OCL Blog Hop Day!

Today is the day!!!! Over the last 2 days, you've seen all the sets on the OCL Blog and lots of gorgeous samples from our Design Team girls. What would be a better way to end the week than with a blog hop AND some blog candy? Sounds pretty good to me!

But first I'll show you the projects I've been working on for today. I used the new School Notes set on this Sketch challenge card and matching lunch sack. I love school related projects ~ but you probably guessed that by now!

Here's a close up of the card ~ and I used this week's OCL sketch challenge while I was at it. In addition to the new set, I also used Say it Big for the sentiment.

And here is a picture of the entire School Notes set ~ which is the set I'm giving away as blog candy.
All 13 of the new sets (including this one) will be available starting today over at i{heart}papers and you're gonna LOVE them!

So for the blog candy ~ just leave a comment here today through Sunday (May 2nd) at noon & you'll be entered. Here are a few things that you should know about our blog candy ~

1) you MUST be signed in to blogger or leave contact information in order to be entered;
2) you can enter on each blog once each day; and
3) you will only be eligible to win one new set. Blog candy will be drawn on each blog Sunday, May 2nd at 12 noon PST, (3pm eastern time). Winners will be notified by the designer & a full list of winners will be posted on the OCL Blog.

Now go take a look at what these lovely ladies have created & what they are giving away ~

Amber Hillman
Broni Holcombe
Cambria Turnbow
Charmaine Ikach
Chelle Fowler
Cindy Lawrence
Deb Felts
Deborah Anton
Denise Marzec
Heather McNally
Holly McMillen
Kisa Peters
Pam Hooten
Terri Thill
Vicki Garrett
Jeanne Streiff

OCL Sneak Peeks ~ Day #2!

Welcome back to Day #2 of the OCL sneak peeks. Blog Candy is still going on (see the details below), but first I want to show you my project for today. I used two new sets on this cute card today. The first is called Flower Power and has a wonderful 60's feel to it and the sentiment comes from a coordinating sentiment set called Say it with Flowers. Both of these fun sets will be available at i{heart}papers tomorrow!

ETA: The pattern papers and peace border are from Reminisce's Unwritten Collection.

Now for the blog candy ~ just leave a comment on my blog each day through Sunday (May 2nd) at noon & you'll be entered.

Here are a few things that you should know about our blog candy ~
1) you MUST be signed in to blogger or leave contact information in order to be entered;
2) you can enter on each blog once each day; and
3) you will only be eligible to win one new set. Blog candy will be drawn on each blog Sunday, May 2nd at 12 noon PST, (3pm eastern time). Winners will be notified by the designer & a full list of winners will be posted on the OCL Blog.

I'll show you the set I'm giving away on Friday, but if you want to see the remaining 6 sets, take a look on the OCL Blog and don't forget to go take a look at what these lovely ladies have created.

Amber Hillman
Beth Silaika
Broni Holcombe
Cambria Turnbow
Charmaine Ikach
Chelle Fowler
Cindy Lawrence
Deb Felts
Deborah Anton
Denise Marzec
Heather McNally
Holly McMillen
Kisa Peters
Pam Hooten
Terri Thill
Vicki Garrett

OCL Sneak Peeks ~ Day #1

Woohoo ~ it's sneak peek time for Our Craft Lounge & that always means a week of fun new things to see AND blog candy too! YIPEEE!

So for my first sneak peek today, I am showing you a gorgeous new floral set called Pretty Petals and I'm very excited about it. I don't know if you can see all the sparkle on this card, but in real life - TOTAL BLING! This set (along with the other 12 new sets) will be available this Friday at i{heart}papers.

So for the blog candy ~ just leave a comment here today through Sunday (May 2nd) at noon & you'll be entered.

