BBQ- It's not a skill....

It's his SUPER-POWER!  My Husband does the world's best BBQ and this BBQ-Apron card was made for him. Hate to say one of my favorite things is to make him blush, it doesn't take much and it's especially fun in front of the kids and grand kids. He's a good sport about it, so all in fun! I think he secretly enjoys it when the kids say, "Gross....That's just Wr-ong..." Always amazes me, he can watch things get blown up, mayhem and murder on TV, but the Hero leans over to land a virtuous kiss on the Heroine and he is soooooo out of there....Has to get a drink, a bite to eat....This card features one of the new images this week from MelJen's Designs, "Smokin Hot". It's a Pocket card and the BBQ Spatula pulls out and says, "I Flip 4 You!" on the handle.

The card opens up to read:

The BBQ and BBQ Mitt were paper pieced using the  pattern, 'BBQ GEAR' and 'BACKYARD BBQ',from My Scrap Chick. Smokin' Hot was a fun image to work with as are all the additional images in this weeks release. Don't forget the weekly challenge, this week's theme is Stripes and/or Plaid. You can get all the details and see some fabulous samples of this week's images on the MelJen's Design Team and Challenge Blog.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Creating..

OWH Memorial Weekend Blog Hop and MelJens Freebies

Operation Write Home is sponsoring a Memorial Day Blog Hop that you can check out HERE.

In honor of Memorial Day and our brave service men and women Melissa of MelJen's Designs is offering a 10% discount on her images and  these 2 freebies through Memorial Day. Afterwards they will be available at her corner of the Whimsy Stamp Store.

You can find this Free Image Sail Away Sailor Here.

This image can be found HERE.  A great image not only for the troops but also for teachers and anyone who needs a special Thank You.

Thanks for Stopping By and Happy Creating...

Pop Pop Rocks!

This card is for my Husband (Pop Pop) featuring him and the 5 granddaughters. Sage, Jade, Rane, Chessa Jean and Zipporah (Zippy).

The image is one of this week's releases from Melissa at MelJen Designs honoring Dad. This Papa Bear was really fun to work with, being able to crop, resize and merge to get all 5 lil girlies in on the action. Sage, Jade and Rane are with us right now and were so excited to see themselves as little bears. My own personal fan club - "very nice Mae Mae, Good Job, You color so pretty....." Not hard to impress a 5, 4 and 2 yr old. Pop Pop wears glasses so we had to add those too.

Here are the new images for this week (you can find them at MelJens) and you'll want to check out this week's challenge at MelJens Design Team Blog: Use Kraft and 1 other color.

Thanks for stopping by and happy creating...

Somedays....

Ok....Now that Mother's Day has come and gone and May is 1/2 over "Let's Get Real"....C'mon, Admit it...You know you've thought it.....

Disclaimer: Any resemblance to a certain 3 lil granddaughters is completely incidental....yeah, right...

I love this image, Free Kittens,  from MelJen's Designs and I couldn't resist the temptation. Love em to pieces, but there are those days....

You'll want to check out the new release from MelJens and also this week's challenge, a great Sketch from Di.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Creating....

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......

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....

Talkin' bout Girls...

"There is no cosmetic for beauty like happiness.”- Maria Mitchell

These cute new images from MelJen's Designs are sure to bring a lil happiness to any girl's day.

When I first saw these new images by Melissa I knew I had to find just the right quote to go with the 'makeup brush'. I'm thinkin' I nailed it.
"Cosmetics are a boon to every woman, but a girl's best beauty aid is still a near-sighted man." --Yoko Ono-

I knew this was perfect the moment I found it. I wanted a lil bit brighter coloring on this image so I used my Sharpie Markers with my Prismacolors and Odorless Mineral Spirits. A bit of Glossy Accents here and there and some Bling to add the finishing touch, cause a girl can never have too much 'Sparkle' in her life.

So Girlfriend, thanks for stoppin' by, you can find these fun new images at MelJen's Designs and be sure to check out this week's MelJen's Challenge.

Happy Creating.

Somebunny's ready to HOP into Spring....

