First up:  “O little tree, how sweet and stripey you are!  Perfect for so many things!  Even Christmas!   Today…you are a sweet little girl tree”

  This sweet tree has the most lovely small circles around it’s base to tempt mini rhinestones or fun coloring options!  Since this is a girlie tree, it needed rhinestones, don’t you think?

 SO many sweet little sentiments in this set…they can be used alone or put somewhere special, but you will see that tomorrow

 Some pretty glitter on Scor-Tape to bring some more prettiness!

 Sweet little tree!

The next image up is the little house Nichole previewed yesterday!

 A sweet combination of sentiments to make an all-occasion happy card!

 Cutting the roof panel and putting it up on a dimensional gives a lift to this sweet house!

 and those hearts coming out of the chimney!  A sweet little stamp that can be used for so many applications!

 I {heart} trees!  This little card is perfect for giving some cash!  You know, money does grow on trees!  Fun to color in those little circles at the base of the tree!  Finish it off with some mini rhinestones, and I can see Christmas a comin’!

 What about the man in your life?  This tree and hill are SO MUCH FUN!  It is whimsical, but when kept in a mono-chromatic color and stamped on real wood, this image transforms itself into a gift worth giving to your husband. 

 Just some dark chocolate ink and dark chocolate satin ribbon to make it complete!  Easy as pie!

 and the “Happy Anniversary” sentiment, perfect for that special day

 You didn’t think this set would get out of my computer without a music note, did you?  Keeping with the masculine theme, this stiched card is again just colored a bit in all of the right places.  So fast, so fun!

 and the sweet little bird with the word!  “Happy Birthday” sung straight to the recipient!

I hope you liked the sneeks today!!  Wait unti tomorrow!!!  I will unveil TONS more exciting images in FABULOUS colors!  Wait til you see!  OH WHAT JOY!

Make sure you go and see what the other girls have done with their sets

It’s a Girl Card:

Stamps: Wonderfully Whimsical (Due out on the 15th)

Paper: Kraft, White, Sweet Blush

Ink: Palette Noir, Dark Chocolate, Ocean Tides, Hibiscus Burst, Summer Sunrise

Other: Scor-Tape, Martha Stewart Glitters, 1/2 inch circle punch, 3/4 inch circle punch, copics

Happy Happy Day Card:

Stamps: Wonderfully Whimsical

Paper: White, Ocean Tides, Cosmo Cricket

Ink: Palette Noir

Ribbon: Ocean Tides Grosgrain

Button: Vintage Button: Summer Sunrise

Other: Copic markers

I {heart} trees Card:

Stamps: Wonderfully Whimsical

Paper: New Leaf, Berry Sorbet, White

Ink: Palette Noir

Other: Copic Markers

Happy Anniversary Wood Tag:

Stamps: Wonderfully Whimsical

Paper: Wood Tag (Ellen Hutson)

Ink: Dark Chocolate

Ribbon: Dark Chocolate Satin

Happy Birthday Card:

Stamps: Wonderfully Whimsical

Paper: Rustic Cream, Dark Chocolate, Kraft, Turning a new Leaf patterned paper

Ink: Dark Chocolate, Ripe Avocado

Other: Copics Dark Chocolate stiched grosgrain ribbon, Dark chocolate vintage button

Karen:  Karen got our top spot of the week!  Well, what can I say?  When you mimic the ceiling so beautifully, and the sweet squared jewels and ruffled ribbon give such a lift to this card, it is so hard to pass up!  Beautiful job, Karen!  See her amazing take on the inspiration photo HERE

Beth:  Beth created this absolutely STUNNING card HERE and instantly captured my heart with her sublime use of pearls to hint at the chandelier suggested in the inspiration photo.  Remember, these colors can be incorporated or as jumping off spots.  There are no hard and fast rules on color, especially if you don’t have them, but I just love how well the cool colors of the blue and grey work with the soft caramels of the tea toned journaling card and butterflies!  Who knew the warms and cools could come together so nicely?  Beautiful.

Suzanne:  Suzanne was the last one to submit her card found HERE, but certainly it took my breath away when I saw it.  I love everything about it!  The checks, the ribbon application, the tiny bow.  SIMPLY WONDEFRFUL!  I hope Melissa Bickford get to see what you have done with her set.  Amazing work, Suzanne!