Here are a few things that you should know about our blog candy ~

1) you MUST be signed in to blogger or leave contact information in order to be entered;
2) you can enter on each blog once each day; and
3) you will only be eligible to win one new set. Blog candy will be drawn on each blog Sunday, May 2nd at 12 noon PST, (3pm eastern time). Winners will be notified by the designer & a full list of winners will be posted on the OCL Blog.

I'll show you the set I'm giving away on Friday, but if you want to see 7 of the full sets, take a look on the OCL Blog and now go take a look at what these lovely ladies have created.

Amber Hillman

Beth Silaika
Cambria Turnbow
Charmaine Ikach
Chelle Fowler
Cindy Lawrence
Deb Felts
Deborah Anton
Denise Marzec
Heather McNally
Holly McMillen
Kisa Peters
Pam Hooten
Terri Thill

Lizzie Anne Sketch - Polka Dot Fishy

Yesterday I saw Deb Felts weekly sketch challenge for Lizzie Anne & decided I wanted to use my new fishy stamp from the Playful Pals Sixlet set. I don't know if you can see it, but I put polka-dots on the little fish to continue with the dotted theme of the card ~ lol!

Supplies Used: Stamps ~ Lizzie Anne Designs (Playful Pals); Ink ~ Palette, Copics; Cardstock ~ PTI, Bazzill; Pattern paper & ribbon ~ KI Memories; Edge Punch ~ EK Success.

Thanks Dad!

Last week, I bought a new idea book by Paper Crafts called Sketches To Go. It was PERFECT timing because I found a cool sketch using some circle shapes and my Lizzie Anne Monthly Mix showed up the same day with these fun images. The May Mix is called Dream Big & I really LOVE the images in it. I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!

A few to share...

I love when I find unexpected pictures of cards on my computer that I haven't shared yet. This cute card uses the Ei Ei Hello set.

I just love using the Black Eyeliner Sparkly Fluff on her spots & these images are so easy to color with my Copic markers (R81, BG10, E33, R85, Y17, BG15).

And here is the inside of both cards.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

OCL Sketch Challenge #10

Hi There! I usually post the OCL Sketches on Friday; however, since I had a new release yesterday, I'm posting today. This is a granny card I made as a store sample using the sketch flipped the other way. Go take a look and see what you come up with for the sketch!

Copic Colors ~ YR04, YR07, C3, E21, E00, E33, E31, B00, R29

New today from Lizzie Anne Designs!

TGIF Peeps! Hope you have a great weekend planned. So today I would usually show a sketch challenge card; however, you can tune in for that tomorrow morning. So today is release day for Lizzie Anne Designs and I'm excited to show you samples for two of the 8 new Sixlet Sets that are available starting today.

The first set I'm showing today is called Hello Friend ~ what a gorgeous flower image.

And the next one is called Great Expectations! I just had to use my little pea paper from Cosmo's Garden Variety line.

You can see all the new sets on the Lizzie Anne website & head on over to the LAD Blog and the other designers blogs for more peeks ~ Tricia Ulberg (Lizzie), Meridith Ethington (Anne), Wendy Price, Joslyn Nielson, Bethany Paull, Taylor Usry, Jeanne Streiff, Jeni Allen, and Deb Felts.

May Birthdays...

Wow ~ is it Thursday already? I'm not really sure where the week went ~ oh yea, I've been working pretty much non-stop!

The other day, I sat down and had some fun working with the new Monthly Mix for May- Dream Big from Lizzie Anne Designs. These cards are so out of the box for me, but I kind of like them & I love this image ~ it's so cool! I made these birthday cards for two very special friends and even highlighted the date on the circle with a heart shaped eyelet.

Supplies Used: Stamps ~ Lizzie Anne Designs (May Monthly Mix - Dream Big; December Monthly Mix - Celebrate; Fancy Flourishes).

Hello Friend...

I had such a blast making this card. I love this bird cage from the new May Monthly Mix from Lizzie Anne Designs. The name of the new mix is called Dream Big ~ and I just love the images in it.

