All That Stickles Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Star Spangled Blog Hop brought to you by the All that Stickles design team!

"Oh say can you see... by the gleam of Stickles. Oh so proudly we post, our patriotic projects" (if you sing it to the tune of Star Spangled Banner, we promise it makes sense ;)

In non-musical form: Today the All that Stickles design team has created a variety of patriotic-themed projects using our favorite sparkly embellishment - Stickles!

There are many birthdays celebrated amongst my family and friends right around the 4th of July, so for my project today, I made a Patriotic gift bag.

 

I used the Print and Cut feature of my Silhouette for the flag, then added Christmas Red Stickles and Crystal Stickles on the stripes and stars of the flag.  I used a Close to my Heart stamp set for the stars hanging down, and used True Blue Stickles on those. The bag is tied with ribbons from the Really Reasonable Ribbon Company. Here's a close up of the Stickle-y goodness of the flag...

 

 

It makes you want to put your hand over your heart, doesn't it?

 

 

We have blog candy for those who are a follower of All that Stickles and leave a comment on every stop of the hop! Winners will be announced Wednesday June 19th at All that Stickles.

SK Digis

$6 Voucher

LoveBug Creations

$15 Gift Certificate

Scrapping Memories

10 Files of Winner's Choice

Bugaboo Stamps

10 Digis of Winner's Choice

Scrapping Fun with Tonya
3 Pack of Stickles

Here's the complete lineup for today's hop:

All that Stickles
Ashley

Tonya
Cathy
Ann
Cynthia
Karen
Julie

Chas

Thanks for hopping! :) Don't forget to check out our Distress Stickles Linky Party! Make something awesome and link up to win our fab prizes!  Now hop on off to Chas' blog -- I love her work!

I'm not much of a DaNCeR!

Happy Saturday, everyone! It's time for some mid-term mojo over on the All That Stickles blog. Our linky party going on right now is any color of Distress Stickles.  I made a card with a digi image and sentiment from our sponsor, Bugaboo Stamps.

 

Yeah, they got their dancing shoes on, alright!  I used two colors of Distress Stickles on this card -- Worn Lipstick and Bundled Sage.

I colored the dancers with Copic markers, and highlighted some of the sentiment with Copics, too.   Designer papers are a My Mind's Eye 6x6 paper pad, Ooh, La La, that seemed perfect for dancing girls. The chipboard heart is from Close To My Heart, and it is covered with Bundled Sage distress Stickles.  I used a Spellbinders label die -- wonky rectangles, on this, also.

Check out the other projects from the design team, then dance like no one is watching -- it's good for you!

I'm entering this in the following challenges:
Craft Lovin' Challenge Blog -- anything goes
D.L. Art Thankful Thursday Linky Party -- anything goes
Sister Act Card Challenge -- anything goes
AUD Sentiments Challenge -- anything goes



It's Challenge Time at the Craft Lovin' Challenge Blog!

Come join us for the second challenge at Craft Lovin' Challenge Blog. This time the theme is a popular one -- Anything Goes!

My inspiration for this one is a card, and I used several products from our sponsors.  I used a digi stamp from Crafty Sentiments, and digi paper from Tabitha's Designs.  

 

I cut the beehive shape out on the Silhouette, using a file from The Cutting Café. The bear was colored with Copic Markers.  The sentiment is from Whimsical Designs Stamps,"Whimsical Fun Volume 1" stamp set. I used crinkle ribbon from, of course, 3 Girl JAM.  It's the Tuxedo from the Celebrations bundle. The small twine bow is twine from Timeless twine.  It's the Cape Cod twine, with yellow and gray together.

Here's a little different angle of the card:

 

 

 

Link up in our Anything Goes challenge at The Craft Lovin' Challenge Blog.  You'll have until June 28.  There's great prizes to win from our sponsors! 

 

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

D.L. Art Thankful Thursday Linky Party -- anything goes

SisterAct Card Challenge -- Anything Goes

MarkerPop -- Loving You

AUD Sentiments Challenge -- Anything Goes



Red, White and Beautiful -- a Tribute to Molly

I'm hopping today with 3 Girl JAM. You should have arrived from Kendra's blog. We're celebrating a special birthday of Julie, the owner's, sister.  And, we're celebrating some fantastic new red, white, and blue ribbon. For me, though, this post is going to deviate from the birthday theme.  It is my chance to share my news and celebrate a special life well lived.

Those of you who follow my blog regularly and who hop with me each week with Friends With Flair may remember my post from last week.  I was heading across the state with my 3 dogs to stay with my BFF.  Well, we made the trip, but the day we got there, my 12 1/2 year old Golden Retriever, Molly, got ill.  She got sicker and sicker as the day and night went on.  By the next morning, I cut our visit short and returned home, knowing her end was near.  I wanted my husband to have his opportunity to say good by to our Golden girl.  She died last Thursday, being held and told by both of us that we loved her very much.  I hope when my time comes, I am as lucky to die in the arms of a loved one, with a loving voice in my ear.