Melissa at MelJen's Designs is hoppin' on down the Bunny Trail with these adorable lil cuties:I think they are just the cutest and not just for Baby cards or Easter...In fact both of my offerings today are for year-round use. Wouldn't the lil bunny with a bowl of soup be great for a "Here's Hoppin' SomeBunny gets well soon" card. (I know enough with the bad puns.)

This first card is for my sister Kathy using a sentiment that we have treasured over the years with Cuddle Bun Buddies.
I love the colors on this next card made with Cuddle Bun Baby...

So be sure to HOP on over to Meljens Challenge/Design Blog to join us for this week's new challenge: DOTS! and you can find Melissa's new images and all her other awesome designs at MelJens Designs.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Creating.

Luck O' the Irish

These LUCKY little images are sure to brighten anyone's day and that's no BLARNEY. MelJen's Designs has just released their new images for this week. So cute, you just want to get up and do a little Irish jig yourself.
Lucky for me she also offered this pre-colored image, SHAMROCK BEAR
...It's been a crazy week and crafting time has been at a premium. This fit the bill perfectly. Love this lil pre-colored bear--so bear-y cute. I used Glossy Accents on the shamrock, hat and his pot-o-gold, Gold Stickles on his hat buckle and gold, and just a bit of Stardust Stickles here and there.



Be sure to stop by MelJen's to take a peek at her new releases and join us for this week's GREEN Challenge.



Here's hoping you have a LUCKY DAY and HAPPY CREATING...

Animal Crackers - Meljen's Thursday

I went to the Animal Fair..... Animal Crackers in my soup.....

Animals, animals everywhere....

Another fun fun release from Meljen's Designs this week.

We all have a bit of rain in our lives now and again and when those storms come round I've always found it helps to 'play in the puddles', to find joy in our most important blessings and treasures, family, friends, life and this amazing world we live in.

I immediately fell in love with Little Lovey Duck and remembered last week's free cloud image and also another freebie, the umbrella. Paper pieced the umbrella and used a bit of 'Glossy Accents' on the umbrella handle, those adorable galoshes and the duck's bill. Love the stripey socks on this guy.

Thanks for stopping in and be sure to check out Melissa's New Images and this week's new challenge. If you didn't pick up Monday's Freebie you can find it here.

Happy Creating....

For my Chessa Jean

A Birthday Card for the February Birthday Girl.
Decided to give an Easel Card a try for my Granddaughter's 5th Birthday. Chessa Jean is such a teeny tiny lil mouse...very quiet and shy as well as little, takes after her Mom who is 4'11" and if she was dripping wet and wearing full comabat gear she might weigh 90 lbs. after a big meal. Good thing I adore my DIL or I'd have to do something drastic to her, skinny lil thing. Life can be so Unfair.... I always wanted to be tiny and petite, instead I was born an Amazon-Amazon Wide that is.

For this card I used the new Meljen's Designs Digital Image Birthday Cake Mouse. It's just toooo cute in my opinion.
A Tutorial for an Easel card can be found Here.

Happy creating and thanks for stopping by...

TIME TO PAR-TAY - Meljen's Thursday - New Releases 2.17.11

Here they are, The Newest Releases from Melissa Jenkins at Meljen's Designs. Be sure to check them and the new challenge for the week out at the DT Blog, always great ideas and projects from the Design Team Members.

It's a Party....

Here are a few projects I did with these images. So fun to work with.
I love the little mice so we will start with them. This first card uses 'Birthday Cup Mouse'.


This next image of Birthday Cake Mouse just cracks me up, He's so cute and I love the little dab of frosting on his head.

Topsy Turvy Birthday Cake was a lot of fun, so very versatile.
.And Lastly I used both Party Penguin and Stitched Celebration for this Joy-Fold Card. A great easy to follow Tutorial can be found at Splitcoaststampers, a great site with wonderful tutorials and resources.
So here's hoping your day is filled with fun and surprises and remember to come join with us in this week's challenge at MelJen's Designs.

Meljens Thursday. New Releases

It's Thursday and you know what that means.....New Digital Images from Meljens Designs and are they ever cute! I hope you find them as Punny as I did. Who doesn't love a good pun? You'll be one SMART COOKIE, if you grab em' while they're HOT! So PEAR them up with your favorite project and ESPRESSO yo'self, you're sure to be the APPLE of someone's eye if you do.

