Happy Birthday from the Beary Scrap!

I'm wrapping up another week at the Beary Scrap. Haven't the other Beary Scrappy Gals done a fantastic job of inspiring you this week, with their Birthday Creations? The next birthday my family will be celebrating is for my nephew Will. He will be 9 years old in April, and is such a blessing to us all!

Most joy fold cards are rectangular, and if you look at my blog often, you can tell that I am partial to 6 x 6 cards. So, I will share the dimensions that I used to make my card. I used Bazzill cardstock for the base of my card. Cut a 6" x 8.5" base. Score at 2.5". Cut another piece of cardstock 4" x 8", and score at 4". I always use my ScorPal while making cards. This is one of those investments, that at the time I thought, do I really need this? and now, I couldn't live without it! If you make any cards, then, you really need this piece of equipment!

Now, back to the card - LOL! You have your two base cards, and you can now "dress" them however you would like. Basically, you end up with two cards -a large card that is 6" on the bottom with a 2.5" flap with the fold on the left and a little 4" x 4" card with the fold on the right. You will glue the small card to the center of the big card. (Hopefully, when you look at my pictures, this will make sense!) Any time I am gluing down lots of layers, that I really need to stick, I use Scor-tape. This stuff will hold anything! It's great for adding ribbon and other embellishments.

I personally like a lot of layers to my cards - so I cut a layer of "glow" yellow Bazzill for framing all of my designer paper. I then used the Basic Grey Sugar Rush 6" paper pad for all of my designer papers. Something that I didn't realize for a long time is that the 6" paper pads are made specifically for card makers - the patterns are the same as the 12 x 12 sheets, but they are scaled down, making them perfect for cardmaking. They are always such an economical way to go, too. After I glued my paper, I headed to the sewing machine and added stitching on all of the layers. I added a border that I punched using the Martha Stewart Garden Trellis punch, to my front flap. This is a great border to run ribbon through. It would be lovely on a scrapbook page as well!

I then distressed the edges of the glow cardstock, and added my digi image - Herbert the Turtle Birthday Set, from Karen's Doodles. I colored him with copics and added Flower Soft - Spring for my icing. This color looks perfect with the Sugar Rush line. I printed the little round birthday sentiment from Louby Lou's, sprayed it with Tiger Lilly Glimmer Mist and added dimensionals underneath it, to tuck my turtle image behind.

I hope you enjoyed our birthday celebrations this week. Monday will start a new theme for the Beary Scrappy Gals, so be sure to come back and see what we are cooking up!

Challenges:
Sew Many Challenges - Punches
Copic Creations - Greens

Easter Egg Hunt

Can you believe we are just a couple a weeks away from Easter? I'm ready! Today, I wanted to share with you this adorable image from Studio 313 Exclusive Creations. This is the new line of digital images from Shawne (she is a fabulous stamp designer for Clear Dollar Stamps!) Her new store will be opening in a couple of weeks (and I think she is still looking for a few more members for her DT!) If you are interested in applying, you can go to her website and request an image (you have a choice of 2), and make a card/project. I think the deadline is March 30th, so you'll have to get busy!

This card has a bunch of layers that are sewn, distressed, inked - you name it! I colored this little cutie with copics and added just a few simple embellies.

Here are my challenges:
Sketch Saturday (don't you just love this sketch!)
Charisma Cardz - something for the kids
Shirley's 2 Girls - Spring/pastel
Digital Tuesday - Happy Spring
Stamp with Fun - Easter
Incy Wincy - Spring
Lexi's Creations - Easter
One Stitch at a Time- Vintage
Stamp Something - Distress
Stampin for the Weekend - Easter
All Sorts - Spring is in the Air
Crazy4Challenges - Spring

The first official challenge for DZ Doodles!

