Wrapping Up the Year

Hello! I'm so glad you stopped by for the last post of 2019!  I always feel a bit emotional on New Year's Eve-the ending of another year and the exciting promise of the new year.  This year was a rough one with a lot of personal struggle and the loss of my Dad.  I'm hoping 2020 will bring happier days and new opportunities.

I'm also excited to share some new creations and a peek at one of my Christmas gifts.  My husband must have told Santa I was extra good this year because I got a set of blending brushes in my stocking this year!!  I am so excited about getting to play with these, but first they needed a proper home.  I had an old baking powder can in my 'things to alter' crate, and I thought it would make a good holder for these beauties!  Of course, something this special needed not only a proper, but also an attractive home!  I thought since the brushes will one day be all inky, a grungy theme was in order.  I had a pattern paper from Paper Studio that I have been holding on to for just the right project, and this was it.  A little linen ribbon, a metal flower and I was finished!

Of course, I couldn't let the rest of that paper go to waste, so I used every scrap of it to make 4 thank you cards!  They were super quick and look a little more masculine, so they were a great addition to my card stash!

I think the card is also a great way to end my year of blogging.  Being thankful for the blessings of 2019 and looking forward to even more in the new year. And to my loyal visitors, Thanks a Million!

Throwback Thursday Playing around with Fun Folds!

Surprise! Yes, this is my second post of the week!  I did some cleaning over our fall break and I guess I found my mojo in the process!  I have a throwback project today, which means I'm digging into my older supplies and using them up!

Earlier this week, I shared some Christmas cards I made using a fun fold (you can get the instructions for these cards on that post!) and it inspired me to make a few more cards using this.  A quick peek in my card storage boxes showed me that while I have a lot of thinking of you and thank you cards, I didn't have but ONE anniversary card...can't have that!!  So today's cards are going into my stash boxes so I'm ready for those special days.

I had a hard time choosing patterned paper for these.  I have so much paper and I really need to use more!  I decided to pull out some of my older paper (many of the colors in these are now discontinued) and make some true throwback cards.  The cards on the left in both photos use Cottage Wall and the cards on the right use Tea Party.  I had to do some digging to find the almost amethyst cardstock and I don't have much of it left...  Hopefully it will get me through the Tea Party paper!  The sentiment on the top photo is from Stampabilities and the bottom sentiment is from Word Play.

Our family is hosting Thanksgiving again this year, and while everyone brings a dish or two to share, the majority of the cooking falls on DH and I.  I really need to take an inventory of my pantry and see what needs to be added to the grocery list.  I know if I don't do it while I'm thinking about it, I will forget until the very last second!  Please tell me I'm not alone in this!  Everyone thinks I'm organized, but it's really catastrophe prevention 99% of the time!  Thanks so much for visiting and have a fabulous day!

A little Word Play to start my summer

Hello! I am so very happy to announce that my summer vacation has officially begun!  We had our final day lunch meeting today and now I am free for a few months!  We still have softball sectionals going on, but other than that my days are filled with laundry, weeding, and other very neglected chores!

Of course, this also gives me a little play time as well so I hope to be posting and visiting more often!  Today's card was made last week, but I'm just now getting around to posting it.  This is a graduation card for a special young lady.  Not only is she family (my cousin's daughter), but she was also one of my preschool students a few years ago (must be super smart to graduate so early! wink!).  I made her card in her school colors and thought this sentiment from Word Play fit perfectly.

                                 

It was so much fun to pull out my supplies and make individual cards again since I haven't done this for a while!  I'm still a little behind on my birthday card making so that will probably be next on my 'to do' list.  Well, at least the one that I actually want to work on completing- the housework one? not so much...

I have a few more graduation cards to share with you but will save them for another day!  Until then, I hope you manage to find some time this week to make something fun!

Card Recipe: Paper-night of navy, whisper white, cherry cobbler, Ink-night of navy, cherry cobbler, Accessories-perfect polka dots ef, cherry cobbler seam binding

A sneak peek, spring/summer cleaning, and lots of rambling...

