Oh, Fudge...

My mom loves chocolate. She always has a stash of M&M's in her bedside table. Ask the grand kids, they know EXACTLY where it is! Mom always made fudge for the holidays, not the easy microwave kind... the kind you need a candy thermometer for. For some reason, I wasn't a fan until I got older. Maybe it was because she would put pecans in them and I didn't really like nuts in my sweet treats. I know, I was a weird kid like that!

I haven't seen one in years, but when I was a kid the ice cream truck would cruise the neighborhoods in the summer. We'd be playing in the yard and our ears would prick up when we heard the first tinkling of the music box recording of "Turkey in the Straw" coming from the big speakers on the top of the truck. Every kid in the neighborhood would run home to get money to buy ice cream!  We always wanted ice cream sandwiches, the double popsicle with two sticks,  or the ultimate BOMB pop! Mom would always tell us to get her a Fudgsicle...ewww...only grown ups ate stuff like that! We thought they were a terrible waste of ice cream money until my sister Steph managed to get a lick/bite of one. Those things were pretty GOOD! Mom would sometimes buy a box at the grocery store, probably thinking they were a private snack. They'd be gone in a few days and of course we had no idea what happened to them! They were the COOLEST!

The new theme challenge at Cupcake Inspirations is....Mother's Day!



This week's sponsor is Poppy Stamps and they are generously providing a $20 gift certificate to our randomly chosen winner!



In honor of my fudgsicle loving mom...I made this card 'cause she is the COOLEST!

I used a Club Scrap® collage stamp and die cut from waaaaaaay back to create the background! Comment below with the name of the kits and the year they were released and I'll choose a random winner for a little Mother's Day surprise!

[caption id="attachment_6480" align="aligncenter" width="1650"] Club Scrap® card stock and fiber from the May 2017 Adirondacks kit. Background image stamped with Club Scrap leaf ink.[/caption]

Don't you love the bite marks in the ice cream pop?! I just had to add a wobble mechanism to it...I bought a really big bag of them!

[caption id="attachment_6482" align="aligncenter" width="1125"] JFF Rubber Stamps Ice Cream Bar, Ice Pop and Sentiment Hearts Mini Cube. Images stamped with Versamark ink and heat embossed with copper or super fine white embossing powder. Images colored with Gansai Tambi Watercolors. Diamond and Yellow Stickles for sparkle.[/caption]

Click here to check out what the rest of the design team created and join the challenge! We love to see your artwork in our gallery!

Happy Mother's Day to all of the FANTASTIC mamas out there!



I link to sources for your convenience. Affiliate links used at no extra cost to you.

Challenges entered:

Club Scrap 05/17 Card Sketch Challenge



Club Scrap 05/17 NBUS Challenge - Snarks and Puns!

Crafty Cardmakers Add a Sentiment

Crazy 4 Challenges # 385 Shades of Green 

JFF Rubber Stamps May Card Challenge "A Mother's Love"

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Yo Mama, What's Up?!

She answers to many names...Martha, Grandma Judy called her "Mah-tha", she wanted to be called "Marty" when she was a kid (all of HER kids thought this was hilarious), Marth, Mom, Mama, Granny-mom, Granny, sugar/honey/baby...but the classic nickname, and my all time favorite, was "Maniac Martha". My brother and his friends coined this phrase when they were in high school. There are five kids in my family, three girls and two boys. My brother Jed is technically the middle child, though my sister Steph is the one that holds that title. After two teen-aged girls, I don't blame my mom for being a little CrAzY with the high school boys! Mom deserves a medal for putting up with all the high school and college shenanigans we dished out!

I made this card to pay homage my "wild and crazy" mama!

[caption id="attachment_6347" align="alignnone" width="758"] JFF Rubber Stamps Stamptangle Sunflower Montage, Club Scrap® card stock from the Delft kit.  Versamark ink and  Ranger Ink copper foil embossing powder, Diamond Stickles and Wobble mechanism.[/caption]

I stamped the JFF Rubber Stamps Stamptangle Sunflower Montage with Versamark ink and embossed with copper foil embossing powder. I fussy cut the pieces, reassembled and made a flower out of the word art I created in Photoshop Elements.

