Beach Baby: Sweet Sketch Wednesday!

Beach Baby, Beach Baby,
There on the sand,
From July to the end of September -er -er . . .

Ahhh, there's nothing like some Beach Boys tunes to get me in the mood for summer! I can almost smell the tropical coconut sunscreen on the salty sea air. Oh how I wish I could just be a beach baby, lounging on the sand all summer long . . . {snaps back to reality} . . .

But I can't, so in honor of the Busy Beauties Boutique sponsoring this week’s challenge over at Sweet Sketch Wednesday, I created a beach baby card using this week's fun sketch by SSW DT member Arlana!


I just *love* the pose of the Beach Blanket Beauty digi from Busy Beauties and the fact that she is womanly and not rail thin (probably because *I’m* womanly and not rail thin!). I thought the sweet prints and colors of this Making Memories paper were cute departures from the watery blues I had planned to use. I added some sparkle to her wrap and earring with a clear Sakura pen, then popped on a few Primas, strips of ribbon, and some blingety-bling to finish it off.

I think you’ll have fun creating with this sketch and hope you’ll play along in the challenge. Of course, we’d love for you to feature a Busy Beauties image, but you may use any image your little heart desires.

And, you still have plenty of time to enter the Go Green with a Twist Challenge over at the Busy Beauties Creation Station. In honor of Earth Day, we're challenging everyone to create something “green” featuring elements that might otherwise end up in the trash: used gift wrap, orphaned earrings, candy wrappers ... you get the idea. You'll want to get crafty and upload your creation before 11:59 PM on May 5, because up for grabs is a $15 gift voucher for Busy Beauties Boutique!

I can't believe we're saying good-bye to another month already! I’ve had a lot of fun as the Busy Beauties Boutique April Guest Designer and hope you’ve enjoyed my BBB creations. {Big thanks} and {many hugs} to Carolyn and her Bevy of Beauties for making me feel so welcomed and at home! Ooooo, I can’t wait to find out who the Guest Designer for May is . . . hmm, maybe it’s you!

Thanks for stopping by and have a stamptacular day!

DETAILS:
Image: Busy Beauties Boutique “Beach Blanket Beauty”
Ink: Momento
Cardstock: Stampin Up!
Patterned Paper: Making Memories “Emma”
Copics: 0,B21,C4,E00,E000,E321,G40,R22,RV000,V17,Y11,Y21,Y26
Embellies: Primas, Kaiser rhinestones, SU Hodgepodge Hardware & rhinestone brads, assorted ribbon scraps, Sakura Stardust and White pens.

Busy Beauties: Welcoming Spring with a Twist & Shout

We’ve got a “SPRING” in our step today and NEW Busy Beauties Boutique images in our hands, and we're delighted to have you along for the hop! I'm the second stop along the way, so if you are just starting out here, please be sure to hop back to Carolyn’s blog so you don’t miss any of the fun!

We hope you’ll join us for a TWIST & a SHOUT! The “TWIST” being our new GO GREEN WITH A TWIST Challenge (in honor of Earth Day) at the Busy Beauties Creation Station! And the “SHOUT” being a RELEASE PARTY over on Paper Craft Planet this SATURDAY AT 8 P.M. EDT. We'll bring the Party Favors! *wink, wink*

But for now, on to the hop!

There are so many adorable and fun images with this release, and it was really hard to decide which one to use. But I always kept going back to this sweet image called Friendly Hello, because this sweet couple reminds me of the Eastern bluebirds that visit our yard every year. They are always in pairs - Mr. & Mrs Bluebird - and usually Mr. is on lookout as Mrs. grazes on some tasty treat.


I really wanted the super-cute image to take center stage, so I made the card pretty simple. I chose the patterned papers for their soft spring colors, and just added some ribbon and a glittered chipboard flower. And there ya go!

Your next hop stop is Annita's blog and I just *know* she has something special waiting for you! Thanks for bopping & hopping with us, and we hope to see you for the TWIST and SHOUT!
Hope you have a stamptacular day!

DETAILS
Image: Busy Beauties Boutique "Friendly Hello"
Sentiment: Stampin Up! "Lots of Thoughts"
Cardstock and Designer Paper: Stampin Up!
Copics: B21,C1,C7,E00,E000,E11,E25,G40,R20,R22,RV000,Y11,Y21,Y23,Y26
Embellies: Petaloo glittered chipboard flower, rhinestone, ribbon

Chester Says "Meow!"

Once again I find myself wondering, where are the days going? I can't believe April is half over! I have a super-quick post today as I seem to be running around late, late, late! Hmm, perhaps I should have featured a card with White Rabbit? Oh well, I guess I'd rather be busy than bored!