Hello and welcome to my blog! I am so excited to have some new followers and hope that you get either inspiration, insight, or something to make you smile when you visit!!

I am in a 'bunny trails' kind of mood today, so I will share my cards (a sneak peek of my ABAC project for Sunday) first-just in case you don't want to wander the trails with me!

Challenge number 20 at Anything But a Card Challenges  is "Dust Off Your OLD Supplies". For this challenge we are having a bit of a spring cleaning theme. Go "Dust off your older supplies" for this challenge - and make something... ANYTHING GOES! Use up those paper scraps, break out tools that haven't seen the light of day, finish up one of those U.F.O's {unfinished objects}... or how about those hoarded stickers - we all have a stash. The theme is open so the possibilities are endless.... just remember create anything except a card... this is going to be FUN!!!

Now how easy is this?! Well... When your crafting space looks as horrific as mine, first you actually have to do spring cleaning (or for those of us who love to procrastinate, summer cleaning) to find most of your supplies and the table. I really wish I was exaggerating, but I'm not!  It's been a very crazy month! So after spending the morning finding my table (and several started projects), I knew what I would be doing for our challenge.  I am part of week 2 of the design team and usually finish my project Friday night or Saturday morning and rush to get it photographed, but this week it is ready to go by Wednesday afternoon!  I am sharing the cards today because I can't show the other part yet, and the blog is anything BUT a card...  Can't be flaunting any cards on Sunday, so the cards become the sneak peek for the main piece.

I spent most of the afternoon working on the cards for a very special friend from our  church.  She is one of the most caring and selfless people I know.  She made meals for my parents when Dad had his stroke, and still occasionally drops off goodies for them.  She has also been a wonderful mentor.  Last week, she stopped by to drop off some asparagus from their garden since she knows my oldest DD loves asparagus.  She handed me two HUGE bags of fresh asparagus, enough for many meals, and refused to accept any payment for it. "It will be a relief to get it out of the house." is all she says.  Well, if I have learned little else from the crafting community, one of the joys of crafting is passing on our creations to others.  Plus, I know she won't be able to turn down a handmade just for her gift! Pretty sneaky, right?  So I made a set of 8 greeting cards for her.

Now if you're still on the trail with me, I'm moving on to dusting off supplies.  I decided that while I was in cleaning mode, I would go through my DSP and clean that up too. OH MY!  We will not discuss just how much retired paper I have that can't be used for classes, not to mention the non SU things...  So I decided my summer crafting goal would include using up some of that paper.  I found a lone sheet of the paper above and have no clue which set it came from but I do know it was from a loooooong time ago. I managed to use almost the whole sheet for the 8 cards! Woo! Hoo! 1 page down, 4 million to go...  I also dusted off my daisies die which hasn't bonded with my Big Shot in ages. They were so happy to be together again!

I have really been slacking in the commenting and visiting of blogs lately.  Mom has been in the hospital twice this month with heart issues.  While her condition is not life threatening, it does sap all of her energy and messes with her heart rate.  They switched her to a new med this time so we are crossing fingers and praying that this one gets the job done.  I'm just thankful that I wasn't working this last time and could commit to being there for her and Dad.  Makes things a little less stressful!

Well, this is the end of today's bunny trail and post. If you made it all the way to the end, I applaud your tolerance! Hopefully Sunday will bring some less distracted blogging!  Have a wonderful rest of the week and I hope you don't have to clean before you do your happy crafting!

Card Recipes: Cardstock-wild wasabi, bashful blue, pumpkin pie, whisper white, old DSP, Stamp Sets-Word Play, Loving Thoughts, Ink-pacific point, bashful blue (sponged on daisy), Accessories-daisies 2 die, boho blossom punch, 2 1/2" circle punch, perfect polka dots & square lattice EF, non SU circle framelits, brights buttons, white bakers twine, bashful blue brad

Anything But a Card Challenge 18- An ATC is HOW small??

It is time for week 2 of challenge 18 at Anything But a Card Challenges.  This challenge is to create an ATC (artist's trading card) which is a pretty open challenge as long as your art measures 2 1/2" x 3 1/2".  Susan has a lot of wonderful information about ATCs on the challenge site and there are some fabulous pieces being shared by the design team and fellow crafters linking up.  

