Monster blocks

I know the kids just got back to school but you know what is right around the corner, don't you? YEP...HALLOWEEN!! Today, Jodie is releasing these not-so-scary Monster Blocks:

Head over to the store to see them all!

Challenge Time

Welcome to another challenge day at Bugaboo Stamps and Catch the Bug. Today the challenge is to use warm colors AND paper piecing. This was a tough one for me. First of all I had to look up what warm colors are :) and, to be honest, I'm not that skilled with scissors so paper piecing always scares me. Luckily, I found this adorable Itchy Dog image and his easy to cut out sweater:

Are you up for the challenge? Come on, if I can do it, you can do it. And to save you having to look it up yourself, warm colors are yellows, oranges, hot pink...you get the idea. I hope you'll join us.

Raggedy Critters

Today is Friday and that means it's Freebie Friday day at Bugaboo Stamps. Today, Jodie is giving away this adorable Raggedy Critter image "Bunny"

Head over to the Bugaboo store and pick up this adorable bunny for yourself. Then check out the rest of the set. You won't be disappointed.
Challenges:
Crafty Creations: use an animal
Paper Sundaes: green, button, twine
Digi Doodles: anything goes

And Everything Nice...

Have you seen the Sugar and Spice collection from Bugaboo Stamps? It's full of adorable little girls and this image too:

You can pick them all up at the new Bugaboo store and for even more inspiration and ideas, head over to the Catch the Bug Blog to see what the rest of the Bugaboo DT wants to show you on this Oldie but Goodie Thursday.
Challenges:
Crazy for Challenges: Flowers, die cuts, buttons
There She Goes challenge: photo inspiration
Digital Tuesday Challenge: cute and girly

A Snowboarding Snowman

This Snowboarding Snowman image from Bugaboo stamps just makes me smile. He's just so cute!

I used Stickles on his cap to give him some sparkle and used the last of some of my favorite snowflake paper :(
Challenges:
Sparkle Creations Christmas Card: glitter
Winter Wonderland: for men or boys
Totally Papercrafts: Christmas in August
Stampin for the Weekend: Holidays
Pixie Dust: for teens/tweens
ABC Christmas: Q for quote

Thank you

You can never have too many "Thank You" cards, right? I mean, I found that out when Kyle was trying to send thank yous and all the cards I had were too "babyish" or "girly"for him. Since then, I've been trying to make at least a few cards that are more guyish, but I'm not sure this qualifies, just because it has a boy image. This is Deacon Skull Flower from Bugaboo.

Challenges:
Speedy the Cat: Embossing
All Sorts: framed
Crafty Anns: Scallops/fancy borders
Stamp Something: thank you
Papertake Weekly: use die cuts
Pollycraft: fall colors

Howdy!

It's Tuesday and that means that Jodie is releasing some new images. Today she is featuring some dollar digis, including this "howdy":

Hop over to the store to see the rest of the dollar digis and check out the Catch the Bug blog to see the rest of the Bugaboo DT's creations.
Challenges:
Cards for Men:Anything goes
Lolipop Crafts: Masculine

ABC Day

Hey! It's ABC (anything but a card) day at Bugaboo stamps and today it's my turn to show you that I CAN make something other than a card (it's hard-but I can sometimes manage to do it!)
Today I made this little bag:

I used the always cute Critter Balloon Bear. Here's a closeup:

This bag is the right size to hold two or three cards with envelopes so it's perfect for sharing some of your awesome card creations.
Challenges:
Forever Friends: 3d and an animal
Make it Monday: Always Anything Goes
Paper Playtime: Anything Goes

Challenge Time

Hello and welcome to another Saturday challenge at Bugaboo Stamps and Catch the Bug. Today's challenge is "Summer is for the birds"...hmmm...make a summer card with a bird. Today I chose this long legged bird image:

I hope you'll play along in our challenge. You could win 7,4 or 2 Bugaboo images of your choice!

Freebie Friday

Today it's Friday. My kids are glad because it's their first week back to school and they're happy for Friday to get here. I'm happy because it's Freebie Friday day at Bugaboo Stamps and I get to show you this adorable Freebie that Jodie is offering today:

Isn't he cute? You can grab him over at the store and while you're there, check out the rest of the set.
Challenges:
Crafty Calendar: hot colors
Paper Sundaes: just say "hi"

Happy OBG Day

Yay for Thursday! Oldie but Goodie day at Bugaboo stamps and Catch the Bug. The day that the Bugaboo DT shows you some older, maybe forgotten images that you might like. Today I chose this coffee cup image from the Coffee Time collection called "Perfect Blend"

Head over to the Catch the Bug Blog to see what the rest of the DT wants to show you today. You might find something new you didn't know you needed!
Challenges:
Totally Papercrafts: Food and Drink
Tuesday Throwdown: non-stamped sentiment

Wednesday Tutorial Day!

Hey, did you know that every Wednesday one of the Bugaboo DT members prepares a tutorial? Yep, it's true. Today is my turn and I decided to show you how I color jeans/denim with Copic markers.
I'm going to start by showing you how to do it with my "standby" colors. I ALWAYS use these colors to color denim but in the process of preparing this tutorial, I decided to try some other color combos which I'll show you later.
We're going to color the always adorable Sean:

You'll need these marker colors: BG75, BG72 and BG10.
Starting with the darkest color, BG 75, color along the edges and where the creases/wrinkles are in the clothing:

Now, using BG 72, color over the areas you already colored and color further into the image. Be sure to leave some white space for the lighter color and blending:

Now take the BG10, the lightest color, and color over the white space and blend around into the already colored areas till you get the look that you want:

That's it! Now, I put together some other color combos, in case you don't have those particular BG colors:


And the original color combo:

You can experiment with other color combos too, as long as you have a dark color and a slightly lighter color combined with a much lighter color for the blending.
I hope you liked this tutorial and it inspires you to try this technique. If you have your own favorite color combo for jeans/denim I'd love to hear it.
Thanks for visiting.