Are you ready for a fun challenge? and a chance to win some DZ Doodles images? Then get ready! We had a non-official challenge last week, but this week is the official launch of the new DT at DZ Doodles - Oodles of Doodles.
Today, we have a picture inspiration for you.For my card, I was inspired by the flowers, and know that it will soon be time to start planting flowers.
I always struggle a bit with CAS style cards, but decided this image was perfect for a simple card. We hope that you will play along with us this week. Remember to use a DZ Doodles image and upload your card by Monday, March 29th.

Here are the challenges for this card:
Paper Gardens - sketch
Stampin Sisters in Christ - Clean and Simple Card
Incy Wincy - Spring
All Sorts - Spring is in the Air

Fancy Folds with Karen's Doodles

Welcome to Monday and another fabulous challenge from Karen's Doodles! This week we want to see fancy folds - you know, easel cards, joy-folds, tri-shutter - and probably a bunch more that I've never tried. Just as long as it's not a plain old standard card. We will have 3 winners again this week (chosen by Random.org), so print your favorite Karen's Doodle and get coloring! Have you seen all of the adorable Easter images Karen has been adding? You know you will want to color those!

My anniversary is coming up in a couple of weeks, so I decided to use the Wedding Dance to make a card for my husband. Of course, he walked in while I was finishing it up, so no surprises there. Don't you think this couple looks like they just danced off of the top of a wedding cake? I did. So, I designed a wedding cake and cut it with my cricut, and ran the "layers of cake" through different cuttlebug folders. I hand-sewed antique ribbon ruffles for icing, and sewed pearl colored seed beads into the icing as well.
I made a medallion at the bottom, with our initial "C", and used Justright stampers (Curlz monogram, and borders from the Preserves set, and Damask borders set). I stamped with Versamark, and heat embossed in gold. I also inked my edges with gold Smooch. You know I had to distress some of my edges and sew the card with gold thread.
Thanks for looking!

Here are my challenges for this card:
One Stitch at a Time- Vintage
Wild Flower Wednesday - Spring Cleaning (scrap papers)
Cute Card Thursday - Happy Anniversary
Copic Creations - Coloring skin, coloring black
JustRite Stampers - Mix and Match (I used 3 sets)
Stamp Something- Distress
Caardvarks - lace

Anything But A Card

I am really hoping that this is the last any of us will see of snow for the year! But the theme this week at Creative Inspirations is anything but a card - and I had made this nightlight for my nephew, and thought it would be perfect to showcase. The image is from Wild Flower Kids. The whole arrangement was made on an acrylic die cut, so it could be changed out for the seasons. I'm thinking it's time for a sunny spring one!

We hope you will play along with us. You have 2 weeks to link your creation at the Creative Inspirations blog.

This is also an entry for Copic Creations - to use any of the technique that they covered in the past year - this one was for coloring snow.

It's the First Day of Spring!!!!

How lucky am I? My "Spring" post for the Beary Scrap actually falls on the first day of spring! I have to tell you, yesterday, it really felt like spring - the sun was shining and it was 67 degrees - just perfect. I actually took my copics outside on my porch and colored this. It was just wonderful!

Well onto the card! I am so excited that the Beary Scrap is carrying Magnolia stamps and this one is just so cute! I almost always use Bazzill for my base card, because there is such a great range of colors and textures. For my patterned paper I used Basic Grey's Nook and Pantry. I think this is one of my all time favorite collections. I love anything retro and kitschy - and this fits the bill. I added texture to my card by using the Swiss Dots embossing folder from Cuttlebug, and sewed some antique lace around to frame sweet little Tilda. Finally to finish it off, I added some pearls.

I hope you have enjoyed our Spring inspiration for you? What are you going to make to celebrate spring? Be sure to come back on Monday to the Beary Scrap DT Blog - we will have another fun week of ideas to inspire you.