I have a confession to make.  I have NEVER made an ATC before.  Yes... I know shocking! And honestly, I wasn't too concerned about this challenge until I tried to squeeze my big ideas onto my itty, bitty piece of paper (can you imagine me doing inchies??).  But once I started adjusting my thinking to pulling out my smaller stamps and embellishments, things fell into place and I ended up with two different ATCs.

This one looked a lot different in my mind, but for my very first

attempt, I kinda like it!  The picture frame was made with Sculpey 

and a silicone mold (this is not SU, but just wait until you see the 

new catalog, hint! hint!).  I attempted another watercolor, inky

type background, and it didn't really turn out how I wanted, so I 

stopped before it became really muddy and finished it with stamping

and embellishing.  The frame was painted with a gold acrylic and 

smeared with gold glitter glue.

I think of the two, this is my favorite.  Maybe it's just more in my

comfort zone, but I like the softer colors.  I stamped my image and 

sentiment and then added pastels to create the background. I really

like the effect of using the watercolor paper for this!

I really hope that you will share an ATC with us this week, even if you have never made one before! I am beginning to find that I have the most fun with this type of challenge, although I need to stop stressing over the finished product and just let the process happen and learn from my mistakes!

As I am posting this, it is a very rainy Saturday and our plans of attending a local Chalk Walk event have been postponed to next weekend.  So I am going to get out of here and try to do some crafty stuff at home! Have a wonderful week and happy crafting!

Masculine cards don't have to be scary!!

Hello! I am half way through my first week of school and they haven't made me run for cover yet!! hee! hee! I managed to get my three projects prepared in time for my club meeting this past weekend! Nothing like working under pressure!! The day was so unusually beautiful and cool that we changed locations and went outdoors to a local park.  We ladies sat at a picnic table in a shelter house to get crafty while our children played together on the playground.  Fun for everyone!!  As a payment for their babysitting duties, I took my girls to the local ice cream shop after the meeting for some yummy treats!  I was a little bummed that they didn't have mango flavored Dole whip as the flavor of the week and consoled myself with a pineapple sundae! Oh, the sacrifices I make...  But enough of that!

I had something interesting pointed out to me at our club meeting.  I have never considered myself a great creator of masculine cards.  It is always so much more natural for me to go with whimsical or flowery when I make cards.  Because of this, I always have plenty of feminine and kids cards on hand, but have to make sure I actually have guy cards when the occasion arises.  This led me to the assumption that I am not good at the manly design.  I started off our club saying "I always struggle with guy cards..." and one of the ladies started to laugh. When I stopped, she said "You ALWAYS say that and then show us these great cards!" Hmmm... So now I am going to change my mindset on masculine.  I think it is so easy for many of us to say "I'm not good at..." when we really mean it's not our favorite style.  After all, I live in a home where the estrogen outnumbers the testosterone 3 to 1 (the dog and cat cancel each other out), so I tend to go girly.  But seriously, isn't masculine a lot simpler?  (I know... stay with me for a minute!) Find some manly paper, slap on a sentiment or image, and the embellishing is minimal. I usually do embossing on my cards anyway so really the only difference between the card below and a girly card is what I DIDN'T put on it!  This partially explains my blog title today.

The other explanation of my title lies in the paper.  I used Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP for this handsome card!  Yes, Halloween colors on this paper!! But don't you just love the manly prints in this pack?!  They remind me of some blazers you might find in a second hand store!  I adhered the alternating vanilla and patterned strips onto black cardstock, then embossed them with the houndstooth folder.  The chevron folder added some texture to the basic gray strip, and the brad (from antique brads collection) was the perfect finishing touch.

So no more excuses! Repeat after me-"Masculine cards are NOT scary!" Now go make something manly!  Have a great rest of the week and happy crafting!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-Howlstooth & Scaringbone DSP, very vanilla, basic gray, basic black, tangerine tango, Ink-stazon black, Stamp Set-Word Play, Accessories-houndstooth & chevron folders, decorative label punch, antique brads

And they lived happily ever after...

