Hambo Hoedown: Caterpillar in Pinks and Greens

Welcome! Our challenge at the Hoedown this week is to make a spring card in shades of hot pink and green, using this well-shod caterpillar from Hambo Stamps. I colored the digi with Marvy LePlume markers and added tiny specks of pink Stickles here and there. You can join the Hoedown at www.hambochallenges.blogspot.com! I hope you like the "Race Ya!" sentiment I made. It seemed perfect for a caterpillar in running shoes and shoes and shoes!
See you soon!

K-9 card starring Ciara + a supergirl from Melonheadz

It's a rainy Thursday, perfect for cardmaking! I love Sandy's digi of her dog and OWH mascot Ciara happily looking out of a car window! My favorite thing is the touch of Glossy Accents I put on her nose (if you can see it)! Doesn't every healthy doggy have a nice wet nose?
I also made two birthday cards for little girls out of a cute digi by Nikki at Melonheadz Illustration! Nikki is so generous to create her beautiful free digis!

I colored Ciara with Prismacolor pencils and the supergirls with Marvy LePlume markers. The "You're Out of this World" sentiment is from Rubber Soul.
Thanks for stopping by! I love company and comments!

OWH Sketch 62 Frantoonie birthday card!

OWH is having a special sketch challenge in honor of a special birthday (our OWH president), with not one but three sketches. Also, artist Fran S. donated several of her cute "Frantoonie" digis. I used this cute kitty and colored it with Marvy LePlume markers.
Thanks for stopping by!

Hambo Hoedown Coffee Girl Challenge

The challenge over at Hambo Stamps this week is to use the Coffee Girl digi (which they sent for free to everyone who danced in the Hoedown last week) and to use the sketch provided at www.hambochallenges.blogspot.com.

Going with the coffee theme, I decided to print the digi on Kraft paper. I cut her out and pieced a little PP dress on her from a Heidi Grace pad. It looks like a sundress to me so I continued with the pinks & limes. I tried something new (I was really in the coffee spirit!) and made a pleated ruffle from a coffee filter! I think it turned out cute.
Thanks for stopping by!

Mother's Day cards

I've been working on Mother's Day cards and need to get a box in the mail asap to Operation Write Home. The deadline for Mother's Day cards is 3/31. In the first photo, the image is from Digital Two for Tuesday; I love the vintage images posted there. The photo in the background is of my dear Mom, who would have been 103 this year!
In the second photo, I am pretty sure I got the chair stamp from StampersBest. The sentiment and Victorian crochet trim are from Stampin' Up.
Thanks for stopping by!

OWH Sketch Challenge 61 and VCMP catch-up!

This card is serving double duty: it's for the OWH Sketch this week and for a challenge during the OWH Virtual Card Making Party last Saturday. I just realized I didn't see the sketch correctly; I left off the outside border and just used the "inside" part of the sketch. Oops!
I used the cute bear soldier digi donated by the very talented Nikki of www.melonheadzillustrating.blogspot.com, as well as a double-sided sheet of My Mind's Eye "29th Street Market" paper from Michael's. I also got the ribbon there yesterday, and I hope it looks like camo!
I colored the bear soldier with Marvy Markers and topped it off with Paula's great "Miss U" digi sentiment that she donated to OWH!
So I'm getting caught up on the challenges from our OWH party. It was a lot of fun!
Thanks for stopping by; I love company!

Hambo Sparkly Challenge: Party Elephant!

Hi! This week's challenge over at www.hambochallenges.blogspot.com is to create a card using this cute party elephant digi and to add SPARKLE! I've never used Stickles before; that was fun. I colored the little elephant with Marvy LePlume markers. Notice the Stickle "toenail polish"!
You probably recognize Cuttlebug's Spots and Dots embossing folder, and the border punch is by Fiskars. The rubber stamp sentiment is called Birthday Circle but I don't see a company name on it.
It was fun to SPARKLE this card up with Stickles and rhinestones! That little elephant is ready to par-tay!
Thanks for visiting!

OWH Virtual Card Party on Facebook

OWH Sketch #60

In the process of moving my craft stuff from the basement (my son moved home temporarily) everything has been chaos, but I'm back to my original crafting spot in my dining room. In the process, I found this small butcher block paper pad with a lot of punch-outs and it spoke to me re Sketch #60. I wonder if I should have listened, haha? The paper pad called "Butcher Block 8x8 Block Tablet) and it's from "Deja Views". Never heard of it. I love kraft paper but I thought a card for Mom should have a bit of color, so I added the touches of yellow.
Thanks for stopping by! I love company!

Hambo Hoedown St. Pat Hamster - Gold Challenge

Erin go bragh! I'm Irish to the core so this was an especially fun challenge for me. The St. Pat's Hamster/leprechaun has a big pot o' gold so naturally I had to put a rainbow in the design! I colored with Prismacolor pencils, a gold gel ink pen, and Glossy Accents. The lace is Stampin' Up's Victoria crochet trim. Gold brads from JoAnn's. Rainbow photo is a public domain image. I created the sentiment in Word. The DP is "Day Dream Believer: Clover" a Heidi Grace Shimmer Foil Paper.
I wish everybody a Happy St. Patty's Day and beautiful rainbows!