[caption id="attachment_6346" align="alignnone" width="692"] Word art created in Photoshop Elements using Latinia Black, Desereted, and Bringshoot fonts.[/caption]

Of course I had to add some Diamond Stickles for a little sparkle to the sentiment AND a wobble!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slh25JIsexY]

I love the dimension the wobble mechanism adds!

Come join us for the May Card Challenge at JFF Rubber Stamps and help us celebrate all the Mothers out there! Click here to link up your artwork!

P.S. Be sure to check out out JFF Rubber Stamps on Instagram  and the Just For Fun Rubber Stamps blog for daily inspiration from the design team!

Peace out and word to your Mother! ☺

Challenges entered:

PDE Linky Party Challenge #171 Anything Goes

Just Us Girls Challenge #392

All Sorts Challenge Week 414 Music

Tuesday Morning Sketches #401

Club Scrap NBUS Challenge MAY 2017 — SNARKS AND PUNS

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Note to Self: Don't Be too Busy!

Last Christmas my husband started the daunting task of transferring our VHS/Beta home movies to an external drive on our computer. Of course when you do things like that you get distracted and the task takes FOREVER...we still haven't finished it. BUT, we have all thoroughly enjoyed watching them while they are uploading! One of my favorites is a video we made of our boys (17 years ago!) on an average Sunday. My husband was filming, I was washing clothes and cleaning house, and the boys were running around being crazy. My almost two year old was running around naked and wearing only his big brother's cowboy boots because he was potty training. I would stop every little while and take him to the potty...my husband likes to capture "real life". At the time it was annoying, but those "real life" home movies are my favorites. I especially liked the clip where I filmed myself saying, "Future self, don't be too busy," then I panned to my boys all tucked in a twin bed together while my 7 year old read his little brother a book. Those are precious memories that I forgot we made and I'm so glad we have them. They are worth more than gold.

Today is the first day of the month and time for a new monthly challenge at JFF Rubber Stamps. The theme for the month of May is Mothers/Moms, of course!



I thought of my mom when making this card. She always had petunias in hanging baskets on our patio. I remember, I had to water them! The sentiment reminded me of my home movie, I love that quote. It reminds me to slow down and enjoy the moment.

[caption id="attachment_6247" align="aligncenter" width="635"] JFF Rubber Stamps Bunch of Petunias stamp image. Images colored with Derwent colored pencils and blended with gamsol. Club Scrap® card stock.[/caption]

I just have to share this...my mom used to sing "I'm a Lonely Little Petunia" when I was a little girl with ALL the sound effects! I need to learn to play it on the ukulele so that she can sing it for the grand kids, they would LOVE this!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-w5FcEWRQU]

Thanks for walking down memory lane with me, those were fun times!

Click here to see what the rest of the design team has to share and play along with us this month. You have plenty of time before Mother's Day to make a card AND enter the challenge for a chance to win a gift certificate to shop at jffstamps.com!

Do more of what makes you happy!



Challenges entered:

Sketch Saturday week #461 Pick ANY sketch 215-460 ( I chose sketch #228)



Time Out Challenge #82 Flowers with the optional twist of Kissing

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You Make Me a Happy Camper!

I snorted when I wrote that title! I'm not a fan of primitive camping (click here for the back story)...BUT I will do a "glamping" trip! I found this great post by Whit's Wilderness about a Texas tipi retreat. We have a girls' trip planned for the fall! Road Trip!

[caption id="attachment_6159" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Club Scrap® card stock from the Paradise collection. Fussy cut stamp images from the 2015 National Parks kit.[/caption]

Today starts a new color challenge at Cupcake Inspirations. Those spring colors are fabulous!



