Why Oh Why?

Good Tuesday Morning!!
OMGosh! I did it! I actually did it? I MUST be crazy but I did do it! What did I do? Well, first let me give you a little background. My wonderful husband bought me the very first Cricut that premiered in 2005! I hadn't crafted a thing since I was forced to take art in high school and we decoupaged some plaques. Let me tell ya, everyone in my life had always said I didn't have a crafting bone in my body. Well, in 2007 I finally opened that Cricut and fell in love!LOL! I immediately felt like I had outgrown it and bought the Cricut Expression! I was having the time of my life I could create bigger! Then the Pink Journey Expression debuted and I just had to have it. Well, we do have a cabin in the mountains of Colorado and I could always use the old Expression there. So, needless to say I was the proud owner of the new Pink Journey Expression! My old Expression did go to the mountain cabin where I thoroughly enjoy using it in the evenings after a day of fly fishin'! Last September Cricut came out with the new Imagine that not only cuts images but you can print your own designer paper! I was now the proud owner of the Imagine and I am in love with this machine! So, can someone tell me why, at approximately four minutes after 11:00 p.m. cdt I became the new owner of the brand new Cricut Expression2?

I couldn't even wait! I had to have it immediately! LOL! Well, I will let you know when it arrives and if I am a happy camper or not!

I made this cute little card for my darling granddaughter for Easter. I didn't get a chance to post as my family was all together and I didn't want to be away from them for even a second. I didn't get on the computer and absolutely no crafting! We had a blast and can't wait for Mother's Day as I think they are coming back! Isn't that fabulous? This card is made from Stampin' Up's Melon Mambo cardstock embossed with the new Framed Tulip embossing folder. I then punched a 1 3/4" circle with Stampin' Up's punch and a 2 3/8" scalloped circle with Stampin Up's punch. I added the round treat cups, filled it with m&ms and place it through the 1 3/4" circle and added my 2 1/2" scalloped circle. I added three little m&m and some Stampin' Up's yellow pom pom trim. I did place a piece of pink cardstock on the inside of the cover to cover the circle so the m&m would not spill out. My granddaughter loved it! What do you think? I would love to know what you think of my Easter card. Please leave a comment as I love to read your comments!

I would also like to remind everyone that we have a Copic Challenge going on at Simply Scrapping Crafts! We have some great prizes up for grabs so please hop on over and enter. I would love to see your creations!

Have a fantastic day! I am off to do some more creating!

Praying for your family and mine!

Big Hugs!

I hope you are having a wonderful week! I am saying prayers for the part of the country that is targeted for the huge storms today. Oklahoma City is right in the big middle of it and my daughter is an architect there and lives in the City! I am always fearful for her during the spring. Here in the Texas Panhandle we are having beautiful weather for a change and believe it or not ~ NO wildfires! We even have a small chance for rain today and then again on Sunday! I am praying hard for the rain as we haven't had any measurable moisture since my picture right after Thanksgiving of the snow!

I want to thank my friend Marie for awarding me with the "Best Friends Bloggers" Award. Marie can be found at The Joy of Cards. Be sure and stop by her blog as she has the most beautiful creations! You must hop over to Marie's Blog and see the card she has posted today! OMGosh! It is beautiful and she designed it to remind her of her recent trip to Santa Fe, NM. Well, I grew up in Santa Fe and she sure made me homesick with this card! Gorgeous Marie!

There are no requirements attached to this award. It is just an opportunity to recognize and say thank you to the wornderful cyber friends that frequent your blog.
Thank you Marie! You are such a Sweetheart!