In honor of her, I got out one of my favorite Unity/Phyllis Harris stamps, and started the therapeutic process of creating something in her memory.  Here is my "Molly Art". 

Molly was a very dark colored Golden.  She was sometimes mistaken for an Irish Setter by people who didn't know their breeds real well.  I worked hard on this to get her color just right. She had just a touch of gray around her eyes and under her chin so I tried to get that in, too. And she was my special friend, so that's the sentiment I used.  The girl is no one in particular.  Molly loved people.  It wouldn't have mattered to her who this girl was -- Molly would have loved her.  Molly wagged her tail at everyone -- even cars driving by.  She absolutely loved people and attention.  One of the things my husband is missing the most is Molly's kisses.  She gave the gentlest kisses in the world. That's the reason I chose this particular image to stamp.  Molly and her gentle kisses.  Yeah.  We both miss them.

I used October Afternoon papers on this (Hometown and Fly a Kite) and made it 5x7 so I could frame it.  The stamp is Unity/Phyllis Harris "First Love".  The ribbon is, of course 3 Girl JAM, and it's the newest, prettiest, gotta have ribbon -- the Red, White, and Blue bundle.  Here's a close up of the ribbon flower I made. There is a sale going on to launch this new ribbon bundle, so make sure you check out the store this weekend!

Isn't that ribbon beautiful? I love the streaking in the white.  So fun!  The chipboard star is from UmWow Studios.  My friend, DeeDee has many innovative products you need to check out at her store. I used a Spellbinder label die and the heart bling is from my stash. I used a We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, too.

I rarely remember to list the Copic markers I used on this, but this time I did. Here they are:  The dog was colored with: E99, E39, E18, and YR23.  The bib overalls:  B93, B95.  Shirt -- R24, R27.  Shoes -- R27, R29, C1.  Skin -- E11, E00, E000, R20.  Hair -- C3, C5, C9.

I have some pictures and a few memories of Molly to share, but I realize that not all of you may want to hang with me for that long, so I'm going to give you the hop order here, and send you on your way if you want to hop along.  If you want to stick with me and see my pics, I'd love to share a few memories with you.

Here's the hop order:
Julie- http://3girljam.blogspot.com/
Jessica B - http://jessicascraftshaque.blogspot.com
Kendra - http://luv2scrapnmakecards.blogspot.com/
Julie O - http://muddypawsinkyfingers.blogspot.com -- you're here
Rebecca- http://bloomingpink.blogspot.com/ -- go here next!
Nicole~ http://teachdanz.blogspot.com
Mackenzie~ http://kraftingwithkenzie.blogspot.com/
Carri~ http://www.doubleclickconnections.blogspot.com/
Scrappin Madge~ http://www.thescrappinlounge.com/
Cheri- http://djssundries.blogspot.com/
Elizabeth- http://www.217creations.com/
Abby- http://scrappin-abby.blogspot.com/
Jessica~ http://chick-n-scrap.blogspot.com
3GJ Challenge- http://3girljamchallenge.blogspot.com/

Molly loved to play ball.  She was obsessed with it.  The last day that we were at Sheri's, she wasn't feeling well, wanted to play ball, but was having difficulty.  She collected everyone's tennis balls and laid on them.  If she couldn't play catch, she didn't want anyone else to, either.  Here's a couple pictures taken of her that afternoon.

Molly's vet said her kidneys shut down on her.  We had that happen to the first Golden we had - years ago - too.  It is hard to have her gone, but she lived an incredible life.  She was healthy, happy, an athlete.  She was full of love, full of energy, never lacking for attention.  She  was slightly quirky, somewhat timid, always, always loving.  I miss her everyday.

I will leave you with a couple of my favorite pictures of my silly Molly. Here she is, resting on her pillow.  She could be a real lounge lizard, especially in her later years.

And, finally, a picture of the whole family, taken last Fall, shortly after Sophie came to live with us.  Sammy is on the left, Sophie in the middle, and Molly St. Valentine is on the right.  That's Shaun with all 3 of them.  He loved walking them together.

Thank you  for allowing the chance to share a few precious memories and to let my blogging friends know of my loss.  A big thank you to Julie K for her understanding, allowing me to deviate from the birthday theme today to pay my tribute to Molly.

I'm hosting a challenge this week at Crop Chocolate contest blog, Cocoa Creations.  The theme, in honor of Flag Day, is Red, White, and Blue.  Make a project of any sort using at least 2 of the 3 colors and link up with us.  You can win a bag of scrappy goodness (USA) or a gift certificate to an online retailer of your choice (Canada) for your creation. I will be submitting this project in the challenge.

Now, hop on off to Rebecca's blog and see what artistic goodness she has to inspire you with today.