I will be back next week with a new challenge!  I have been working toward my first release countdown this week, so I really need time to devote to that.  So give yourselves a break, enjoy my countdown posts this coming week, and we will all have fun and be back on Tuesday for another challenge!  GORGEOUS work this week, friends!

Since my release week is upon me, and I got my set on Saturday (at midnight when I got home,) I have decided to announce the Compose a Card winners at midnight tonight, but hold off one more week so I have time to work with my set.  So Compose a Card will be back next week!  I will try to get  a badge for the challenge and a badge to bestow upon the winners to display on their blogs if they wish!  My hope is that I can get that done within the next week or two   But for now…a fun card!  With happy spring colors!

 YUM!  Fresh Snow ink on Lemon Tart cardstock!

Have a FABULOUS day, and think of me as I create with abandon this week!!!!  YAY!

Stamps: Green Thumb, Text Style, Polka Dot Basics II

Paper: Pure Poppy, Lemon Tart, Spring Moss

Ink: Fresh Snow, Ripe Avocado

Other: Pure Poppy Grosgrain Fiskars Scalloped border punch

The sneak peek is out, and here it is:

Are you excited yet?  I think the next week will bring lots of sentences like “I can’t stand how cute this is” and “Look at how sweet these  images are” from me.  This is the week of debuts for me!  I JUST got back late last night from singing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC with Antioch.  I HAD SO MUCH FUN!  I let it all loose and had a good time.  You know, the audience LOVED it!  The entire program was in Italian.  We did a commissioned piece from New York Composer Bruce Adolphe, commissioned by the Strozzi Palace in Florence Italy to go along with the Bronzino exhibit in the museum which they are featuring.  We also did a lot of Italian madrigals in the second half by a lot of composers.  Monteverdi, Rore, and Gastoldi to name a few.  I am glad I let go and really enjoyed myself, because even the composer’s wife was kind enough to come up to me and mention how she loved watching me, because I really looked like I was enjoying myself, and knew all of the emotions I wanted to get across.  I was so happy about that and about how we all sounded as an ensemble.  This is a special group, I tell you.  SO exciting, all of these debuts!  I will bring you a card in the morning, but please let me know what you think of the sneak peek!  I am SO excited!!!!!!

Another DIFFICULT decision this week.  What an amazing group of IDEAS!  LOVED the aprons, RIBBON CARD, Myriad ways of approaching polka dots!  What a JOY you all are.  Thanks for playing!  Isn’t the new link system cool?  I hope it has been bringing more love hits to your blogs too.  It is really nice to see them all together at once!  Here were my choices for TOP 3 this week!

Dana:   Dana made a huge impression on me with this completely clean, well-balanced card.  I loved the black floss, and scalloped frame she chose.  Just beautiful!  You can see her card HERE

Julie:  Julie had a VERY fun time, I could tell!  With the sweet thermometer, and the stitching in the sentiment, this card was begging for some top 3 time!  I like how she did the button coming in from the side like that,  as well as the sweet scalloped border on the side of the card!  How fun!  You can see Julie’s card HERE

Cheryl:  Cheryl was UBER creative and really WOWED me with this amazing use of punched polka dots!  This was genius!  I have to try this!  It would have been simple to keep all the dots the same size and color, but Cheryl just jumped in with two feet!  Amazing!  You can see Cheryl’s card HERE

Well..time to start this week’s challenge!  I have a vimeo video for you too!  I may move my home here rather than You Tube, but you may want to still subscribe to my You Tube as well, just in case!  They seem to be having issues with some of the music to go with my videos due to copyright, which I completely understand, and I certainly don’t want to break the law.  I am just having fun  Being a musician, I am very sensitive to those things as well.   May have to think about more public domain music…but even still sometimes that is an issue with record companies who feature certain artists performing them.  We shall see.  But this is today, and I have a wonderful video for you!  I love this song!
                                

                                   Compose a Card with Becky from Becky Oehlers on Vimeo.

Here is the PDF file for this challenge which includes the recipe, inspiration, pictures of the card and the challenge number for you to print out and keep for your records!

Compose a Card Library Vol1 number 6
Please upload your creations for this new challenge below in the inlinkz spot, and we can all see the lovely thumbnail of your work! 

Stamps: Giga Guide Lines, Mega Mixed Messages

Paper: Enchanted Evening, Soft Stone

Ink: Enchanted Evening, Versamark

Other: Filagree White Embossing Powder, Enchanted Evening Vintage Button, Enchanted Evening Satin Ribbon

Here are your random numbers:

26

Timestamp: 2010-03-01 06:56:25 UTC

The winner is number 26!

