicating. MonkeyMoo is all about cowboys, but the only Indians he's familiar with are the ones that are from India. This teepee is going to be an educational tool to teach him about the Native Americans of our country.

The neat thing about this teepee is that the poles come together, the panels wrap around them and then it fits in a bag and slides under the bed. This is a picture of the teepee in it's bag and then out of the bag.

When I make a teepee, I try to include things that are special to that child, and I also like to tell a story. MonkeyMoo is funny about the moon and can spot it instantly. This summer when I was visiting, we were driving home and I said there's your moon. He quickly told me "no, that'a not my moon. That is the San Diego moon." Seems according to him, his moon was in Africa on "bacation", and this was at 3 1/2.

The top of the teepee is about the sky, so needless to say, the top of MM's teepee had to be about the moon and stars. I have painted a different phase of the moon on each panel of the teepee, banded by a band of light and then a band of stars.

The bottom of the teepee is the part that says something about the land and the seas, and the middle sections tell the story. I used feather symbols with the earth tone green for the bottom border.

The front panel is the entrance and for me usually gives the warrior's name. I'm thinking White Eagle, so I painted a bald eagle on one side of the entrance. We have bald eagles here on the creek, and we always go looking for them whenever MM is here for a visit. The right side of the entrance is showing the lances and shields, signs of a warrior. Now MonkeyMoo is all about hunting and camouflage. The sign of the sun is over the front door.

There is a family of foxes that live down the road from us. People have fed them so they hang out there everyday around dusk. This summer when MM was here, we would drive down to see them every evening. I thought it would be neat to add the foxes to MM's teepee. Another reason for adding the fox scene, especially the reflection part, is that in Plains Indian stories, the fox is the trickster. Stories of the fox and his ways were used to teach lessons to the Indian children. There is a Indian story of a Fox and a Porcupine and how the porcupine used his reflection to outsmart the fox.

At this point, I think I should add a disclaimer that I am not an artist. If I can see a picture of something I can duplicate it, and with my early teepees, that's what I did. Of course, with MTC and a Cricut, I can cut out the shapes and then I only have to paint it.

The next panel displays the hunter's prowess by showing a buffalo hunt. This is a scene I have painted on several teepees, simply because it the hunt for buffalo was such a basic part of the Plains Indians lives. They wasted none of the buffalo using everything from hides for clothing, the meat for food and the bones for decorations and tools.

My husband has been elk hunting in Colorado. Elk are some magnicificent creatures. My daughter had specifically requested that the teepee have an elk and an eagle on it, so on this panel I included both.

The last of the five panel is a scene I've painted many times. It's horses running wild, much as they still do in parts of the Rocky Mountains. I can only imagine how glorious a herd of wild horses would have looked in the times of the Plains Indians, but I'm betting it was a sight to behold.

MonkeyMoo loves horses and loves to ride them. He almost wore his Grandpa out this summer when he rode in the ring all by himself(DH is walking beside him) for two hours in some terrible heat.

Sewing the teepee together and painting it are not all of the project. Thanks to my husband for cutting the poles, drilling the holes and helping me to assemble the teepee. I couldn't have done it without you honey(I'll keep telling him this).

A Tribute to our Furry Friends

Sometimes they're real and some times they're stuffed, but whatever they are, we form attachments to them that will last a lifetime. This week the Sassy Cheryl's DT challenged us to create a project dedicated to our furry friends.

The image I've chosen is called Beach Swing. How many times have you seen a child treat their furry stuffed animal as if it were real? Why my grandson MonkeyMoo has a stuffed monkey that he says is his brudder, John. I think that's why this image appeals to me so much. Of course, I also love the expression on the bear's face. The image is colored with Copics and with lots of fun colors. Nothing has to match when you're going to the beach. The sketch I used is a take off on the Operation Write Home Stars and Stamps Sketch Challenge # 40.

Papers are from a The Paper Studio paper pack called So-So Sweet and have just enough sparkle to them to make them fun. I used a MS punch to cut out my ribbon strip and decided to weave ribbon rather than run it straight. The sentiment is from a Fiskars Pack and is a Heidi Grace design. I think it says it all.

Can't believe gotten two cards done today, plus finished putting the teepee together. Of course TazMania is still a disaster and I've got a wasp or dirt dobber in here driving me crazy.

Thanks for popping by. Off to work on the bag for the teepee and then I can blog it.

Halloween Treat Bag or Box

The challenge over on the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog this week is to create a treat bag or box. Well, I wasn't sure I was going to make it on this challenge or not, as I have been painting a teepee for MonkeyMoo's birthday for the past week. However, I finished the painting yesterday, and last night with the help of MeFlick Cricut and More, I was able to find a cut file for a small treat bag. I modified it in my MTC software a bit by adding a window that I used clear transparency in and then adding a flap with double cut outs so that I could close the bag with a ribbon. I then cut the file with my Cricut.

I printed out the Halloween Pumpkin paper from the Tiddly Inks store and my image is the sweet Candy Avenger. She's colored with Copics. I used my latest Spellbinder purchase, the Lattice Pendant, that I got on the clearance aisle at Hobby Lobby to frame my image. I then added a black frame to make the image pop a little more. I mounted the framed image to the back side of the bag, so that no matter what you're looking at you're seeing something good.

The only thing I had in the house to add to the treat bag that would fit were these caramels, that my husband keeps on hand in case his blood sugar does a dive. Of course, I'm thinking some candy corn or some skittles would be a great add.

Thanks for stopping by. I'm always glad for some company and some comments.

Fancy Folds Again

I knew that with my project of the week being to paint a teepee, if I had any chance to get a second card done for the Phindy's Place Challenge Blog, it was going to have to be over the weekend. I got it made, but since painting has commenced on the teepee, I haven't had time to blog it. Decided that while I'm having to hang near the kitchen while my greens are cooking, this was my chance to post.

In case you haven't heard Phindy's Place PCP group hit 1000 members on Sunday, and a celebration is in the works. If you aren't a member, you really ought to check it out. There are some cute freebies, and I have to tell you that the group that hangs out there and chats, are about the nicest group of folks you'd ever want to know. The support offered by all is nothing short of amazing, and the topics range the full spectrum.

For this card I found the fancy fold tutorial at A Path of Paper. I'm not sure that it has a name, but the instructions were pretty easy to follow. The image is of course a Cutie, but this time from the Summer group and is called appropriately Summer Blossom. I love babies, so all I can say about the selection of cutes that Phindy has in her Store is that there can never be enough. Her overalls are paper pieced and everything else is colored with Copics. The papers for the entire card came out of my stash box., so no clue as to whose paper it is. The sentiment is from Ginger's House and seemed to be perfect for this image. We so often forget to see the miracles in life's everyday happening and take so much for granted.

Thought you'd like to see how the card opens up with even more folds. Thanks for stopping by.