Here are my challenges for this card:
Friday Sketchers - sketch (love it!)
Paper Garden Projects - Spring or Easter Colors
Allsorts- Spring is in the Air
Basic Grey- Tutti Fruity
Crazy4Challenges - Spring Card
A Spoon Full of Sugar- Easter creations
Stampin for the Weekend- Easter
Fussy and Fancy- green
Stamp Something - Distressed
Charisma Cardz - Something for the Kids
Pixie Dust - The power of 3
S2G - Spring/pastel
Cuttlebug Challenge - Spring
Simon Says - Green
Pixie Cottage - green
Roses on Paper - Easter
Creative Card Crew - Going Dotty
Incy Wincy - Going Green
Copic Creations - coloring reds/pinks

Where do your Belles N Whistles live?

Belles 'n Whistles Stamps is having a fun challenge this week - to show them where your BnW stamps live.

So Here is my story:

I wake up in the morning (I'm not an early bird, so no time to play with my Belle's 'n Whistles, gee darn!




Now I'm at work. Do you think my patients would mind if I quit cleaning their teeth, so I could just maybe make one card? The kids that I see everyday would probably think it was fun if I let them help me. Don't know that my boss would think it was such a good idea. Guess I will have to wait.





Yeah! It's quitting time! I guess the highway patrol would not take too kindly to crafting while driving- after all, if you can't text, you probably can't stamp.




I'm home! I'm home! It won't be long now!

Here is where my Belles 'n Whistles stamps are the happiest - with their best friends, the copics!

Finally, a happy ending! And if I won the new release, it would really be a happy ending (or a great beginning - for wonderful new creations I could make!)

Pocket Full of Posies

We have a new challenge at Sassy Studio Designs - a Pocket Full of Posies. What we want to see is a card with a pocket, and flowers (and of course an SSD image!)

I used Hippie Chic for my card, and created a pocket by sewing layers of paper together, which left a perfect little pocket for a secret note. I had the chipboard "Peace" let over from some Christmas chipboard, but added Martha Stewart orange glitter to it, to make it a little groovier!

We hope you can play along with us - remember the winner will get 2 SSD images of their choice. Just be sure to upload your card to Mr. Linky at the SSD Blog by next Wednesday night.

This is also for the Copic Creations challenge - coloring jeans.

Exciting News!

I've had a little secret, that I couldn't share until now- I was asked to be on the Design Team for DZ Doodles! Yeah! So today is the reveal for the new team. And I'm so excited, because my sister Lori, is on this team too! You know when we get together, there is bound to be trouble.

We will be having challenges every week... and we hadn't really planned to do one this week, but we were all just so excited we couldn't wait.

First, let me introduce my other DT members -

Valerie Urtiaga (DT Coordinator) http://pixiedreamdesigns.blogspot.com/ Gini Cagle (that's me) http://ginicagle.blogspot.com/ Glee Cloninger http://gleefullydone.blogspot.com/ Lori Leng http://pinkcloudscrappers.blogspot.com/ Patricia Stewart http://pattyandcharlie.blogspot.com/ Rosalien Zwackhalen http://rosalien-cardfun.blogspot.com/ Susan Killam http://killamcreative.blogspot.com/

Now, here is the sketch for the week



And here is my card. We hope that you will be able to play along with us, for a chance to win some really cute DZ Doodles images.



This card is also for the contest at Copic Creations - coloring jeans, coloring skin tones.

Flowers and Stitching

Today is another challenge from Michelle Perkett Studios! This week we are challenging you to stitch on your card and add hand-made flowers. I used the Mary, Mary image from Michelle, and colored her with copics, and then cut her out using my nestabilities. I stitched my bottom layers together, using a dark purple rayon thread. For my flowers, I gathered Hannah Silk ribbon into rosettes, and added Swarovski crystals for the center. I hope you will play along with us this week - these are two of my favorite techniques to use! Be sure to upload your card to Michelle's Inspiration and Challenge Blog by Mar. 22, 5:00 PST.

This is also for:
Sketch Saturday - sketch
Crafty Creations - Make your own flowers
Penny's Challenges - green
The Pixie Cottage - green
Crafty Calendar - Flower power
Fussy and Fancy - green
Stamp Something - Cream and Green