Pinterest isn't just for looking!

Hello! Seems like it's been so long since I blogged.  It has been extremely busy around here and I wish I could say I have been crafting up a storm, but sadly that is not the case...  I have been playing taxi driver for both of my girls and attempting to keep a small sense of order in our home-not an easy task when no one seems to be home.  If anyone can explain how a house can get so messy when nobody is there, please share your wisdom!  I did however spend a few late nights browsing my favorite time waster, Pinterest.  I do actually make some of the things I have pinned and have even tried some of the recipes with great success.  But like most people, I will never have enough time to make everything I have pinned to my boards!  I was feeling a bit guilty about this when I decided to print off some of the free downloadable art.  The post card is part of a set that is wonderfully aged, and the water lily is from a cigar box art set.  There were a lot of beautiful images to choose from, but I liked the way the water lily went with the postcard.  You can find both free downloads here.

I was also inspired by some goodies I purchased last weekend during a family shopping trip.  I bought a TH stencil that had all of these fabulous dots on it and thought it would be a fun way to ink the background.  

My oldest DD always has to check out the remnant racks in the fabric department.  She loves to work on sewing projects and probably has about as much fabric as my sister.  Since I don't sew, I often get to be the color coordinating advice giver as she pairs her fabrics for a new project.  While we were digging for a neutral piece of fleece, I came across this wonderful roll of pink organza.  I had a sudden vision of a pretty pink flower and I wondered how well my big shot flower die would do on this material.  I ended up buying not only the pink but also some white organza as well.  DH raised an eyebrow at my purchase but didn't utter a word.  He knows about my lack of sewing skills, but he has also been married to me for almost 20 years.  Such a wise man!

The material cut like a dream and I didn't even have to back it with anything!  The flower looked a little too pretty for my otherwise aged journal page, so I wrinkled it up a bit.  The fabric frayed a little through this process, but I rather liked the effect.  I also did a little touch up on the heart from the SU artisan kit.  I rubbed a little Inka Gold metallic rub over the top to make it a little more 'old' looking.

So now I can proudly say that I used two pins from my Pinterest board and found a wonderful use for fabric that requires zero sewing skills! Not bad for a day's play!  Thanks so much for stopping by.  Spring break is this week, so hopefully I will have a little more time to play and share!

Journal Page Recipe:  Digital art printed on white cardstock, lace and heart from Artisan kit, pink organza and fun flowers die, vanilla brad, Trust God stamp set, inks-early espresso, crumb cake, rose red, Inka Gold metallic rub

Out of the Box for Mother's Day

I am officially on summer vacation!! I can not tell you how wonderful it is going to be to sleep in the next few days!  But enough of me rubbing my good fortune in your faces!!

Last weekend, I needed to make a couple of Mother's Day cards for Mom and my MIL.   I have seen flower pot cards on different blogs, but never saved a link.  I went to Pinterest to see if I could find one with instructions.  *Here's a little background on me... I'm not sure why, but I tend to make most of my cards the standard size.  I've done a some square cards and even a few shaped cards, but I always end up going back to good ol' 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".  And my cards ALWAYS  fit in the envelope (stop laughing, Lisa M, don't you judge me!!).  So I was trying to stay away from any designs that would be too big.  I found the perfect one here and Brenda's step by step instructions were fabulous! Even better, it would fit a standard card envelope!

So I got busy cutting and scoring the pot, making the insert and then the fun part-the flowers!!  I wasn't sure how many I would need and didn't want to stop to make more after I started assembling so I made a nice variety to choose from. Then something incredible happened, well at least for me...  I went crazy! I kept adding more leaves and flowers and absolutely loved how it was turning out.  I finally hit a point where I looked at it and thought 'OK, I'm finished.'  Then it hit me... There was NO WAY this was going to fit in a standard envelope!!!  I had completely stepped out of my comfort zone, had a wonderful time, made a card both Moms would love, and I had no idea how I was going to present it to them!  Luckily after a little digging, I found some larger envelopes, left over from who knows what, and there was enough room to slip the cards in without squishing them.  Problem solved!  I'm just glad I didn't have to mail these!

