Brad Paisley Fan...

Yep. I'm a Brad Paisley Fan. Ted and I went to see him in concert last night here in Cincinnati. (It was a Mother's Day gift from Ted) What a great show! The yummy Dierks Bentley opened for him. He rocked it out too. Such a fun night and a great break from the stressful week I had. THIS song is my favorite from Brad. It reminds me of me and my hubby.

Just popping on to say hi and hope you are having a great weekend. We celebrated my dad's 60th birthday today. It was fun but I am TIRED. I'll be back soon after some much needed rest. Thanks for stopping by!

Almost Forgot...

I'm back. :) Almost forgot to show you what I worked on for Lisa's challenge. She has AWESOME photography challenges on her blog. They are so helpful.

Here is my card before...

and here is my card after learning her tutorial...

I was NEVER happy with the auto levels on Photoshop. Now I know this simple trick that makes SO much difference. Thanks Lisa! I need all the help I can get with photography. lol

I love a good challenge...

I'm really hooked on creating for challenges lately. I think it is because it gives me a jump start and gets my creative juices flowing. I decided to play along with this week's American Crafts Challenge. The challenge was to use an enlarged photo on a LO. I found this sweet one of my niece and really liked the childlike, playful feel it projected and decided to use that as inspiration... It's hard to see in the photo but I did a technique on the clouds. I used an embossing pen to color a few clouds and then I heat embossed them with clear embossing powder. It gives it some definition. Here is a closeup of one of the clouds for a better look (P.S. Isn't that googley eyed birdie cute!?)...

You can find a GREAT video on this technique by Kelly Purkey HERE.

The journaling for this LO is a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson:
How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!
Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
Rivers and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside--
Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown--
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!

Supply List: EVERYTHING is American Crafts except the bird stamp (hero arts), buttons, and black frame (basic grey)

I'll be back sometime this weekend. I am super busy planning my dad's 60th surprise birthday party which is on Saturday! Thanks for stopping by.

Some Cards and Challenge Winners

Thought I would share some cards I did at my stamping/scrapping retreat a few weeks ago. I started with this card and liked the basic design so much that I used that as a starting point for the last two cards.

Supplies: Patterned Paper from Crate Paper, Stamps from Hero Arts (Wood Background stamp found HERE), Rub-ons from Stampin' Up

Speaking of inspiration...I was BLOWN away with the entries from THIS challenge. The winner of the Scrapbook Bakery box o' goodies is: ROSEMARY D. Check out her entry HERE. Isn't it awesome? I love how she used my three elements as her inspiration.

I also have two more winners....I couldn't pick just one! Congrats to LUCY AND SHANE. Ladies, email me your address so I can send out your goodies.

Would any of you be interested in more challenges in the future?