Showers to Flowers IHP Challenge

Woohooo! Once again it's time for our monthly i{heart}papers challenge. I love challenges, but I was sweating this one a bit because my stamps just arrived in the mail yesterday. I knew what I wanted to do, but I always like to allow extra time in case things don't go as planned. This time around, THANKFULLY, the card came together rather quickly ~ WHEW!

So I used the new April Store Kit of the Month from Unity Stamps called {total cuteness} and I paired it up with some yummy papers from the My Minds Eye kits called ~ Be Happy & How Sweet It Is.

Now after the showers come the flowers, so I had to do something on the inside of the card too ~

Now I'm off to see what the rest of the design team came up with ~

• Carolyn
• Cathleen
• Deb
• Gretchen
• Loretta
• Lori
• Lynn
• Megan
• Tracy
• Kate

Supplies from i{heart}papers: Stamps ~ Unity (total cuteness); Pattern Paper ~ My Minds Eye kits called ~ Be Happy & How Sweet It Is;Ink ~ Palette, Copic Markers (C1, YG13, Y21, BG72, E07); Ric Rac ~ May Arts; Sparkly Fluff ~ Our Craft Lounge (Sugar); Star Dust Stickles; Nestabilities ~ Circle, Oval, Big Scallop Circle.

Riding by to Say HI!

Happy Monday! I will be in the minority here, but I am soooooooooo glad it's Monday! I spent the entire weekend either in the car carting people around or helping kids with big homework projects! I was ready for everyone to go back to school and work so I can have the house to myself for a few hours. That's probably a bit selfish, but I seriously crave quiet in the midst of choas.

Anyway, I will look out my window today and see the sunshine and pretty flowers blooming. Spring has sprung in Northern Indiana and it's my favorite time of year! Here's a pretty little card I made with my Out for a Spin set by Our Craft Lounge & it's a perfect set for spring!

I hope you have a peaceful Monday!

Supplies from i{heart}papers: Stamps ~ Our Craft Lounge (Out for a Spin); Ink ~ Palette; Copic Markers ~ Y38, C1, Y21, BG72; Sparkly Fluff ~ Coffee Bean Brown (Our Craft Lounge).

For Mom

Here is another cool image from the most recent Monthly Mix called It's Good to be Queen. Mother's Day is only 3 weeks away ~ time to start thinking about it.

Have a great day!

Change it Up Challenge for LAD

Hello and welcome to the weekend. I hope you have something fun planned ~ I think I'm going to end up working all weekend, but that's ok.

Today, my project is a challenge card for Lizzie Anne Designs. Tricia (Lizzie) asked us to use an image from the Lizzie Anne collection and use it in some other way than it was originally intended. This was a HUGE challenge for me since I usually don't think "out of the box". So I started looking through my stamps and saw this fun little tree from the Sixlet set called Spring Rain. I thought maybe it would look cool as a flower petal & sure enough, it worked pretty well.

I can't wait to see what the other girls on the team came up with ~ let's go take a look!

Tricia Ulberg (Lizzie)
Meridith Ethington (Anne)
Joslyn Nielson
Deb Felts
Bethany Paull
Tiffany Ervin
Wendy Price
Taylor Usry
Maren Benedict
Jeanne Streiff

Supplies Used: Stamps ~ Lizzie Anne Designs (Spring Rain, Circle Sentiments, Fancy Flourishes); Ink ~ Palette; Cardstock ~ Bazzill; Pattern Paper ~ Imaginisce; Ribbon ~ May Arts.

OCL Sketch Challenge #9

Happy Friday! Well here we are again with a new OCL Sketch Challenge. I absolutely LOVE this sketch and I'm thrilled with how my card turned out too! I used the fun set called Fueled by Caffeine ~ isn't it great with this cute paper from American Crafts?

It's your turn now ~ go take a look at the sketch and don't forget to leave your link so you have a chance to win a free stamp set!

