Have I got a Tale to tell.....

Once upon a time in a land not so far away lived a talented artist named Melissa......and we all lived happily ever after. The new release at MelJens features Fairy Tales, simply perfect for this week's Bookmark Challenge. These were fun projects and so useful as I love to read, much to the dismay of my dirty dishes, laundry and dusty furniture.  My love of reading began as a little girl, some of my earliest memories are of being read to by my mother and father, my grandmother and my aunt; what a tremendous gift to give to a child, the joy of Reading. The legacy continues as I now have the opportunity to read to my grandchildren and enjoy a Weekly Storytime with 3 of the girls at our local Library.

For this first bookmark I used Melissa's new image, Speedy Hare and this Corner Bookmark Tutorial from SCS.

This more traditional Bookmark uses Sweet Rapunzel.

You can check out the rest of the new releases HERE.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Reading......

The Early Bird Can Have The Worm

Saw a Swing (Flip-Flop) Card online the other day and I immediately thought of these images and couldn't wait to try it out. The front image panel in a Swing Card swings/flips to show the backside of the panel and another image when you pull the right and left side of the card. Hope you enjoy the card and that perhaps it will even bring a smile to your day. A very fun interactive card and was simple to make, especially after the first one. ;o)

The Early Bird Can Have The Worm.....

I'll Meet You Around Noon With A Danish.

The images are from Laurie Wilson at Doodle Pantry. I just LOVE her lil Birdies. For the front of the card I used one of the images from Everday Birdies. For the Backside of the Flip panel I used the adorable Having Tea. The sentiments I did on the computer and then printed. You can find a tutorial for the Swing (Flip Flop) Card HERE at SCS and a video tutorial using the same measurements HERE by DreamingAboutRS. It was simple enough, but I have to admit seeing the video really helped me to understand the written directions.

Thanks for stopping by, hope it brought a smile to your day and Happy Creating....

Bear-y Busy Busy Bears.....

I love the new release from MelJens this week. I was so excited to see the Military Bear and the others, just the ticket for the guys-young and old. They're all lil boys at heart right? I always said I lived with 6 boys even though I only had 5 sons. Pop (my husband) was and still is an overgrown boy even now that he is Pop Pop to 5 lil granddaughters.(How's that for a switch after 5 sons and no girls.)

Currently our Hero is our Son Ed who is serving in the Air Force. We are so proud of him, his wife and 2 lil girls and the sacrifice they are willing to make at this time. We are so grateful for all the men, women an families who are making that same sacrifice for all of us and the freedoms we enjoy. This card with Military Bear is for Ed:

My granddaughter wanted a card for a little boy in her kindergarten class that was having a birthday party and this lil Astronaut Bear was just the thing to wish him a "special day that was OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD!"

These were a blast to color. I love Melissa's lil bears.

You can find these new Bear-y cute images at MelJens and be sure to check out the current challenge at her Blog.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Creating...

My Hero......

To say this was a timely release would be an understatement. Just before I saw this new image from Laurie and Doodle Pantry I had spent the last couple of days telling my Husband over and over that he was 'My Hero'...he had worked on the car, the house, fixed the water heater, takes over at night and on the weekends with the granddaughters, hung a couple of swings from the tree for them, BBQ'd the world's best pork steaks, made cinnamon rolls from scratch and the list goes on and on.

When I saw this Super Birdie I knew I wanted to make him up, create this sentiment on the computer and combine it with one of the Everyday Birdies wearing one of this month's Floral Hats as well. Super Birdie is truly a Super set that includes B/W outline, precolored image, sentiments and 3 digital papers. Wow!

You'll want to peek in to see what all is new at Doodle Pantry and also check out the new 'Stock the Pantry'(DPSTP) Challenge #1: 'Burstin with Buttons'. Laurie is offering a special New Release Bundle at a discount price so be sure to take a look.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Creating...

Mommy, Where Do Babies Come From?

Where do babies come from?....Why from MelJens of course. This week's new arrivals from Melissa are just as cute as cute can be. Can't you just smell that wonderful clean, sweet baby fresh smell?

From the beginning I knew just what I wanted to do with these images. A Baby Quilt card using Pick Me Up Baby, Baby Bottle and Little Pull Duck. I paper-pieced the Diaper(I don't think I've ever had so much fun putting a diaper on a baby before), Bottle Top and the Duck. Those cute lil tootsies were just perfect to print and color a second set to cut out and pop up for a 3-D effect. (Aren't those lil piggies just too cute.)  Added a little tuft of blond yarn hair and tied it all up with a wee bow. 

These adorably Sweet images can be found at MelJens Designs and be sure to join us for this week's Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Creating...

Help For Japan

The artists at Whimsy Stamps have created a special set of digital stamps in an effort to raise relief funds for Japan. These images will be available for purchase through the month of April with all proceeds (minus paypal fees) going to support relief efforts in Japan. You can take a look at these special images at WHIMSY STAMPS.

This cause is one that is close to my heart as my Son and his family are currently stationed in Japan. They have commented on how much they admire the courage and strength of the Japanese people in this time of crisis. Their love and admiration for the Japanese people has only increased as they have seen how their signature gentleness of spirit, good humor and sense of humanity has only increased in their adversity.

I chose to showcase the image, Kimono Bear, created by Melissa Jenkins of MelJen's Designs. Whimsy stamps is also sponsoring a BLOG HOP to kick off this event. It began on the 4th and will run through the 10th of April. You can check it out HERE.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Creating...

What did one Chocolate bunny say.....?

So what did one Chocolate Bunny say to the other Chocolate Bunny? Well, here's the answer.