The sponsor for this week's challenge is Frantic Stamper and they are generously offering a Sponsor Prize:  Tropical Leaf card panel die! 



I used the Frantic Stamper Pop-Up card base die (scoring line with attached pop-up element) from the Pop Up Card Bases Precision Dies set for the inside of my card. Talk about making a pop up card a piece of cake!

[caption id="attachment_6160" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Club Scrap® card stock from the Paradise kit. JFF Rubber Stamps Round and Square camper stamp images. Sentiment stamp from the Club Scrap National Parks kit from 2015.[/caption]



Click here for more inspiration from the rest of the design team and link up your artwork! I can't wait to see what you do with the color theme this week!

Do more of what makes you happy!

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Yes, I Ride Like a Girl!

Sometimes it takes a swift kick in the a$$ to get moving.

I was a couch potato. I would come home from work, take a bath, put on pajamas and veg out on the couch til bedtime. I was getting the middle aged pudge, my muscles were aching and I was hobbling around like an old woman. WHAT THE?! My body was telling me to get off my a$$ and move. BUT, I loathe going to the gym. It's boring. I wanted to do something I enjoy, outside in the fresh air. I decided to buy a bike!

[caption id="attachment_6095" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Isn't that helmet CUTE?! I found it on bikepretty.com  After I had my first accident (without a helmet!) I bought a helmet and had to talk Sheri into getting one. This suited her to a "T"![/caption]

I loved riding my bike as a kid. I rode everywhere before I got a driver's license! Total FREEDOM! My best bud Sheri said she'd be my riding buddy and it was on! We ride every afternoon and have a fun day on Mondays. We have scoped out the bike trails in our area and have gone mountain biking or hiking on our Monday Funday!

[gallery ids="6069,6070,6073" type="slideshow"]

Yesterday we completed 4 weeks of daily riding and yoga on Tuesdays. Sheri's favorite saying is," We are getting so strong!" We are, we can feel it! I haven't lost a pound, but I can see muscles and I feel so much better. Yes, I ride like a girl, try to keep up!

I made this card to celebrate our small victories. "Acknowledge all of your small victories. They will eventually add up to something great!" ~Kara Goucher

[caption id="attachment_6089" align="aligncenter" width="3306"] I used the bicycle stamp from JFFRS and heat embossed with copper foil embossing powder. I found the quote online and printed on Club Scrap® cardstock using the recommended fonts for the April Cherry Blossoms kit...Charlotte and Desereted.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_6088" align="aligncenter" width="5184"] The bicycle basket is a stamp from the Club Scrap Succulents Jumbo Unmounted collection. It was a pot for plants! The cherry blossom stickers were embellishments in the Cherry Blossoms kit. I inked the edges with Concord Grape Distress ink.[/caption]

Stay tuned for more "Adventures with Wendy and Sheri" as we find new places to ride and hike around Louisiana! We're gonna be 50 and FABULOUS!!!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4If-N3z53A]

Do more of what makes you happy!



Challenges entered:

Club Scrap Cherry Blossoms Blog Hop and Linky Party

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Faith, Trust and a Little Bit of Pixie Dust

I loved the book Peter Pan. The Walt Disney movie version was my favorite, but Hook kinda grew on me! This scene is so sweet and just tugs on your heartstrings...

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU_eHbEiNrU]

Wendy was always my favorite character, of course! I think we all have the memories of that "in-between" stage... not quite an adult, but you want to be and not a little kid anymore, but secretly you still want to to be! It's hard to grow up! That's why a little pixie dust always helps when you're growing up, up and away.

This is my niece Ellie...she turned 15 last week! She's super special...not only did she make me an aunt for the first time, but I was in the delivery room when she was born!



She's beautiful, has a great sense of humor and has more confidence at 15 than I do at 48! I love this girl!

Today starts a new challenge at Cupcake Inspirations and the theme is Mythical.



I happened to have the perfect stamp images and made this card for Ellie Belle's birthday!