New Release Day

Did you know that Tuesdays are New Release days at Bugaboo Stamps? Yep, they are. And today, Jodie is releasing a couple of images, including this adorable one with a nurse and a baby:

Head over to the Bugaboo Store to see the rest of the set and pick some up for yourself.
Challenges:
Cards for Men: Anything goes for a boy or man
Make it Monday: Anything Goes

The Nice List

Today I decided to make an altered notebook. I thought it would be fun to have a Christmas themed book where I could write down ideas for Christmas gifts, who I was sending Christmas cards to, or just general Christmas ideas. So with all the school supplies out at every store, it wasn't hard to find a notebook:

Here's a side shot so you can see that it IS a notebook:

Challenges:
Just us Girls: Altered notebook
Allsorts: Anything but a Card
Secret Crafter: Christmas
CES: mix and match different papers
Sparkle Creations Christmas Cards:Christmas Cheer
Crazy Challenge Monthly Christmas Challenge-Anything Goes (Christmas)

Dog Days of Summer

I was looking around at challenges yesterday and two of them had the theme of "Dog Days of Summer" I don't know where that phrase came from but I do know that it's a great reason to break out my favorite Bugaboo dog..Itchy!

Challenges:
Raise the Bar- Dog Days of Summer
Stamp Something- Dog Days of Summer
Crazy Challenge-embossing
Lollipop-monochrome
Crazy for Challenges-monochrome coloring
Cute Card Thursday-clean and simple

Challenge Time

Thanks to everyone who played along in our Anything Goes challenge last week. It's always a popular one and it's a lot of fun to come around and visit all your blogs. Hopefully you'll play along this week in our Distressed/Shabby Chic challenge. I'm not much of a shabby chic person but I can do distressed so I made this card with Deacon:

He looks pretty beaten up, doesn't he? Well, at least the papers he on look pretty beaten up! So, want to give it a try? I hope you will and post your creation over on the Catch the Bug blog.

Freebie Friday

Hooray it's Friday! I know you're all waiting to see what the new Freebie Friday image is at Bugaboo so I won't keep you waiting any longer. It's this adorable Bee Bear:

Isn't it the cutest? Head over to the Catch the Bug Blog to pick one up for yourself and see the rest of the set at the Bugaboo store.

Happy Bird Day

You can never have too many birthday cards, right? So for today's Oldie But Goodie day take a look at this super cute BIRDday image:

Perfect because it works for boys or girls, young or old...just about anyone on your birthday list. Looking for more inspiration? Head over to the Catch the Bug Blog and take a look at what the rest of the Bugaboo DT wants to show you today.
Challenges:
Tuesday Throwdown-Birthday
Spoonful of Sugar-Birthday
Little Red Wagon-Use a bird

New Release Day at Bugaboo Stamps

Hooray! It's Tuesday and you know what that means, right? Yep, it's new release day at Bugaboo Stamps. Today, Jodie is releasing some new AKV (A Kid's View) so you know they're going to be super cute, like this guy on the waterslide:

Head over to the Catch the Bug Blog to see what the rest of the DT created and then go to the store to see the rest of the adorable images.
Challenges:
Cards for Men: Clean and Simple
Stamp Something: Digi Days
Kelley's Kids: Anything Goes

Anything Goes Challenge

Woo hoo! It's the first challenge of the month of August and you know what that means, right? Yep, it's the Bugaboo Anything Goes challenge. Make whatever you want and post it over at the Catch the Bug blog to be in the running for great prizes. You don't even have to use a Bugaboo image but if you do, you're eligible for the grand prize of 7 images of your choice. How awesome is that? Today I used this cutie from the "A Kid's View" line of images:

So, are you going to join us this week? I hope so, I would love to come visit your blog and see what you made!

Freebie Friday

Today is Friday and you know what, besides it being FREEBIE FRIDAY at Bugaboo Stamps, it's also only going to be about 90 degrees here today in St. Louis. After two plus weeks at 100 or more with the heat index, this is a nice break. It was actually possible to breathe when I went outside today which was nice.
Anyway, on to today's Freebie. It's this adorable AKV Baseball kid:

Head over to the Bugaboo Store to get yours today. Please remember to keep Jodie (creator of Bugaboo Stamps) and her family in your prayers. Her husband was in a serious car accident last week and is in serious condition. I'm pretty sure Jodie hasn't had time to make a whole set to go along with this AKV baseball player and the freebie might not be up for awhile but please understand why. :)
Challenges:
Prairie Fairy Fridays-Photo Inspiration (I chose colors, dots)
Stampin for the Weekend-spots and dots
Crafty Anns-Summer Theme

Baby, baby, baby....

I don't have much of a need to make baby cards. All my friends are long finished with having children and their children are not quite old enough to be having children of their own but that doesn't stop me from using some of Jodie's super cute baby images to make a baby card. Heck, I'm going to need one sometime, right? :) I chose this clothesline one for today's Oldie but Goodie:

Isn't that baby cute!!?? If you're looking for more inspiration, head over to the Catch the Bug blog and see what the rest of the Bugaboo DT wants to show you today.
Challenges:
For Fun Challenges: Anything Goes

New Release Day at Bugaboo Stamps

Hey! It's Tuesday and that means it's NEW RELEASE DAY at Bugaboo Stamps. Today you can see the new JJ Sewing image:

Head over to the Store to pick this one up for yourself.
Challenges:
Papertake Weekly- Anything Goes