Here are some projects I used them on.

A Tag using Hot Stuff--maybe for a bag of Spicy Hot Beef Jerky for the man in my life.

A Card using A Perfect Pear. Bosc pears....yummy.

Another card, this time using APPLE OF MY EYE. Had some 3-D fun with this one. Layer 1 is the whole image. Layer 2 cut out Apple and hole in apple, leaf and worm on right. 3rd Layer placed worm through hole in layer 2 apple. Cuter in person to see the worm coming out of the apple.
And finally a Bookmark that slips over the corner of your page using Smart Cookie. You can find a wonderful tutorial for this at Splitcoaststampers.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to go to Meljens Design Team and Challenge Blog for more info on this week's releases and and the new Design Challenge.

Happy Creating!

Robbie

MELJEN Designs Lots-O-Lovin' Blog Hop

Welcome to MELJENS Designs Lots-O-Lovin Blog Hop. If you have been Hoppin' along you should have come here from Nicole, If not, you can begin the Hop by starting at the main Meljens Design Team Blog and get the 'inside track' on all the fun stuff that is happening. The hop will run from Thurs. Feb 3 - Tues. Feb 9 8pm EST. Be sure and check the MDT blog to get all the particulars on how to win the Grand Prize.

I’m so glad you stopped by and am very excited to participate in this my very first Hop ever! Just a couple of months ago I discovered the wonderful world of digital images and soon came across Melissa Jenkins’ incredibly fun designs. I just fell in love with them and was ‘over the moon’ to be asked to be a member of her Design Team. Such a talented group of ladies to rub 'cyber shoulders' with. Darsie and Candace are also joining me as the newest members. Tons of inspiration will be coming your way here on my blog and at the Meljen's Designs blog, especially Thursdays, where each week there is a new release and a new challenge! Each challenge gives you a chance to win free images , so I hope you play along with us. We love seeing your creations!
Alrighty then, lets get down to business…Here are Melissa's New Digital Image Releases, so cute and sure to bring a smile to your heart and brighten your day. Here at Buttons & Bows I am featuring Melissa’s New Digital Release Lovey Puppy and also Hearty Hippo, they were both so cute I couldn’t decide. Leave a comment to this post during the L-O-L Blog Hop and 1 randomly chosen winner will recieve their choice of either Lovey Puppy



or Heart-y Hippo. This week’s challenge at Meljens Design Blog is to use a ‘Fun Fold’ in your creation. I chose to make a couple of ‘Spring’ Pop-up cards to showcase these delightful images. These cards mail flat and then ‘Spring’ up when taken out of the envelope. A wonderful easy-to-follow tutorial for this project can be found Here. These cards are a lot of fun!

I Wanted to keep the cards themselves simple so they would show off the image as well as the paper and fold of the card. I cut the puppy's mouth with an x-acto knife so I could slide the heart cut-out inside. (Yeesh, that sounds a bit morbid, ok alot.....but I digress…)

Thought the fanny of this Hippo needed to have an additional layer cut out and popped up on dimensional tape, the heart is another layer on top of that. The tail and bird are also 3-D. Those big ole pearly whites were just asking for a bit of Glossy Accents, the bright pink toenails as well. (We girls always want to look our very best.)

Lovey Puppy and Hearty Hippo were colored using Prismacolor colored pencils and odorless mineral spirits. A tutorial for this technique can be found Here .

Remember to leave a comment and you will be entered to win your choice of either Lovey puppy or Hearty Hippo. I will choose a random winner after the Hop closes on Tues evening and announce the following morning, 2/9 at 10AM EST right here at Buttons & Bows. If you are the winner contact me and let me know which image you would like as your prize.

Looking forward to hearing from you and thank you for stopping by.

From here be sure to hop on over to Sandy.

Hope you will continue to stop by on occasion here and at MELJENS.

MELJENS Design Team

Anita
Audrey
Candace
Cheryl
Darsie
Dee
Dianna
Jessica
Lauretta
Lisa
LisaM
Marlena
Melissa
Nicole
Robbie
Sandy
MELJEN'S DESIGNS BLOG!