In an effort to use up my Christmas DSP, I decided to put together the card holder kit I bought before they retired.  Unfortunately, I was not very good at following the pattern (a little confusing to me anyway) and there are quite large white seams showing at the corners.  So now I am trying to brainstorm a way to cover the edges and still have the box look like someone older than 2 put it together...  After finishing the box, I went through my basket of cards to sort them into their new home and came across a card I had made quite a while back.  Well...the card was quickly covered with other cards and forgotten.  So today I am finally posting the card.

If you have been a follower of my blog for a while, you will remember this card...

This card was featured here.  My wonderfully creative blogging buddy Lisa M, suggested that it looked like they were off on an adventure.  That sparked my second card...

and the story that went with it.  Well it has been a little over 5 months and Chip and Rocky have an update...

Awww... isn't he cute?!  Who knew the gestation period for lawn ornaments was 5 months?!  So they had a baby and are now living in Little Rock! (yes... weak I know... but still corny enough to fit this series!!)  They do have a little problem though.  They can't decide on a name for their little guy and want you to help!  So...  in the spirit of this crazy little mini series, Chip, Rocky, and I are holding a "Name Baby Gnomie" Contest.  Leave your suggestion in the comment section and I will randomly pick a winner.  Who knows...there may even be a gift for the winner!  If you have more than one suggestion, please leave a comment for each name.

Have a wonderful rest of the week! The weekend is almost here!!

Card Recipe:  Cardstock-pool party, crumb cake, very vanilla, Everyday Enchantment (ret.), Ink-black stazon, various markers, Stamp Sets-Gnome Sweet Gnome (ret), Word Play, Accessories-crystal effects, ribbon (ret.)

Clean and Simple Sketch

This has been one of those crazy weeks when I really wanted to sit down to create, but other commitments had first billing... TGIF! Grocery shopping finished, dinner made, kids in bed and time to get crafty!!  Clean & Simple Stamping had a great sketch that I really wanted to use to get a few more Valentines done.  I had hoped to be finished by now... Just where did January go anyway?!

I've been determined to use up some of my older DSP, so out came Cottage Wall.  I also used the stamp set Outlined Occasions, which is a Sale-A-Bration item.   As much as I wanted to color in the word Love and the cute little hearts, I resisted in an effort to keep the spirit of CAS!  Of course, I did end up using some Vanilla Shimmer Smooch on the embossed heart...

I even added a little DSP to the inside!

Well, I hope you enjoyed my CAS Valentine.  I actually made a few different cards, but you'll just have to come back to see them later!  Hope you weekend is filled with plenty of opportunities to be crafty!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-pale plum (ret), rich razzleberry, whisper white, Cottage Wall DSP (ret), Ink-pale plum (ret), Stamp Sets-Butterfly Prints, Outlined Occasions, Word Play, Accessories-scallop trim and full heart punches, snow burst embossing folder, Vanilla Shimmer smooch spritz

Crop Project #2

Friday night was our daycare and preschool's fundraiser Crop night.  This is the second project that I taught.

Recognize the branches of the tree?  It's the pine tree from Lovely as a Tree turned sideways and stamped twice! This card was a CASE of Debbie's card, I just changed the papers a bit.  I also did a card like this using the tinted glimmer paper and will show that picture soon.  The ladies really enjoyed this card!  Most of the people attending were scrapbookers and they loved trying something new.

Card Recipe:Cardstock-whisper white, garden green, cherry cobbler, marina mist, Stamp Sets-Lovely as a Tree, Word Play (sentiment), Ink-soft suede, garden green, cherry cobbler, Accessories- ornament punch, snowburst folder, square lattice folder, top note die, cherry cobbler bakers twine

The 411 Challenge

I love checking out the sketch challenges from Stamping 411. Even if I don't get to play along, I try to save the sketches for later inspiration!  But this week, I actually had the time to play along! Here is this week's sketch...