I'm entering this in the following challenges:

Oozak's Challenge Blog -- Blues, Stars, and Stripes
Sister Act Card Challenge blog -- anything goes
D. L. Art Thankful Thursday Linky Party -- anything goes
Marker Pop -- Challenge #24, Loving You
CMC Copic Challenge Group -- Brunettes (Molly was a gorgeous brunette)
AUD Sentiments Challenge Blog -- Anything Goes

Best Day Ever!

I have a card on the 3 Girl JAM Challenge blog today. It's the final day of this challenge -- anything goes with ribbon.  So get going and link up!

I made this card and took it to my BFF's last week on our road trip.  I had every intention of leaving it when we left, signing it from the dogs. They love going to "Aunt Sheri's", as we refer to her.

 

 

As it turned out, it wasn't the best day ever and it didn't seem appropriate to leave this card.  More on that tomorrow.  This card will wait for a happier day to be delivered to my BFF.

 

I used a bubblegum pink cardstock for the base, then used a layer of black.  I used a Lifestyle Crafts circle die to cut a hole in the white wood grain cardstock on the front of the card, making a window.  I then used silver StazOn ink to stamp on the black layer, carefully aligning it where the window will  be when the front is attached. I stamped with Hero Arts neon inks, using Studio Calico banner stamps.  The "best day ever" sentiment is a Unity stamp.

 

The ribbon is, of course, 3 Girl JAM.  I used ribbon from the Celebrations bundle and the Wine & Jewels bundle.  They, and many more, can be found in the 3 Girl JAM store.  I wove them together across the front of the card, then tied them together in a double bow.

 

The heart sequins are from my stash.  I have no idea where they came from or how long I've had them.  I thought they added some nice color in with the neon inks and fit well with how I planned to use the card.

 

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

D.L. Art Thankful Thursday -- Anything Goes

Sister Act Card Challenge -- Anything Goes
AUD Sentiments Challenge Blog -- Anything Goes



Summer Time Fun -- with Whimsical Designs

Wednesday -- hump day -- and, since I've joined the Whimsical Designs team, new challenge day.  It's Whimsical Wednesday over on the Whimsical Designs blog.  You'll love all the inspiration there from my fellow DT sisters!

 This week, we're having some "Summer Time Fun".  Maybe it'll help our weather here!  We were barely out of the fifties all weekend, we've hit 70 once or twice, but that's as warm as we've gotten.  Hoping for some warmth to spread our way, I made this summer sun card:

I used 2 stamp sets on this card.  Everyday Sentiments has the "Let's Celebrate" sentiment, and I used the adorable delicate butterfly on Whimsical Fun - Volume 1 to add character to the background paper of the sun.

 

The sun shaped card is a cutting file from the Cutting Café.  I used a circle punch to add the scalloped looking border to the sun.  Papers are from Close To My Heart -- a retired paper line called Flirty.  The rhinestones are also from Close To My Heart.

 

Our sponsor for this week's challenge at Whimsical Wednesday is Fresh Brewed Designs. 

 The winner will receive 3 digis of their choice.  What are you waiting for? Summer goes fast enough!  Make something summery and link up with us!

 

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Sister Act Card Challenge -- anything goes

D.L. Art Thankful Thursday Linky Party -- anything goes
Paper Nest Dolls Challenge Blog -- Summer Love Challenge



I'm Always Up for a Challenge!

There's a new challenge starting today on the Get Inky! Challenge blog.  Click on over there to see if you were one of the winners of the Good golly glitter challenge and see all the other inspiration posted there today. Today starts the Masculine card challenge. Here's the project I have posted, with a few details of how I made it:

I used the Get Inky! Stamps set Joyful Jar Drinks and did a little masking to get the sentiment for this. I bent the rules just a little bit and, instead of making a masculine card, I made a masculine project -- a gift card holder.  It's a briefcase gift card holder, found here in the Silhouette Store.  It will fit a credit card sized gift card perfectly.  Here's another angle of it:

 

 

 

The butterfly is a leftover from a Silhouette card I cut out awhile back. I put some Cotton Candy Stickles on it to bling it up a bit. And the flower was a discard from another project. It's blinged up with Peacock Feathers distress ink and Turquoise Stickles.  Oops. Did you notice that it was missing in the first pic? Sammy ate one and I had to make another.  He's my dog, not my husband, in case you're wondering. He eats almost anything.  That would be both my dog and my husband. I used Echo Park 12x12 paper on this, and tied a little Trendy Twine on for the finishing touch.

 

That's it for me today.  Have a great week!

 

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp -- Masculine/Father's Day challenge

Reasonable Ribbon blog-- masculine with ribbon (or twine)

D.L. Art Thankful Thursday linky party -- anything goes

Crafty Creations -- one for the boys

Raisin Boat -- Challenge #11 -- Father's Day