love from all of us

February I've really been working on my goal to make more cards for challenges.    I love following layout sketches and I make cards weekly so I don't know why I haven't followed card sketches for challenges.    Sketch #125 at Freshly Made Sketches today, grabbed me immediately so I went right to work on it and made this card.     Check out the challenge    HERE    and below is a copy of the sketch.    The challenge to use this sketch and keep the lines clean and fresh and I think that would be a good definition to my style of card making.

3 Men

I bought a new paper stack last week at Hobby Lobby,  it's from Paper Studio and called Deja Blue,   I was really drawn to all the blues and browns and patterns in the stack.  I decided to try it today using week 3 sketch at Let's Get Sketchy.       I tried to mirror the brown partial circle at the bottom right that was part of the patterned paper with a doily in the top left,  I just patted some brown ink all over it, so it wasn't such a stark white.   Then I just cut my 3 banners from the same patterned papers that I used a matting behind my picture.    To make everything stand out just a bit, I also did a very thin matting with a blue card stock around the 2 mats, the picture and the banners.    Some brown thickers for my title and a dusty blue cloth flower for an embellishment and viola I have a completed layout.    Here is the sketch.   I'll be using it again.     Plus the bonus of the sketch and because I love banners so much I get to also put this layout over at Southern Girls Challenge    Check it out    HERE
They have a great challenge just announced called Swinging in the Breeze to use banners and pennants on your project and you can use them on a layout or a card.    So I used them here on the layout.   I just love the look of these banners and how I don't have them glued all the way down, the ends are just that "swinging in the breeze"

Fairy Tale Ball

This will about finish all the pictures from the boys' themed Valentine parties at school this year.
Koda is in 1st grade and the first grade class theme is the Fairy Tale Ball.   I love these pictures of him dancing with his partner.   Looks like boys in 1st grade don't mind holding hands with girls.
I used the sketch for week #4 at Lets Get Sketchy.   Check out the months worth of challenges HERE

Happy Birthday Candle

This birthday candle I used on the left hand side of this card is probably one of the first stamps I ever bought.   I really like.   I love the font script and that it goes sideways along the candle.
I saw the sketch at Nacho Average Challenge #77 and thought it would work great with it.
Check out the challenge HERE and maybe you will want to enter also.  

Have a Wonderful Birthday

Another birthday card made today was this one that I used the sketch at Seize the Sketch.   It worked out well to use up some scraps of b'day papers that I had on hand.      Check it out  HERE  

Birthday Card making day

I always need Birthday cards for a monthly birthday club that I'm in in a yahoo scrapping group.
So today I spent the afternoon working on some birthday cards to have on hand.
I used the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches to do this one.    HERE  is the sketch.

Sweet Song Bird card

I don't know how long I have had this stamp "sweet song bird" but its been a couple of years and I have never used it.    The glittery chipboard birds I got in a prize package probably a year ago and have been in my "i like this, i will use this sometime" basket since then.      Today when I was checking out new card challenges I saw the one at Crazy4Challenges blog I knew it was time to use all my saved goodies,  the idea came to me immediately, just had to go looking for the right paper to use too.    Check out the challenge    HERE
The challenge is a music inspiration and whatever it means to you.    Since I'm ready for winter to be over and hear the sounds of birds chirping out my window in spring, that is my inspiration.