My card today features another Alice-inspired image from Busy Beauties Boutique called Chester Cheshire.



There's really not too much going on with this card other than some layers of Granola paper from BasicGrey in nature-inspired blues, browns, and creams (thanks Mary!) and a little sparkle.

I painted the chipboard flourish with acrylic paint called Nutmeg, and while it was wet, I sprinkled on some Brownstone glitter from Martha Stewart. A layered flower and some blue rhinestone bling finish it off. Meow!

And just a reminder that there’s still time to play the Alice Challenge at the Busy Beauties Creation Station blog. You have until April 21 to enter, then get ready for our new challenge and blog hop on April 22! You'll find lots of inspiration from the DT, and there will be prizes, of course!

Thanks for stopping by and have a stamptacular day!

DETAILS
Image: Busy Beauties Boutique "Chester Cheshire"
Sentiment: Stampin Up "Cool Cat"
Cardstock: Stampin Up, Michael's
Paper: BasicGrey "Granola"
Copics: B91,B95,B97,E25,E31,E35,R20,W3,Y13,YG03,YR18,YR23
Embellies: Kaiser rhinestones, MS glitter, Plaid acrylic paint, chipboard flourish, Primas, other flowers, brad

ALL ABOARD (woo! wooooo!) for a New Busy Beauties Adventure!

WELCOME! Today is a very BIG day for Busy Beauties, and I am beyond excited to be along for the ride as the Busy Beauties April Guest Designer! Yippee!! We hope you’ll join us on a fabulous journey as we travel through Wonderland with fabulous new ALICE INSPIRED IMAGES at the Busy Beauties Boutique! Our final destination is our BRAND NEW BLOG: The Busy Beauties Creation Station!!!!! The adventure begins at Catherine’s blog, so if you didn't start there, be sure to go back to see her amazing creation!

When I saw the new Alice-inspired images, I just knew I would use The Mad Scrapper ... in honor of Carolyn, of course! Oh my gosh, don't you just love her hat full of crafty stuff? I cut out a separate set of "tools", colored them, made a slit in the hat, and tucked them in so they appear as if they really are in her hat. I also cut out the hat trim and the little bows on her dress. (sorry for the blurry close-up. I had to use DD's camera.) The paper is from the BasicGrey Origins pack that I won last month for the BBB Green Challenge. It's so outside my normal color range but I love it! I jazzed up her corset & bow with some tiny amber rhinestones, and mirrored those with some big honkin' rhinestones in the corners. And that gorgeous sheer gold-edged ribbon was salvaged from a gift bag - yay for recycling!

As always, we have HOP PRIZES! There will be 3 winners chosen from the comments left on certain DT blogs, but it's a secret which blogs we'll draw from! The prize for these winners is their choice of 1 Free BBB Image! So be sure to leave some love all along the way! Blog Hop Winners will be announced Sunday night on the Creation Station blog. And there is a prize package for the randomly selected winner of our Inaugural Challenge, so be sure to check that out at the end of the hop!

Your next stop is Rachel's blog! Enjoy the ride, and when you finally arrive at the Creation Station, you’ll see our Inaugural Challenge is posted and waiting for you!

Thanks for "hopping" by!

DETAILS
Image: Busy Beauties Boutique "The Mad Scrapper"
Cardstock: Stampin Up
Paper: BasicGrey "Origins"
Copics: B97,C2,C4,E00,E000,E47,G40,G99,R20,R22,Y21,YG03,YR18,YR23
Embellies: Flat-back rhinestones, ribbon

Feelin' Lucky? Busy Beauties Go Green Challenge

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! Are ya feelin' lucky?

Everybody's Irish on St. Patty's Day, including this Bubbly Beauty featured on my card for the Busy Beauties Boutique Go Green Challenge! You have until midnight tonight to link up your card, so why not play along?

I actually designed this to give to my hubby on our anniversary in May, so my real challenge will be to remember where I hid it when the day comes! LOL! Speaking of hiding, I wanted to hide the Bubbly Beauty in a teasing sort of way, so I used the criss-cross fold and added a piece of scallop-punched vellum to the inside of one of the folded panels. Click on the close-up and I you can see the silhouette of the image behind the vellum. Slightly sexy, yes?

I was happy to see that the cute paper from Kaisercraft I bought for the large owl image featured faint scattered hearts and shamrocks in the background and tiny hearts on the flip side. Sweet! The sentiment is freehand on gold vellum and attached to a glittered-up scalloped Nestie, and I added some gold rhinestone bling to the top of the inside scallop for contrast.

To hold the card closed, I altered a small chipboard buckle and threaded some soft gold satin ribbon through it, and there ya go!

Thanks for visiting! Here's to a totally lucky stamptacular day!