I needed to make a sympathy card for a friend of mine and thought this would be a good starting point.  I turned the sketch on it's side and swapped the oval for a rectangle. I also tried my hand at coloring the white bakers twine with a marker.  I wasn't thrilled with the coverage at first, but once I had it on the card with the crinkled seam binding, it looked a lot better.  I made two versions, changing the ribbon just a little each time.  I also added some vanilla shimmer. I love the pearly sheen that it gives my card!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-whisper white, pear pizzazz, blushing bride DSP from In Color pack, Ink-blushing bride, pear pizzazz, basic gray, Stamp Sets-Just Believe, Word Play, Accessories-vanilla shimmer smooch spritz, pear pizzazz seam binding, white bakers twine (dyed), floral fusion sizzlit, silver brad

Boo!

Today was a great day to play with my stamps and paper! I blog hopped and found a few challenges that I wanted to try. Sketches By Carly had a fun sketch that I wanted to try. Then I saw the color challenge at My Create Ink, rich razzleberry, basic gray, and lucky limeade. Hmmm... I checked in on the ladies at Hand Stamped Sentiments and they were having a Halloween challenge. Three challenges in one card? Too cool! (It doesn't take much to excite me!) I had lots of thoughts and ideas going through my head and then I remembered that I had seen the owl punch turned into a ghost somewhere in blogland. I don't usually work a lot with gray and was afraid that the only gray would be my ink.  Then I remembered the gray corduroy buttons & brads I had bought from the clearance rack a long time ago! Here is my 3 challenge card...

As you read my card recipe, you may be a little confused. Just where is that Word Play stamp set on this card?! Well, I knew I wanted to put B-O-O on my banner but the alphabet stamps that I own are too big to fit on the banner. So, I used the B from 'wish big' and the O from 'thanks a million'. Necessity is truly the mother of invention! After I had the card put together, I started thinking that I should have done some dry embossing or stamping on the base. It just looks a little bare... Let me know what you think!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-lucky limeade, rich razzleberry, whisper white, & rich razzleberry DSP from the brights pack, Inks-basic gray and rich razzleberry, Stamp Sets- 4 frames, Word Play, Fabulous Phrases, Accessories-decorative label punch, owl punch, 1 3/4" circle, 1" circle, 3/4" circle, basic gray corduroy brads (ret), spider web embossing folder, rich razzleberry 1/4 grosgrain ribbon, white bakers twine

Yes, Another Retired Stamp Set...

Anyone seeing a trend here?  I am still in the process of going through my stamps and deciding if they stay or go.  At my last club, some of my stamps found new loving homes, but  I still have a big basket of stamps that I would like to use one last time. So as time allows, hopefully the contents of the basket will get less and less!  Today's card is for my great nephew's first birthday.  I decided to use animal stories for his card.

Card Recipe: Cardstock-whisper white, bashful blue, Ink-so saffron, bashful blue, Stamp Sets- Animal Stories, Word Play, Accessories- square lattice folder, certainly celery 1/4" grosgrain ribbon

Yet another wedding card!

Wedding cards are not usually in my stash because we haven't had much call for them in recent years.  But next month we have two weddings to attend.  I have already created a few cards, but I seem to gravitate towards my stamp from Word Play to see what else I can create.  I'm pretty sure this will be the last wedding card for a little while (I think...).  This card was really basic and simple to make, but I think it still has the elegance that a wedding requires.  Of course, this stamp requires a little bit of bling! This could also easily be an anniversary card too.

Card Recipe: Cardstock-very vanilla, baja breeze, Ink-baja breeze, Stamp Set-Word Play, Accessories, very vanilla satin ribbon, basic rhinestones, elegant lines emb. folder, 1 3/4 circle punch

Holiday Mini Peek-Take 2

I love the way Stampin' Up makes my job as a crafter so easy!  So, was there any doubt that when they put a new stamp set that coordinates with punches in the Holiday Mini, that I wouldn't HAVE to have it? In my last post you can see the Halloween image that coordinates with the decorative punch and today's card shows the Christmas image from this set and the latest punch!  The ribbon and the embossing folder are also new!