Over at Simply Scrapping Crafts we have a brand new Copic Challenge! Melissa Oeters of our Copic Design Team came up with a super challenge this week. The challenge is to create at least 2 (can be more) place cards with a Spring theme. Easy Peasy right? NOT! I tell ya she really made me think outside of my little box! We are having Easter dinner with my son, DIL, and darling granddaughter in their new home this year. My DIL's family is also coming so it is sure to be a fun time. There will be little children so we are having a huge Easter Egg Hunt and I can't wait. It has been quite awhile since we had a little one running around looking for the eggs. My darling granddaughter is 13 but promises me she will help color, hunt, and hide the eggs! Anywho, for the dinner table and for the Copic Challenge I made these little Easter Baskets complete with treats for place cards for everyone. I hope they like them they were a lot of fun to make, once I got outside of my little box! LOL!

The baskets are made with a Stampin' Up Sizzex Bigz XL Die and that cute little tag is part of the die! Isn't that the cutest thing? I cut it out with my Big Shot and decorated it with an Easter Egg Stamp from Magnolia Stamps and the Funny Easter Bunny from The Paper Shelter. I colored both images in pastels so I could also enter these cute little baskets in the Pastel Challenge at Color Me Creative Classroom Challenge Group. I hope you will join me in both challenges as they are a lot of fun and there are great prizes up for grabs!

I am running off to do more creating as I am way behind!

Have a fantastic day!

Praying for your family and mine!

Big Hugs!
Lisa

Happy Monday!
I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! I know I did! It was my birthday this past weekend and both of my sons were here! Wooo Hooo! That is one way to make this Mommy happy! I missed my darling daughter not being here but she will be here next weekend for Easter, the boys will be back and we will all be together! How great is that? Great, I tell ya! I can't wait!

Today I have a scrapbook page I made using my Kenny K downloads image for my youngest son! He built his own guitar and I took pictures from beginning until the finished product and plan on using them in this layout. I even colored the guitar to match his finished one! I just love Kenny K's designs! I can't get enough of them! They are so much fun just to look at but even more fun to color. Kenny K is having a new challenge and the inspirations the DTs have posted are unbelievable! Run over and check it out, pick you up some Kenny K images and get busy coloring. Also, don't forget to add your creation to the challenge!!

Have a great Monday!

Praying for your family and mine!

Big Hugs!

Happy Happy Friday!
I realize that Friday is nearly over and it will be Saturday but wanted to
in a quick post of some cards I made today. I just received a new embossing folder made by Sizzix for Stampin' Up and I love this folder! The embossing is so deep and detailed, it is just beautiful. The folder is called Elegant Lines and let me tell you it is elegant. I made one card "Happy Easter" which only uses the folder, I did add some pearls using my Viva Decor Pearl Pen in "Ice White" and embossed the words "Happy Easter" using the new Easter Blossoms Stamp Set with "Melon Mambo" embossing powder from Stampin' Up. If you would like to order any of these products you can go to my Stampin' Up page and order them directly from me and receive a 10% discount. Make sure you follow my link because if you go directly to the Stampin' Up site you will not receive the 10% discount. You can click on the link above or copy and paste this link into your browser window http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/lisakeifer/?dbwsdemoid=2073293. The next card uses the very same folder, same embossed sentiment only I embossed it with the new "Tangerine Tango" embossing powder and added the image "Funny Bunny" from The Paper Shelter to add a little whimsy to an otherwise elegant card. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think of the elegant folder and also what you think of such an elegant card with a touch of whimsy. I will really appreciate it!




I hope you have a wonderful Saturday and look forward to your comments.

Praying for your family and mine!

Big Hugs!
Lisa

I've Got News!
Happy Happy Thursday! One more day and we have made it to the weekend! I'll tell ya I am so ready for some April Showers but it doesn't look that is going to be happening anytime soon. Today we are under ANOTHER High Wild Fire Alert! We have been having so many wild fires that we don't have the equipment to fight them with. Usually when we have wild fires like we have been having we can borrow equipment from Oklahoma or New Mexico but they are fighting just as many as we are so there is not enough man power or equipment to go around. Some parts of the country are inundated with floods and here we are without a drop of moisture around. C'mon spread the wealth! LOL!