Polka Dots! Midweek throwdown at Operation Write Home

I had fun trying something different with this card. I didn't have any polka dot paper that inspired me and I didn't want to make a run to the craft store, so I used digital scrapbooking paper for the first time. I downloaded this free paper from www.shabbyprincess.com. I probably used a lot of printer ink, but I think it looks pretty darn good! The colors are brighter than they look in the photo; it's a dark rainy day here. The pretty digi image is "Teapot Cheer" from Designed to Delight. I colored it with a combination of Marvy LePlume markers and Prismacolor pencils, with a touch of Glossy Accents on the green cherries. Green cherries?? There is such a thing isn't there? But I like them. The polka dot ribbon is Celebrate It Basic-Basic from Michael's. I stamped Happy Mother's Day on the inside.
Thanks for stopping by!

Blog candy winner!

Brittany at http://yesterdaysechoscrapbooks.blogspot.com is the winner of my blog candy from the OWH Bunny Hop! Congratulations, Brittany! Brittany will receive a copy of my children's book and a little bag of crafting supplies.
So many people expressed interested in my children's book and I wanted to remind you that it's available at Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and booksamillion.com. Sometimes they offer reduced price copies through their other sellers.
Book title: Card Auntie's Wonderful Workshop
Written and Illustrated by Sharon Hickey
Mirror Publishing 2010

Thanks for all the many wonderful comments left at my blog during the Bunny Hop! If you do read my book with the little ones in your family, I'd love to know how they/you like it!
Sherry Hickey

Yolanda's Gnome: OWH Sketch Challenge #59

Yolanda drew this wonderful digi for the OWH Bunny Hop! I love it. The papers are from The Green Stack by DCWV and I think they are perfect for this little woodland gnome. I colored him with Marvy LePlume markers.
Be sure to stop back later as I will announce the winner of my blog candy from the Bunny Hop!

Operation Write Home Bunny Hop Bloghop!

Hello! I'm Sherry Hickey, I live in Arlington, Virginia, and I'm happy to welcome you to my blog, Bits of Cheer! Isn't it a great day for the OWH Bunny Hop? You arrived here from Sherrie's Impressionable Arts blog; if you're just visiting or want to start over, go to www.owhstarsand stamps.org.
My photos may not be in the order I wanted them to be; I haven't figured out how to do that yet, lol.
I made two cards for today. I love the little bear with her Easter bonnet! I've had the digi for quite awhile and I'm not sure where I got it; there is a tiny signature on the digi that looks like "Dell". If anyone recognizes it, let me know. I colored the digi with Prismacolor pencils. I picked up the "Happy Easter" rubber stamp in the $1 bin at Michael's. I really like the banner.
My "Think Spring" card is made with Bo Bunny and K&Co. papers. The butterfly is a rubber stamp called "Wonderland Butterfly" by Memory Box.
I hope you'll scroll down on my blog and check out other cards I've made for OWH. I started making cards in June 2010.
OWH has a great website; Sandy, OWH president, and her team keep the website current and full of news and challenges. One of my favorites at the website is the Resources page, which has an archive of all the OWH sketches and tutorials. I quickly learned when I started making cards that I need a sketch to guide me, so I often refer to the OWH Resources page. Here is a link: http://www.operationwritehome.org/resources.html.
Just a reminder of important deadlines for OWH cardmakers. Easter cards are due at your shippers by March 18; Mother's Day cards are due by March 31!
Blog Candy alert, woo hoo! I'll draw one random winner from comments left at my blog during the hop. I'm giving away a signed copy of my children's book, "Card Auntie's Wonderful Workshop", which I wrote and illustrated. It's the story of a cardmaker! I'm also giving away a little grab bag of crafty goodies. Be sure to leave me your email address so I can contact you; in order to protect you from spammers, type your email address this way: my name at aol dot com.
I hope you sign on to Follow my blog so we can keep in touch! Have fun today as you let your fingers do the hopping! Three cheers for Operation Write Home and our heroes!
From here you go to Jen's blog at http://jencuthbertson.blogspot.com.

OWH Midweek throwdown: Mother's Day card

This image was at Digital Two for Tuesday awhile ago, last fall I think. I'm glad to finally use it for Mother's Day. The papers are from DCWV's The Luxury Stack; they remind me of old-fashioned wallpaper. The lace trim is from SU.
Thanks for stopping by!

Hambo Hoedown Challenge #5

March came in like a lion and so did Hambo Hoedown Challenge #5! The challenge is to make a masculine card with this lion digi (or another Hambo digi) and include stripes in the design. The papers I used are from Stampin' Up and I colored with Prismacolor pencils. I paper pieced the lion's shirt so it would look like a guy's Hawaiian shirt. I like the contrast between this cool, chillin' lion holding a cold one and the dapper pinstripes! If you'd like to find out more about the Hoedown and play along, go to hambochallenges.blogspot.com. Hambo gives players a free digi for the following week's challenge!
Thanks for stopping by!