How cute is this? Wouldn't this make a great Baby's 1st Christmas card? And so much NEW stuff on one card, I'm feeling a little giddy!! So are you just dying to see the new Holiday Mini yet?  I think this might just be my favorite mini so far!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-crumb cake, whisper white, pear pizzazz DSP (in colors pack), Ink-jet black Staz-on, markers-crumb cake, pear pizzazz, and poppy parade, Stamp Sets-Gift Givers, Word Play (I only inked the joy part of the sentiment), Accessories-early espresso quilted satin ribbon (Hol. Mini), Snow Burst embossing folder (Hol. Mini), and Stocking Builder Punch (Hol. Mini)

One last inking...

If you saw my last post, you know that I'm currently in the process of cleaning out my stamping/scrapping supplies! Today's post is about a stamp I decided to remove from my 'collection'.  I also have a huge supply of various scraps of paper.  So I challenged myself to make these cards using only my scraps.  I did have to break out a piece of whisper white cardstock, but other than that, these are completely scrappy.  I'm not sure I love these cards, but the whole plan was to use up what I have, so here they are...

My SU supplies used were pretty in pink and bashful blue ink and the sentiment is from Word Play.  There is also a piece of retired DSP on one of the cards, but I can't remember which set.  I loved this little footprint stamp when I bought it, but I don't think I have used it more than once (on a scrapbook page, long ago), so it will be joining the other stamps in my remove pile.  I'm going to take a break from 'the old' tomorrow and play with some of my 'new' supplies from the holiday mini that will be available September 1st. Thanks for visiting!

Get Well Wishes

I needed a few more cards for my stash of 'last minute' cards and decided to make a get well card.  I used the sketch from Stamping 411 to get me started.  Here's the sketch...

and here's my card...

I also made a birthday card for one of my best friends using this layout.  The only difference is on the label, I cut out and pasted the numbers 2 & 9 from the DSP Play Date, since she's celebrating her 29th birthday (again!)  It's the most amazing thing, I'm a year older than her, but she is turning 29 this week and I will be 29 next month.  Math never was our best subject ;-)

Card Recipe: Cardstock-old olive, so saffron, chocolate chip, Play Date & tempting turquoise DSP, Ink-versamark, so saffron, and tempting turquoise, Stamp Sets- Butterfly Prints, and Word Play, Accessories- decorative label, scallop circle, scallop border, 1" circle and 3/4 circle punches

Word Play

I've been MIA last week on posting, mostly due to other priorities... But, now I'm prepared for my class taking place this weekend and had some time to play today before grilling, fireworks, and smores!! I love July 4th! My card today is based on the sketch challenge at Sketches by Carly. I flipped the sketch on it's side and used some of my hoarded SU buttons (I'm so bad at this!!) to create a birthday card. I just realized that this also fits another challenge, so I'm entering this in Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge to use buttons!

Card Recipe: cardstock-old olive, whisper white, daffodil delight, pacific point, ink-melon mambo, daffodil delight, various markers, stamp sets-word play and cupcakes wheel, accessories, ice cream parlor ribbon and buttons (ret.), linen thread,3/4" circle punch

Pinwheel Quilt Card

This is the card I created to enter in the blog hop challenge.  Our inspiration project was a two page scrapbook layout using a lot of colors from the brights palette and featuring pinwheels.  My initial plan was to create a large pinwheel on a 'stick' as the focal point of my card, but after I made the pinwheel my thoughts went another direction.  My Mom, sister, and aunt are all quilting ladies (this gene somehow skipped me...) so while I do not quilt and barely sew, I do remember seeing a quilt square resembling this pattern. So... my card is now a 'quilt block' instead!

The 'stitching' was created using a ruler and an Early Espresso marker. I did this step before running it through the Big Shot.  This will be the only 'quilt' my family is likely to receive from me! TFL!

Card Recipe: Stamp Sets-precious butterflies and word play, Card Stock-pumpkin pie, and whisper white, DSP-pacific point (from Brights pack), Inks-pumpkin pie, Accessories-square lattice embossing folder, pacific point corduroy brad (retired)