I am sitting here thinking of you all!  This is a card I made using the same colors for the challenge this week, but by adding the Scarlet Jewel in with the Pure Poppy, it is really amazing at how different it looks!  The darker Scarlet Jewel grounds the Pure Poppy.  It also just takes a little of all of this red to make a statement.  Just fun!

So…who would like a little giveaway??  I am lucky to have had many cards published in the last months, as well as a sweet card published in the new March/ April edition of Paper Crafts Magazine  

This issue I have comes with a Top 20 Tips, Tool and Techniques DVD for you as well!

Just leave a comment on my blog before Sunday night at 8pm , and one lucky winner will receive this issue/DVD as well as the card I have featured in the magazine here:

So I would love to hear from you!  A little note…that is all.  So I am headed up to rehearsal.  A two hour trip in the snow.  I am spending the night, that I am thankful for, so no worries about coming home late in bad weather. Right Mom?   Hopefully I will be able to have a video for next week’s challenge.  I have heard nothing from the Flip people, so I will try and work it out as best as I can.  We will still have a song though.    I am also thinking about putting up the photography tips sometime next week, so stay tuned!  All I can really tell you is what I do, and a little bit about how your camera works, which with all of those things, may help you out a lot.  Well…I am off to practice some more!  Hope you enjoyed the week of Red and White!

Stamps: On My Couch, Fancy Flourishes

Paper: Aqua Mist, Pure Poppy, Scarlet Jewel

Ink: Scarlet Jewel, Fresh Snow

Other: Vintage Buttons- Scarlet Jewel, Fiskars border punch

Oh I like you sweet little card with a glittery “u” and a cheery fresh snow inked up little sassy heart.  I love you little notebook punched piece of Cosmo Cricket paper.  I love that you are not a “Lovey Dovey” card, but a “Luv ya like you are a really cool friend that rocks” card.  Yeah.  I just “Love ya.”

So…what is happening with you all today?  I am going to be getting ready for not only more snow, but more rehearsing, which I am scared about the snow/driving to the rehearsal combo.  My friend who is a bass is taking me.  I sure do hope it isn’t going to be more than 12 inches.  I have to admit that I like the snow, but not when it mixes with long-distance rehearsals. 

Still waiting to hear on any news about Emma’s audition for Willy Wonka.  She sang a good audition (I only know because I played piano for her,) and she put down that she wanted Veruca Salt or Charlie.   I think she will find out if she got anything or if she is an oompa loompa…which secretly, I think would be pretty cool…I mean…just for the costume itself!  Sophie is back working hard at her oboe.  She has been learning about “girls health” at school and came back today COMPLETELY mortified.  She was so embarassed and giggly.   She said the boys almost walked in when they were showing a picture of a woman’s body.  All the girls screamed.  Oh, the drama.  It is quite funny how much she shares, while Emma never said a WORD about any of the health classes.  That pretty much goes with their personalities.   All of the giggles came home today with Sophie.  Good thing John was out bowling with students on the bowling team today.  Poor guy probably couldn’t handle all of the estrogen today. 

Did I just share WAY too much?  Well…it was funny at least.  OK…more red and white tomorrow!  Don’t forget to try and play in the challenge this week!  There are some fun entries already for you to look at in the new thumbnail links below!

Stamps:  Heart Prints, Signature Greetings

Paper: Vintage Cream, Pure Poppy, Cosmo Cricket

Ink: Fresh Snow

Other: Chipboard U, EK Success Large Heart Punch

Some more red and white goodness for you today!  I have been playing a lot with fresh snow ink on pure poppy cardstock, and loving the outcome.  The flowers and leaves from Blooming Button Bits are stamped in the fresh snow ink.   This is a fun little layout for a 4×4 card.  Quite simple really.   Just some  Simple Valentine  patterned paper with a Pure Poppy mat on white cardstock stamped at the bottom with the Thank You sentiment from Say it with Style.  I used my sewing machine to pierce holes in the middle of the leaves.  I also used Scarlet Jewel buttons instead of Pure Poppy ones.  I really loved how they stood out against the Pure Poppy cardstock.  Just a couple of shades darker made a huge difference.  Hope you like this card.  I {heart} it