This card uses the image CHOCOLATE BUNNY from this weeks's new release at MelJen's Designs. Melissa has pulled out all the stops with these adorable Spring/Easter images.

They are all just too too cute. Be sure to check them all out at MELJENS DESIGNS and also be sure to visit the Design and Challenge BLOG for some incredible cards from the Design Team and this week's Theme Challenge: Easter. So Hop on over and check it out!

Thanks for Hopping by and Happy Creating....

Hat's Off to you Mom!

If you did not see my previous post of the day wishing a Happy Birthday to Laurie and Doodle Pantry, please do so HERE. Lots of fun and surprises and a free gift if you participate in this week's challenge. How's that for Fun and Surprising? Doodle Pantry and Laurie have the birthday and you get the gift! I couldn't resist putting two of Laurie's New Releases from Doodle Pantry together. What proper Mother Hen would go out in the farm yard without her new bonnet? I was going to wait to post this until later, but I just couldn't ....

I had made this at the same time as the Ants from my previous post and like I said was going to wait till later in the month, but you know how persuasive Mother's can be. HENrietta was just so excited and anxious to show-off her new haute Couture around the farm. My son thought she looked very worried. Perhaps our lil Red Hen is fretting over what shenanigans her lil brood is going to get up to today and possibly spoil her newly acquired fashion chic?

The images I used are both pre-colored: Chicken-Color ,(includes egg digi paper) and Floral Hats Combo (includes daisy digi paper and sentiment used) and available at Doodle Pantry. Don't forget to check out the New Releases, Birthday Sale and the new Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by and happy creating.....

A F-ANT-astical Birthday Celebration

Those cute mischievous lil Doodle Pantry Ants are here again this month to celebrate Spring and the 1 year Birthday of Laurie Wilson's Doodle Pantry web store, her Birthday this week, too. What a wonderful year it's been filled with fun and fanciful digital images that always bring a smile to your face and your heart. For my card I used the spring images with from Falling Ants. These cute fun lil guys are one of the new releases at Doodle Pantry. They are ready to FALL into SPRING in this card. Such a versatile set as it comes with both Fall and Spring sentiments and images. The background Panel is a digi paper from Laurie's Spring Day Digi Paper Pack, a free gift to everyone participating in the DPDC#11.

Be sure to check out all of Laurie's New Releases at Doodle Pantry and also take advantage of the Birthday Sale going on from today, April 5th-April 10th. You're sure to find something to celebrate the coming of Spring. Take a close look at the rest of the Specials Post for Laurie's Digi Grab Bag and Rewards programs. Today also begins a new challenge at Doodle Pantry with a special birthday gift for everyone participating in the DPDC#11, so be sure to stop on over and Celebrate with all of us at Doodle Pantry.

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you Happy Creating...

It's a Sale-A-Bration

Welcome to the Meljen's Designs Blog Hop to celebrate Melissa Jenkins 1st Anniversary of providing us with fabulous digital images in her unique style. You should have come here from Nicole's blog. Hop along with all of the designer's blogs and finish at Meljens, leave a comment at each stop along the way from beginning to end and you will be eligible to be one of the 3 randomly chosen winners that will receive 3 free digital images of their choice. When you leave a comment if you have a favorite Meljen's image we would sure love to know, be sure to let us know which one it is at one of your stops along the way.The blog Hop will run Friday April 1st through Monday Morning April 4th at 6 AM EST. Winners will be announced on the Meljen's Design and challenge Blog on the regular scheduled Freebie Monday's Post. Remember you must leave a comment at each stop including Meljens to be eligible. In addition, Melissa is celebrating by offering a 50% off sale on all of her black and white digital images during the Hop. They can be found at Whimsy Stamps.

Well for the Anniversary Hop I did something different from my usual card. In the last month I've become a full-time Stay at Home Grandma to my 3 granddaughters while their parents are at work or school. The 5 yr old decided we needed to have a way to monitor behavior like they do at school, you know the Green, Yellow, or Red card thing. "Woe be unto he (or she) that receiveth a Red Card"-You get the idea. Well that seemed kind of boring to this Grandma so I started thinking what could we do that would be fun and yet still get the point across that Grandma was getting to the end of her rope. This is what I came up with:

Are You A Happy or a Grumpy Gnome?

I made a 5x6 card with their name at the top, this one is for Jade, age 4, she's been desperate for me to get this done for her. I used Melissa's Image - Toadstool Buggies for the background. Colored, punched, mounted on cardstock, then laminated and finally added a bow and buttons and magnets on the back so it will hang on the Frig. Notice the round velcro button on the lower right? We'll get to that in a minute. I also used Melissa's Images Gruffy Little Gnome and Happy Little Gnome. Printed, colored, Cut out and then laminated also. They have a velcro button on the back of them as well. That is so that the little gnomes are interchangeable and depending on what you are doing you are either a 'Happy Helper Gnome' or a 'Gruffy Grumpy Gnome' who is awfully close to a time-out. The girls are excited about these and this Grandma is hoping it will help save her sanity, some of her hair and that she will at least be able to put together a coherent sentence at the end of the day. There is a reason we have small children when we are young.... Well, thanks for stopping by. Hope you enjoyed the project here at Buttons and Bows and be sure to hop on over to Sandy's Blog, it's the next stop. Here's a List of all of the Stops along the way for easy reference. Anita, Audrey, Cheryl, Darsie, Dee, Dianna, Jessica, Katja, Marlena, Melissa, Nicole, Robbie That's Me), Sandy, MELJEN'S DESIGNS BLOG! Thanks again for hoppin on over and Happy Creating....