Birthday Greetings

Hello, again! I've been enjoying my newly scheduled play time, and I'm slowly rebuilding my supply of birthday cards. I've always enjoyed sending cards, and it's great to hear positive feedback from the ones who receive them. I've heard from so many people that it brightens their day to receive happy mail. I know that this is quickly becoming a thing of the past, and while I love the immediate response of texting and social media, there's something more personal about an actual letter or card for occasions. 

I'm sharing two more designs today, and am going to be working on something a little more detailed for DD#1's upcoming birthday. Here's a quick breakdown...

Simple use of matting and a stamped sentiment on this one. Love the purple and green combo!

I managed to use some scrap strips on this one!

My plan is to get some much needed scrapbooking done after my daughter's card is finished. I seem to be swimming in pictures... I haven't begun to sort through the pictures from my parents and in-laws. That will be an undertaking for another time.

The word 'Create' is beginning to permeate my daily life already. Not only am I scheduling time to be artistically creative,  but I'm also creating some space by cleaning out closets, cabinets, and the garage. I'm hoping a trip to the hardware store will yield some storage racks to better organize my holiday decorations and create a parking space in the garage. If we haven't unpacked it in 5 years, we probably don't need it,  right?! Wish me luck!

 

Leftovers never looked so good!

Hello! I haven't been able to post for a while, but have been creating quite a lot lately!  I will be sharing lots of scrapbook layouts soon, but wanted to share some fun cards I made using scraps that were in a pile on my table.  They all came together quite quickly and now I have extra cards and less scraps!

I didn't write down the supplies I used for these and I hate to admit that I'm a bit lazy today, so if you would like to know what I used, please ask in the comments and I'll share that info with you!  I hope you enjoyed my 'leftover' cards and who knows, maybe you'll be inspired to make some leftovers of your own!

Thanks so much for visiting and have a wonderful day!

A little Christmas Cocoa on a Merry Monday

Hello!  I have been diligently working on using up that pack of Christmas Cocoa paper and adding cards to my Christmas box at the same time.  Today's cards use some of the smaller pieces of pattern paper.

used the postage stamp punch on the card on the left

1" squares on the card on the right

 

made a little background using four strips of 

different patterns-there's a 5th piece behind the 'merry' cutout

this used up a larger piece topped with a thinner strip.

I used a bit of ricrac to make the bow.

I hope you found some inspiration in my cards for today.  I am getting pretty creative with the different ways to use up scraps and I'm happy that all of those little pieces are finding good homes!!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a marvelous day!

Merry Moments-A Cause for Celebration!

WARNING: PHOTO HEAVY POST!  No really... LOTS of photos!!!

Hello! I am having a little party in my studio today because I just did the impossible!! Well...almost impossible (for me especially).  I have completely finished a pack of Christmas paper! An entire pack has been used up!! Shocked?! I can hardly believe it myself!

If this is your first time visiting, I would like to clarify that I'm not crazy (my mother had me tested) and I do have a very good reason to celebrate.  You see, I am a bit of a paper hoarder (don't laugh at the understating of this issue if you're a regular) and since we moved into our new home, I have been working diligently to use my incredibly large supply of patterned paper.  A few years ago I celebrated using all of Ski Slope (a veeerrry retired pack of SU paper) and now I get to celebrate again as I have once again used an entire pack of paper.  Merry Moments has always been one of my favorites because it has such a wonderful vintage feel to it, and I have used it a lot in scrapbooking and card making.  After a recent perusing of my Christmas stash, I realized I didn't have a full sheet of any of these papers and that was all the incentive I needed to get busy and finish it off.  I'm not going to lie, it took an entire day of planning and positioning to do this, and I did feel a little sad that it's all gone, but now there is one less package of Christmas paper on the shelf and I'm even closer to having my Christmas cards done on time.

I know you didn't really come here to read my ramblings, so here are the SEVEN different things I created using the last of Merry Moments.

I had 1/2 sheets of these patterns and managed to make 10 cards from them!

I even used the tiny bits to make a quilt card and a little embellishment for 

either a card or a scrapbook page!