[caption id="attachment_5918" align="aligncenter" width="575"] Club Scrap® card stock from the April 2017 Cherry Blossoms collection. Stamp set from Club Scrap Retreat 2015 Enchanted Forest. Images stamped with Versamark ink and embossed with copper foil embossing powder. Diamond stickles for sparkle.[/caption]

I just love this Tinkerbell quote!



Diamond Stickles makes awesome pixie dust!



The sponsor for this week's challenge is The Greeting Farm and they are generously providing a $25 gift certificate to shop in their store! Click here to check out what the rest of the design team created, then go make a card to enter in the challenge!

Do more of what makes you happy!

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Finding Coffee

I love coffee. Can't do without it and will go to great lengths to find some if it isn't readily available. BUT, I am a coffee snob. I like it strong with cream and sugar AND some flair! A few years ago, when my sister was visiting, we decided to stop in and pay a late night visit to Lorna (her mother-in-law). Lorna is a FABULOUS hostess! She had her coffee service ready when we arrived (she was in robe and slippers!) and had REAL CREAM and sugar to boot! Good conversation and some rich coffee makes for a great ending to a fun night. I want to be more like her when I grow up... I wouldn't have answered the phone that late, let alone make coffee and entertain. She is a true "southern lady"! Seriously. She's from south Louisiana!



My card features the Finding Coffee free digi stamp from Stamplorations, who just happens to be the sponsor for Day 2 of the Cupcake Inspirations 400th Birthday Challenge.



They are generously providing a $20 gift certificate to their store, so be sure to make something and link up for a chance to win!

[gallery ids="5816,5815" type="rectangular"]

I printed the digi image on Spectrum Noir Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock 8.5x11-and colored with Spectrum Noir alcohol markers. The teacups are heat embossed with gold embossing powder and a coat of Crackle Accents. I rubbed Tea Stain Distress ink over it after it was dry. I rubbed the little black frame with Versamark ink and dusted with silver embossing powder and heat set. I wasn't sure it would work, but I love the effect!

 

[caption id="attachment_5814" align="aligncenter" width="2448"] Finding Coffee STAMPlorations digi image cut with CUTplorations Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies. Club Scrap® card stock and sentiment.[/caption]

[gallery ids="5792,5885" type="rectangular"]

Check out what the rest of the design team has to share today and play along during our Celebration! Be sure to display BOTH the 400th challenge inspiration AND combine a birthday theme project with a past Cupcake Inspiration Challenge. Past challenges can be found on the CIC Pinterest Board as well as on the Cupcake Inspirations blog. Pick one and make a card!

Do more of what makes you happy!



Other challenges entered:

CYCI #151 Sketch by Eva



STAMPlorations Never Ending Anything Goes Challenge! 

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Up, Up and Away!

Today is the 400th Cupcakes Inspiration Challenge and we have a challenge with a twist...we invite participants to combine a birthday theme project with a past Cupcake Inspiration Challenge. Past challenges can be found on the CIC Pinterest Board as well as on the Cupcake Inspirations blog.

Each day this week we will spotlight one of our sponsors, have plenty of design team inspiration and lots of prizes! Click here for details and to link up your artwork!
My card for today features Newton Dreams of Paris stamp and die set from Newton's Nook Designs. I made a slider card using Lawn Fawn's Slide on Over and Stitched Hillside Borders dies.

[caption id="attachment_5770" align="aligncenter" width="2629"] Club Scrap® card stock and sentiment. Images colored with Spectrum Noir alcohol markers and Diamond Stickles for sparkle.[/caption]



[wpvideo WHbyBCzf]

I chose CIC 266 for my card today, along with the CIC 400 Happy Birthday Challenge. I LOVE the pink and green color combo, so very springtime!

[gallery ids="5792,5788" type="rectangular"]

Check out what the rest of the design team has to share and play along during our Celebration! Be sure to display BOTH the 400th challenge inspiration AND a past CIC inspiration on your post, so we can see how you combined the challenges.

Do more of what makes you happy!



 

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