I have the honor of receiving "The Stylish Blogger" award. I want to thank Jo for giving me this award. Thank you Jo for this honor and the sweet comments! Jo’s blog is http://itsmycreativeworld.blogspot.com/. Be sure and stop by Jo’s blog she has the prettiest creations!



I just began my blog last year and I must admit it has been a challenge. I try my best and it has been therapeutic which has been a blessing to me at times! I hope that you will continue to visit as I look forward to you being here. The comments make my day to find that you have stopped by!
This special award comes with the rules that I must follow in order to accept this award.
Rules:
1. Thank the person that gave this award to me and link it back to their blog.
2. Share 8 things about myself.
3. Pass this award to 8 other individuals that I have recently discovered and am inspired by.
4. Leave a comment on their blogs so that they can pass along the recognition!
5. Pass along an award of recognition to some other lucky stylish bloggers out there.
Here are some things about me.
I have only been crafting for about 2 years now. My husband bought a Cricut for me when they came out in 2005 and it took me nearly three years to just get it out of the box.
I found Copic Markers about a year ago and began taking classes from Suzanne Dean the very first day she had sign ups for her classes. I haven’t looked back! I love my Copics!
I am a Certified Copic Instructor.
I own a kindle and love it.
I cannot stand the taste of chocolate! Believe it! I love white chocolate but not any of that brown stuff!
I am an avid fly fisher! I retreat to our mountain cabin every year and you will find me either out in a river, stream, or lake!.
I LOVE Football! I cannot wait for football season and don’t know what to do with myself on Saturdays and Sundays when it is over! My favorite teams are Pro ~ Denver Broncos and College ~ Oklahoma Sooners!
I am an animal lover! I love all critters! About the only ones I don’t stop to say hello to are rattlesnakes!
I would love to present this award to the following for their part of making the papercrafting blog world what it is by inspiring others.
Cheryl: http://inktrap.blogspot.com/
Aletha: http://ajsdesigns.blogspot.com/
Anary: http://houseofgilli.blogspot.com/
Doris: http://MomsBeenScrappin.blogspot.com
Melissa: http://8ers.blogspot.com
Lisa: http://stampinforsanity.blogspot.com/
Chris: http://www.doodleartifacts.blogspot.com/
Rene: http://craftlane.blogspot.com/

Please take a few moments to check out these blogs. You will be amazed with the talent.
Thank you again Jo for thinking of me with the award.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
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Now, for my big news! I am the Director of the new Simply Scrapping Crafts Copic Challeng Group! We have a great bunch of ladies with enormous talents and are hosting challenges six days a week! Speaking of talent our own design team member Claire Prezzia is the Designer of the Month in the new April issue of Cards and has ten cards in the issue. Claire is one talented little cookie and I am so proud of her! Tomorrow is the big day for the launch of the Copic Challenge. C'mon on over and play with us! I guarantee we are going to be having a great time. We will have a new challenge every Thursday with a monthly prize! Our sponsor this month is Simpy Scrapping Crafts! Be sure to hop on over and check it out and while you are there check out our other great challenges.




I prepared these cards for the new Copic Challenge which is to color an image with blue jeans and use your colorless blender to add texture to your project. I chose to use a patch of denim along with the colorless blender solution to add texture to the blue jeans. The first picture is of darling Daisy by Sugar Nellie colored with my Copic Markers and the second picture is of Little Rapunzel by Elisabeth Bell and also colored with my Copic Markers.

I want to thank everyone for stopping by and visiting my blog and I really appreciate the comments! It makes my day when I read your comments knowing that you have stopped by!

Praying for your family and mine!

Big Hugs!