Here I used the biggest piece of paper, as well as some tiny strips to make

my scrapbook page.  This will eventually hold two or three photos.

I would love to say that this means that I can go buy more paper, but there is still a lot more on that shelf, and unless the paper is truly crying my name, I won't be buying anything new yet!  I've actually been eyeing the pack of Christmas Cocoa that only has 2 full sheets left and lots of bits and pieces... Who knows? I may be celebrating again really soon!

I hope this has inspired you to dig into your older papers and use them up! Have a fabulous day and thanks so much for stopping by to celebrate with me!

Scrappy Christmas Cards

Hello! Just a quick post with some Christmas cards I created from a pile of scraps.  I decided since so many of the scraps were pretty small, I would go with a quilted theme.  I'm not sure what you would call these particular quilt patterns, crazy??  No matter what you call them, they used up quite a bit of the smaller pieces of some very old Christmas DSP.  There are still a few bigger pieces left, but I think they'll have to wait for another day (maybe a scrapbook layout).

I pieced and glued my scraps onto a 4 x 5 1/4 piece of copy paper, ran the whole thing through the embossing folder and finished my card.  Not too difficult other than trying to find the right placement for the scraps...  I also managed to use the negative cut of a top note die that has been in my stash for a loooong time.  So glad it has a home now!

School and DD2 have been keeping me quite busy and I really need to get more Christmas cards made if they're going to be ready in time!  Wish me luck and thanks so much for stopping by!! Have a wonderful day!

Card Recipes:  Paper-real red, very vanilla, Merry Moments dsp, Ink-chocolate chip, Stamp Set-Joyous Celebrations, Accessories-oval and scallop oval punch, hexagon punch, top note die, square lattice folder

Back in the saddle again!

Helloooooo... I'm hoping there's not too much of an echo in here and that some of my following peeps are still around! I have finally bought a new computer, mostly finished renovating our new to us house, and partially moved in (still no scrappy room...) and had a few minutes to post something on my blog again!

The cards were actually created a while back, but without a computer, they were never shared on my blog.  Nothing too fancy and for the most part they were made with scraps of paper that I felt the need to use up!

I love how the petite blue flowers on the umbrella and 

the blue cloud tie together to make a not so cloudy and gray card.

This one is a bit unusual for me-a card full of sticker embellishments!

My mom loves peacocks and the girls thought these stickers were

perfect for her birthday card. I have to admit, the 3D feathers are

very pretty!

Well, this is all for now. I hope you will get a little inspiration from my cards and I promise not to wait so long before I post again! Have a great day and happy crafting!

Anything But a Card Challenge 45-Green with Envy

Hello and happy Ides of March!! " Et tu, Brute?" (My high school lit teacher would be so proud that I remembered this!) It is time for Week 3 of the Green with Envy challenge at Anything But a Card.    The team has shared some wonderful versions of green and envy, and we would love to see what makes you go green!  I have to say that this challenge stretched my mind creatively (happens quite a bit with these amazing ladies!) since I really couldn't come up with anything for 'envy' and while I like green, it's not my 'go to' color.  So I went to my trusty Pinterest search box to see if something there would inspire me.

If you want to be completely overwhelmed and wowed at the same time, try typing in 'green art' in the Pinterest search box!  There were a lot of amazing creations, but this one really caught my eye!

It's made from glass bottle bottoms!! Isn't it fantastic?!  Now, I am nowhere near skilled in glasswork.  I would either shatter the pieces or slice off a finger in the process!  I did like all of the varied shades of green and the round shapes.  I also knew I had a lot of green scraps that could create a similar design.  I decided to make a scrapbook page, using the greens to make a background pattern.  I set out with all of my circle and scallop punches and a bunch of green papers. *Bragging moment- I did not cut any whole sheets of paper for my page!  Everything was scraps, except for the green base!*

After punching a lot of shapes, I started to lay out my pattern, and this is where it all went downhill fast.  I was totally stressed out over their placement.  First, too many of the same size, then the same color, then colors that didn't look great together.  Grr...  So I took a break, made lunch, and did a load of laundry, and during these tedious jobs a thought struck me.  This is supposed to be fun and I'm not having fun.  I'm choosing laundry over creating...  So I went back to the pile of circles and reminded myself that art is process not product.  Rather than attempting to lay out the entire page, I started in a corner and worked my way out.  Interestingly enough, it became easier once I was committed to complete what was already glued down!