Stamps: Blooming Button Bits, Say it with Style

Paper: Stamper’s Select, Pure Poppy, Ripe Avocado, Simple Valentine patterned paper

Ink: Fresh Snow, Pure Poppy

Other: Scarlet Jewel Buttons, EK Success embossed scallop border punch

Hello all!  A few..well, a LOT of mishaps in technology happened to me this week.  A big computer virus, which was fixed in time for me to post this, and a video for this challenge that was never-to-be.  Unfortunately, my Flip sort of died, and is in tech rehab this week.  Not after I actually MADE the video for this challenge though and then it disappearing on me!  Wondering what else could go wrong.  So bear with me, but I still have a great song, and that is what it is all about anyway, right?  (Just agree and shake your head up and down to make me feel better   )

So on to happier things…THE TOP THREE FOR THIS WEEK!  Wonderful, amazing, stunning samples.  This is the most play we have gotten yet on this challenge, and I guess you all like the colors, no?  If you didn’t have the colors, you all substituted beautifully too!  More than I was impressed with the cards while visiting, was the fact that so many of you visited each other and left amazing comments for one another.  Don’t comments rock?  It keeps you motivated and loving life!  The encouragement was wonderful to behold.  You are amazing.

Number 1 spot goes to: Jen Rzasa -  Well…What can I say?  I was left staring at this for quite a while before reading how she did this baby!  You have to go to her blog and find out, and not to mention…the inside of the card as well!  Also…that ribbon is NOT two-toned, but it looks that way because of the reversed color sketch!  Pretty cool!  The black is showing through the one side making the ribbon look two-toned.  I also loved the way she reversed the sketch, which I noticed some others of you doing as well!  Very cool!

Number 2:  Meg Spaulding - Meg sort of blew me away by actually making what was supposed to be the “Negative” stamp side actually have the appearance of being darker, just by using a smaller scaled stamp, which was stamped closer together.  And that big luscious bow and black sentiment with white ink?  Well, that was a beautiful touch!

Number 3: Lisa Forsythe When life hands you lemons?  Or more appropriately, when life does not come with a negative stamp?  Use patterened paper!  I noticed many of you were brillinat to think of this idea, and I think Lisa’s card is a very fine example of this dilemma!  Not to mention her gorgeous ribbon-tailed butterfly! 

I am extremely excited for this next week, because it will be SO MUCH FUN!  PLAYFUL to the EXTREME!  Let’s get Polka Dotty!!!!!!

The song this week is brought to you by one of my most FAVORITE singers/fiddle players Alison Krauss.  What can I say?  Her voice is hauntingly beautiful.  It also goes with the back country/retro photo inspiration today.  The very, very end is also quite funny, so give it a listen..all the way to the VERY end!

        Listen HERE:   03 – The Lucky One

Here is the new PDF download for your library:             

                                                             Compose a Card Library Vol1 number 5

I will be posting with this same inspiration all week long.  The red and white polka dot combination has me transfixed, and full of joy!  I made several cards in several different ways using red and white together for this coming week, so you can all be inspired by different views on this concept.  Sort of a theme week!  Weird, but fun!  Well, that is how we roll around here sometimes!  I am sure you are all going to make me cry this week again.  Really.  I have never seen such beautiful work, which is so personal to each individual.  I LOVE IT!  Keep supporting each other and visiting each other’s blogs when the players post in the comments section.  I was so impressed with all of the shared love.  Feeling a sense of community in these challenges is almost as important as stretching ourselves to do them!  Get to know your neighbors!  Have a great week, and I will be back tomorrow with more polka-dotty inspiration!

If you are new to this challenge welcome,  and you can read all of the details here:

There are NO rules when it comes to how you sketch out your card or what inks you use, and you can use ANY elements or ANY stamp sets to create the style you want.  All you have to do is stay within the cutting recipe and colors.  This is a wonderful way to build up a library of card recipes for you!  Even though I use Papertrey Ink colors and terms, you may use any supplies you wish, just stay within the color and cutting parameters!

 You have until  Monday night at 8pm to upload your creations via this NEW inlinks I installed thanks to one of  my readers !   I will feature my faves from the week previous every Tuesday!

Stamps: On My Couch Additions, Polka Dot Basics

Paper: Aqua Mist, Stamper’s Select White, Bitty Dot Basics patterned paper

Ink: Pure Poppy

Button: Jenni Bowlin Chipboard Button