Happy Monday To Ya!
I am proud to present my Little Babushkas from CS Designs! Have I mentioned I just love these images! Today starts their Little Easter Hunt of Sorts! They are having a fun blog hop and each blog has little babushkas hidden in them with three questions to answer from each blog. The Rules for the Babushka Hunt:
Do not tell anyone else the answers.
You will be Hunting for little Babushkas like the one above

1.) Find all 8 little Babushkas
2.) Answer all the questions to the Fun Designer quiz for each blog
You will find the Fun Designer Quiz Instructions Here
Link will be posted on the 11th)
3.) Don’t tell anyone else the answers or where you found your Babushkas
4.) Become a follower of each blog/site where you found a Babushka
5.) Leave a nice comment on each blog/site so each designer will know you
came to visit.
6.) Email Chris / CS Designs with your answers to the Designer Quiz.

Winner will be announce on the 26th of April. The winner will be selected by random draw and it will be up to you to check to see if you have won. If you are the winner, you must notify Chris / CS Designs to claim your prize no later than the 30th of April.

How to get two your name submitted twice for another chance to win in the random draw. Advertise the Babushka Hunt by posting our Babushka Banner on a prominent spot of your main page for the duration of the Babushka Hunt so others will see it and join in the fun. It must remain on the front page or be the first post on your blog until the Hunt is over. If you don’t know how to do this you can email Chris for help.

What you get if you win: You can only be selected as a winner once.
There will be two winners in the Babushka Hunt and the winners will be chosen by random draw. In order to be eligible to be put into the draw you must meet all the requirements including answering the fun Quiz correctly. Each winner will receive their choice of one of my darling little Babushkas from my CS Designs online shop
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Join in the CS Designs Easter Parade. Along with an Easter egg hunt, there is usually a Parade. Every parade needs colorful floats so you will have to decorate one of your very own to participate. Your blog will be your float and the decorations will be your art work and projects such as cards, tag art, ATCs etc you submit.

The Rules Are Simple:
1. You must use only digital designs from CS Designs
2. You may enter as many times as you wish
3. Become a follower of my Doodle Pieces blog
4. Each project must be new, no back dating
5. Give credit for the design used in your project/post and link each project back to my CS Designs site

How to Win: This time unlike my last contest there will only be 1 winner for each category and no additional categories will be created. Your float will be judged on the following:

Category 1: Projects using only designs purchased from my CS Designs online store or won in other contests or challenges. If you mix my regular designs with freebies they will not be considered for this category. The Prize: If you win you will get to join the CS Design Team for an entire month. If working with these talented ladies is not enough, then you will also be happy to know that just like them you will receive one free design a week for the entire month as well as the gift design I give my new Designers for joining my Design Team. If You choose not to accept the option to work with our Design Team, you will receive 3 designs of your choice from the online store.

Category 2: Will be selected only from those projects that use a combination of my store designs and my freebies. The Prize: The choice of 2 designs from the CS Designs online store

Category 3: Will be selected only from those projects that use only free designs from CS Designs. The Prize: The choice of 1 Babushka design from the CS Designs online store.
So what are you waiting for? Hop in and join the HUNT!!

My Little Babushkas entitled "Happy Together" is my entry into the Easter Parade!
Please let me know what you think of my Little Babushkas!

Praying for your family and mine!

Big Hugs!
Lisa

Happy Happy Saturday!
I just love the weekends don't you?!! Time to spend time with my darling hubby! We are supposed to have terrible winds here in the Texas Panhandle this weekend so I am praying that we will not have anymore fires! Most of my time will definitely be spent indoors. One thing that can really make me angry is high winds! I despise high winds and I have been fighting a terrible sore throat and bronchitis so my nerves are kind of on edge anyway. I hope wherever you are that Spring is blossoming and you can enjoy it! Surely our turn is coming! LOL!

Todays post is for another challenge with Copic Markers. Our challenge was to use our Copic Markers to color our embellishments. I found this gorgeous lace to go with my darling Sugar Nellie image and grabbed my airbrush and colored it to match her darling dress perfectly. I just love the outcome. What do you think? I love my Airbrush System! It is so much fun to color up a background or like in this case to match the colors in your card exactly! I am working on some more images so hopefully I will have more than one post today!