To add interest, some of my circles went off the page and were trimmed.  I then reused the cut off pieces to fill in other edges.  Truly a 'scrap'py page!  The photo I added was from a craft day that my daughter's Girl Scout troop sponsored, so all of the green ended up being quite appropriate for the scouting page.

I hope you will join us with your green with envy creation!  We would love to see what you do with the challenge!  It's a great way to celebrate St. Patrick's day too!

Page Recipe: papers of almost every shade and pattern of green, various circle and scallop circle punches, perfect polka dots embossing folder

If you give a cardmaker scraps...

...she will make a birthday card!  I am frequently teased about the scraps of cardstock and pattern paper that  I save. "Oh wait! There's still an eighth of an inch of paper there..." ha...ha...ha...

I'm not quite that bad, but I do save pieces that I think can be used, including strips of white cardstock that are 1/2 an inch wide.  Why? They are the perfect size to use with the word window punch and the bitty banners!  I also save smaller pieces of ribbon that can be folded and tucked to dress up an image or turned into something else.  These scraps also keep me from cutting into a full sheet of paper when I only need a tiny piece, and stretch a spool of ribbon just a bit further!

I was in desperate need of some birthday cards, especially kids and gender neutral.  I came across the dinosaur image that I made ages ago and put in my "Do Something With This" box.  We won't talk about how many things are in there... I made this paper pieced dinosaur shortly after I made this card.  The background paper just looked like dinosaur skin! So I used the scraps (seeing a pattern here?) to stamp and paper piece this awesome guy!

notice the scrap of paper used for the banner!

I also made a gender neutral card because sometimes I forget birthdays (gasp!) and then need to grab a card as I walk out the door.  These are great for those occasions!  I managed to use smaller pieces of cardstock for most of this card, but the best scrap use is the ribbon scrap as the tails of the badge.

Now I have a few more cards in my file and a few less scraps hanging around! Bonus!!

I hope you are having a wonderful week and perhaps you'll spend a day digging through your scraps too! Who knows what you might find?!  Thanks so much for visiting!!

Card #1 Recipe: Paper-crumb cake, garden green, whisper white, Woodland Walk DSP (ret), Ink-garden green, crumb cake, stazon black, Stamp Set-Dinoroar (ret), Accessories-pastels, bitty banners framelit, big shot

Card #2 Recipe: Paper-whisper white, daffodil delight, old olive, Ink-night of navy, old olive, Stamp Set-Blue Ribbon, Accessories-circle framelit, 2 1/2 " scallop circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, perfect polka dot embossing folder, chevron embossing folder, denim ribbon

Flashback Friday-Scrappy Holidays!

Hello! I'm so glad you stopped by today!  I am doing my very best to keep up with the Christmas card making plan and I have four more cards to share today!  Once again, I used the retired Ski Slope DSP and  the package is looking even more pitiful than before. 

I was so excited as this card came together for three reasons. 1. It used a lot of smaller scraps that I always struggle to use (but yet can't seem to throw away!). 2. It used almost all retired product. and 3. It came together so quickly!

a close up of the design

and all four cards...

I have to admit that it feels pretty good to use up some of my older goodies and add to the growing stack of Christmas cards.

**Revised** I am linking this card up at Merry Monday where they are having an Anything Goes-Christmas challenge all month long!  I've also linked up with Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge, who also has an anything goes as long as it's Christmas challenge for the month of July!

I hope you have a marvelous weekend and happy crafting!

Card Recipe: Paper-riding hood red, scraps of whisper white, Ski Slope DSP (ret), Stamp- non SU from my stash, Ink-kiwi kiss (ret), Accessories- brads, photo corner punch

Oh, scrap! It's a Christmas card!!

Well, hello there! Yes, I'm posting on a Wednesday! Shocking!! I've actually had some cards ready to post, but needed to wait until after my club met to share them with everyone.