Supplies from i{heart}papers: Stamps ~ Our Craft Lounge (Fueled by Caffeine); Ink ~ Palette; Copic Markers (BG13, BG49, E25, E47); Nestabilities ~ Circle, Big Scallop Circle.

It's time to MIX it UP again!

Yup ~ it's the 15th of the month and time to preview the next Monthly Mix for Lizzie Anne Designs called Dream Big.

As I was going through my stash of buttons yesterday, I found this cool wooden flowerpot button. I thought it would look great with this image from the Monthly Mix so I colored it red to match the card and strung some linen thread through the button holes ~ PERFECT!

Four Tickets to Paradise...

Well I'm back with part two of my vacation photos from last week. My husband took this lovely picture during our afternoon on the beautiful island of St. Croix (which was probably our favorite stop).

Were you able to guess what our excursion was for our afternoon in St. Croix? Well believe it or not, we went 4-wheeling! I was pretty nervous about it, but the shop were we booked the tour was Gecko's Island Adventures, assured me that I wouldn't have any problems. And they were right!

This was our first stop on the 4-wheelin' tour. It was an old sugar mill called Sprat Hall. When Tim asked me how I was doing, my response was, "I'm gonna need a drink after this!". Actually, once I got the hang of it, it was fun. I only made Matt scream in fear a few times & I only swore once.

Our next stop was to see the gorgeous views of Cane Bay. What a lovely spot!

And another old sugar mill. The stone walls were built and held together with molasses and sand. I don't recall the name of this old mill but it was a great spot for another family picture.

Here is one of the easier trails from out trip. Megan was on the back of Tim's 4x4 snapping pictures during the easier parts. The trails were so dusty and we had about 100 layers of crud on us. My eyes were killing me from all the dust ~ next time I would wear goggles over my glasses. However, my favorite part of the 4x4 trip was the near the end when we were back on paved roads going through the rain forest ~ it was gorgeous.

Our next port of call on April 6th, was St. Kitts. It was another lovely day in the Caribbean! We really wanted to go ziplining that day, but the cruise line wouldn't let us book the trip because Matt wasn't old enough. We decided not to book a tour today and just walked around for an hour or so near the ship.

The market place was very pretty and modern.

After buying a few small souvenirs, we headed back to the ship for lunch. The ship was very quiet since most were off on the island, so we found a quiet spot to read and relax. With so many busy days, it was a nice break. Here is a fabulous shot Tim took of the atrium on the ship.

Our next port of call was Dominica. This was probably the least built-up port we visited with some of the most poverty. However, the island was very beautiful and the people were wonderful.

Tim took the kids on a river tubing excursion while I went with my in-laws on an island tour of the waterfalls. Here is Matt all ready for tubing.

On the way to our first waterfall, we walked through a gorgeous rain forest ~ here was a land crab hiding near some rocks.

We walked to a wooden platform that was built to view the gorgeous Trafalger Falls.

There were wonderful red blooms all over the rain forest.

And this was taken near the Emerald Pools in another rain forest. We were caught in a down pour and ended up soaking wet on our hike ~ but is was worth it!

While at the Emerald Pool, our tour met met up with Tim & the kids tour ~ it was fun to see them while we were all out and about.

Our final port of call on April 8th was the beautiful island of Barbados. Tim and I visited this island about 15 years ago and couldn't wait to go back. We all took a fantastic tour to Green Monkey Wildlife Preserve. Here is our group on the 4x4 Jeep all ready to go ~ Tim's parents are such good sports!

And here is what the 4x4 Jeep looked like.

Matt on the 4x4 Jeep ~ the police station is in the background.

Some of the locals at the wildlife preserve ~ waiting for lunch.

Lunch is served!

This gorgeous shot was taken by Megan!

And another Green Monkey finishing his lunch!

Here is Megan in one of the beautiful stone buildings at the wildlife preserve.

And finally ~ a portriat of our family on the second formal night.

Hope you enjoyed seeing a small glimpse of our trip. I'll be back tomorrow with a project!