I decided to use all of the retiring In Colors on this card.  I absolutely love pear pizzazz, but hadn't really used a lot of the other colors.  I'm also hoping I haven't forgotten any of the supplies.  It was a bit of a whirlwind of creativity on this one!

If you would like to recreate this card, I highly suggest clicking on the link above! Her directions and pictures really made this easy to create!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-2010-2012 In Colors, whisper white, Ink-pear pizzazz, concord crush, Stamp set-Fresh Vintage (from SAB), sentiment-unknown, Accessories-bakers twine, Boho Blossoms punch, eyelet border punch, bird builder punch, fun flowers die, floral fusion and little leaves sizzlit dies, square lattice folder, perfect polka dots folder, petals a plenty folder

Scrapbook Monday- Fun Flowers part 2

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Mine was busy, but spent a lot of quality time with friends and family, so it was pretty enjoyable!

Today's page is the second page I used the fun flowers die to embellish.  Nothing too fancy...

I also used the Boho Blossom and Butterfly punches.  I stamped the background in elegant eggplant using a stamp  from the retired set, Sprinkles.  A little ribbon and some dazzling details and we're done!

Page Recipe: whisper white cardstock, dp from stash, Just Journaling stamp, black stazon & elegant eggplant ink, Fun Flowers die, boho blossoms & butterfly punches, title cut w/ cricut, black scallop dots ribbon, dazzling details

Another Scrapbook Day -Fun Flowers

Happy Wednesday, everyone!  Half way to the weekend! Woo! Hoo!

Today's page is another from my sister's album.  Her favorite color is purple so I had to add some purple accents on the pages.  If you notice the birthday cake in the picture, you will see my daughter's birthday cake.  Their birthdays are 3 days apart and it was so easy to surprise my sister by telling her it was my daughter's party.  She was quite surprised!

I made the flowers using the Fun Flowers die.  It is such a great die for layered flowers. I really wish I would have brought more of my embossing folders to the crop to add texture to these, but you can't bring everything to a crop! Oh, well!  I decided to vary the centers of the flowers-antique brad, glitter brad, and a ribbon knot.

Well, I'm a few pages closer to finishing this album! Only about 10 more to go...sigh... I have a club meeting and a wedding this weekend, so I won't find a lot of crafting time.  Good thing I accomplished  so much at the crop!

Page Recipe: whisper white and basic black cardstock, purple and dp scroll from stash, Just Journaling stamp set, black stazon and elegant eggplant ink (sponging), scallop trim border punch, fun flowers die, antique brads, basics glimmer brads, purple handmade ribbon from Sherry

Fun Flowers

Talk about a CAS card!  I used wild wasabi, bashful blue, & whisper white cardstock.  The flower was created with the fun flowers die & the big shot.  I also inked the edges w/ bashful blue ink.  The base of the card is dry embossed with the square lattice embossing folder.  At my card class, everyone thought this one would be tough to create.  I think they were amazed at how easy it really was!  Gotta love the big shot! TFL!

Crafty Sistah's Challenge

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Our challenge to use a DSP that we would not usually pick wasn't as bad as I thought.  I chose Woodland Walk.  While I love the colors in it, I wasn't sure exactly what to do with the patterns.  My first card used crumb cake, very vanilla & wild wasabi card stock.  The stamp is from Punch Bunch from SAB & I used the owl punch on the image.  The ribbon is retired chocolate chip.

card #2 for challenge also used a sketch from the 411 site (love that place!)  Cardstock colors are crumb cake, chocolate chip, and wild wasabi.  The satin ribbon is very vanilla.  Tools used were scallop circle, fun flower die & the big shot.  The friends stamp is from fabulous phrases and is stamped in chocolate chip. I also used this to distress the edges of the flower.

Card #3-used wild wasabi, crumb cake,and chocolate chip card stock.  The flower was made with the ornament punch and the square embossing folder.  I have to say that this set was easier to use once I started playing around with the patterns.  TFL!