I am normally a true blue procrastinator.  Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow? Or for all the Gone with the Wind fans... I'll worry about that tomorrow...  But somehow, the most unusual thing happened this year! I decided to use up some of my older Christmas DSP and also found some wonderful Christmas card sketches to use and the next thing I knew, I had quite the stash of cards ready to be mailed!!! As a courtesy to my fellow procrastinators, I will not rub in their faces reveal how many cards are in said stash, but I am quite confident that I just might be finished by Thanksgiving!!  Now, shopping on the other hand is not quite so finished...um...like barely begun... But hey! What would the week before Christmas be without a few panicked shopping trips?!

I designed 3 Christmas cards for this month's club because the ladies love getting some ideas a little earlier so they can order their goodies for their cards.  I went with one incredibly simple card and two that had a little more detail.  This way they could decide how much time they wanted to invest in their card making.  I borrowed the design for this card from Amanda.  Pretty much CASEd it actually... But hey, why change a great thing?!

This card came together so quickly, it was almost ridiculous! Like, 'you could make all your cards in one day', ridiculous!! While I used the new Be of Good Cheer DSP, this would be a fabulous design for using up those scraps! Hence the title of the blog post...

Well, that's it for me today! I am looking forward to our annual Girls Day Out at the Christkindlemarkt (a local arts and crafts festival) this weekend.  Lots of shopping, laughing, eating, and wine tasting! Woo! Hoo!  

Happy crafting!!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-whisper white, gumball green, Be of Good Cheer DSP, Stamp Set-Teeny Tiny Wishes, Ink-cherry cobbler, Accessories-postage stamp punch

CAS and CASE

Today's card is the last of my stampin' club cards.  I already had a design in mind and then I saw Tiffany's card.  I loved the clean design and how simple it was to put together. I swapped the butterfly for a flower and changed the sentiment stamp, and colors, but other than that, it's pretty much a CASE.  This is also a great card for using up scraps and I'm sure I will be using this layout a lot!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-whisper white, pink pirouette DSP from subtles stack, certainly celery, Baja breeze, Ink-soft suede, Stamp Set- Curly Cute, Accessories-corner punch, little leaves sizzlit, Boho blossom punch, silver brad from metallics collection

Just a Note

This is the last of my four cards from my scraps box. Over the summer,  I made a set of note cards for a good friend of mine from church, who is also the organist, for her birthday.  I had just one little square left of the DP and thought this would be enough to make a card for my oldest DD's choir teacher.  We started a tradition years ago of giving their teachers a thank you note on Thanksgiving and she wanted me to use this paper for her card.

The card base is a very old one that I received as a thank you gift for hosting a Stampin' UP party years ago... Who knew?!  

Card Recipe: Cardstock-naturals ivory, soft suede, non SU DP, Ink-Black Stazon, Stamp Set- non SU sentiment, Accessories-chocolate chip satin ribbon

I'm Baaaaack!

Over a week since posting! I think that's a new record for me! Our family took a mini vacation to visit family near Chicago this past weekend and I'm just now caught up on everything and able to play again! I had to laugh when I got a message from my cyber friend Lisa wondering if everything was OK. Guess my DH is right, I do spend a lot of time online... Thanks for checking up on me, Lisa!! Anyway... I have to share a fun picture from my trip. My SIL and I always have a great time when we get together and this time was no exception.  We made a trip to Archiver's and also stopped at this yummy gelato shop! But one of my favorite stops is visiting the wine shop that she works at part-time and doing a tasting! I even met this distinguished guy who couldn't keep his eyes off of me. So I had to get a picture with him!

Isn't he the cutest?? My oldest daughter says he creeps her out!
I have this shoe box of various scrap on my shelf that was calling to me today. So my card is almost completely made of scraps (only the base was a full sheet of paper!) My upline (and super crafty friend), Kelly, had a card similar to this on her blog and it is the perfect layout for using scraps!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-whisper white, various pieces of patterned paper, Ink- basic black, (black, peach parfait & creamy caramel markers), Stamps-Tags So Much (ret.), Accessories-large & extra large tag punches, chocolate chip ribbon (ret.), stapler