Have a fantastic Saturday!

Praying for your family and mine!

Big Hugs!

Happy Friday To Ya!
Today is supposed to be another unbearable windy day here in the Texas Panhandle and they are saying this weekend is supposed to worse. We have been fighting 30 to 40 mile an hour winds but this weekend they said sustained winds of 40 miles per hour gusting to 60 and 70. Oh my, I am really tired of all this danged wind! We have also been having fires that are just unbelievable and I pray that this weekend will be a safe one. So many families have already lost their homes and my prayers really go out to them.

Today's card is from CS Designs and I am just loving their images. I think I have just about accumulated them all! They are so much fun to color and all the things you can do with them makes them even more fun! This particular image is called "Floral" and I am hoping with the beautiful bright colors and flowers I am somehow encouraging the rain to fall and bring out the beauty in all the flowers. I am entering this particular card in the April 4th Greeting Card Challenge at the Outlawz and you can see it here. I really encourage you to hop over to CS Designs and see all of their wonderful images and watch how quickly they jump into your cart.

I am hopping off to color some more of these wonderful designs. I hope that you have a Fabulous Friday!

Praying for your family and mine!

Big Hugs!

Wow it is already Wednesday!
I can't believe that Wednesday is already here! I must have slept through Monday and Tuesday as fast as they went by. I have been fighting a nasty case of bronchitis and finally got two shots on Monday and I am feeling so much better today.
I am posting a picture of a layout that I created with my Cricut Imagine. I just love my Imagine as it cuts much nicer than my Expression and the ability to print my own designer paper sends it over the top as far as I am concerned. I printed the layout background paper from the Imagine More Cartridge. The musical background is also print and cut from the Imagine More Cartridge as are the musical notes border and frame cutouts. The Rock Star title and the musical notes were cut from the Hannah Montana Cartridge. This darling image is from Kenny K Downloads and colored with my Copics. I just love his images and they are so much fun to color! This layout was created for my youngest sonhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif who built his own guitar! I have pictures tohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif place in the frames of each phase of the construction. I colored the guitar in the Kenny K image to look like the guitar my son built. I am entering this layout in the Cricut Challenge at Simply Scrapping Crafts where the challenge was to create a card, layout, altered art, etc using at least two different Cricut cuts. I hope you'll go over and check out this challenge and hopefully play along with us for a great prize.
I am off to do some more creating and hope you have a fun and crafty day!
Praying for your family and mine!
Big Hugs!

Happy Happy Saturday!
I used to love Saturdays as my favorite day of the week with Sunday coming in a close second. I am a football fanatic and Saturdays are set aside for college game day and Sunday is set aside for the pros. LOL! I am having football withdrawal really bad! Oh well, come the end of August and they will once again be my favorite days of the week.

My husband's cousin Debra called last night and she lives in Arlington, TX and we are making plans to attend the Great American Stamping Convention in June. I am so excited! I was supposed to go last year but that was when I had my terrible wreck and broke my tooth and was unable to attend. You can bet I am going to be extra careful this year as I really want to go. Debra is the only person I can see in real life (not cyberspace) that shares my passion for paper crafting so I am anticipating a really fun filled week. We are then planning a trip to Colorado to the cabin and more crafting and I am teaching her fly fishin' this year (if my right arm co-operates!





This picture is another of the Sugar Nellie's that I have just fallen in love with. I have named her Sophie as she looks exactly like my little niece. I colored her with my Copics and then printed the matching designer paper from the Audrey pattern cartridge for my Imagine. I love my Imagine especially that I can print my own designer paper to whatever size I would like to match my design. I hope you enjoy her, she is so much fun to color.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! I love it when you come to visit!

Have a fantastic Saturday!

Praying for your family and mine!

Big Hugs!