Is it spring yet?

Hi!  I don't know about you, but every year about this time I start wishing for spring.  Not the occasional sunny cool day, but REAL spring where I can put my winter coat away for long term storage!  It doesn't help that our winter weather started later than normal and seems intent on hanging around a bit more... So I decided that if I couldn't see spring flowers outdoors, I would make them indoors.

I made both of these on a chilly, wintry, snow day and I have to admit that it did make me feel a bit warmer!  Circle of Spring was one of those stamp sets that I couldn't wait to order, so I hate to admit that this is the first time I've actually used the wreath and bow images.  I also pulled out some really retired dsp called Tea Party.  As a matter of fact, I had to dig in my retired supplies to find the markers and base paper to match it!

I used patterned paper to make the brick wall.  I wanted to use something other than plain cardstock, and I think the subtle floral pattern made an interesting background.  The jury is still out on the polka dots...  

I hope that no matter what the weather (or season) you are having, you will be inspired to create something that makes you feel better too!  Have a wonderful week!

Card Recipe: Paper-Tea Party dsp (ret), pretty in pink (ret), whisper white, Stamp Set- Circle of Spring, Ink-memento tuxedo black, smoky slate, pretty in pink, certainly celery, almost amethyst, Accessories-brick wall embossing folder, wonderful wreath framelits, small scallop circle punch, word window punch, modern label punch 

A super simple card

Hello! I am so glad you stopped by to visit!  Today, I am sharing a card I made on Valentines Day.  It was cold, windy, and a little snowy, which seems to be the weather that puts me in the mood for creating.  Not much else to do, right?

This just might be the most basic card I have ever made!  I was trying to come up with ideas for birthday cards and was going through the new to me things that were still sitting on my table waiting to be used.  I bought the Happy Heart embossing folder thinking it would be so cute for Valentines.  Needless to say, I did not make Valentines...  It is always so strange to me that I will set out to make one thing and my supplies tend to pull me in a completely different direction.  I also need some Anniversary cards and thought the hearts would be pretty for the background.  I embossed and sanded some primrose petals core'dinations paper (retired...) and went through some papers and embellishments trying to decide my next step.  In the end, I opted to leave the background as the main panel.  The layered sentiment became my focal point and I found that I really, really liked how simple and uncluttered it was.

Speaking of uncluttered, this is definitely not to be said about my home at the moment!  January started out being a pretty good month for cleaning and organizing, but February is not following the pattern!  I am beginning to think that for every bag full of items going out in January, two managed to take its place in February...  Add to this the kids having the day off of school for President's Day and two snow days...  I am thinking that my spring break next month will be spent cleaning instead of playing.  Yuck!

Thank you so much for visiting and I hope you will come back again soon.  I'm trying to post at least once a week, so hopefully, there will be something new to enjoy next time!  Have a marvelous day!

Card Recipe:  Paper-very vanilla, basic gray, primrose petals core'dinations, Stamp Set-Teeny Tiny Wishes, Ink-basic gray, Accessories-Happy Heart ef, word window punch, modern label punch

Moon River...um...Lake?

My very weak attempt at humorous word play was inspired by a new to me stamp set from Stampin' Up.  The stamp set is called Moon Lake, but every time I see it I think Moon River, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Audrey Hepburn singing.  While 'Moon Lake' isn't as melodic, it is a beautiful stamp set and oh so perfect for masculine cards.  I am in dire need of some manly cards in my stash since there are quite a few birthdays approaching and no cards in sight!

Both of the cards I made are a nice blending of the old with the new.  My newly inked stamps went perfectly with my retired Well Worn dsp and always artichoke ribbon.  I also had to dig into my retired card stock for the river rock base.

I used a combination of markers and pastels to color the images, but I think I really like the pastels better for this stamp set.  My marker skills still need a lot of work, and chalk is pretty forgiving and blends so well!

In a few days, my DD1 will be celebrating a milestone birthday and I am trying to come to terms with the fact that my first baby is no longer a baby...  While we have  fun day planned, I know I will be just a little sad, but mostly proud of the wonderful young woman she has become.  I scoffed at the 'blink of an eye' concept when I was up to my elbows in diapers and sleepless nights, but today I'm feeling a little wiser.  My sleepless nights do occur less frequently, yet now they are for more weighty concerns.  I also find myself mentally apologizing to my own mother for every time that I must have made her worry...  I guess there truly is a circle of life-not just a Disney/Elton John song!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope I've given you a little inspiration and I really appreciate your visit!  Have a fantastic day!

Card Recipe: Paper-very vanilla, early espresso, river rock (ret), Well Worn dsp (ret), Ink-memento tuxedo black, always artichoke, cajun craze, crumb cake, early espresso, Stamp Set-Moon Lake, Accessories-pastels, always artichoke denim ribbon (ret), ticket duo builder punch, word window punch

  

One Manly Birthday Card!

Hello! I am so glad you stopped by to visit today!  I think I am finally ready to move on from all of the Christmas and winter inspiration.  Nothing like a few days stuck inside as the wind howls, and negative double digits try to nip at your nose and toes to change your inspirations!  On the positive side, two extra days added to my weekend not only gave me time to pack up all of my Christmas decorations, it also provided time to create.  

I was in a minor state of panic a few days ago when I went to my card binder to prepare my nephew's birthday card for mailing and realized I had no card!  Fortunately, there was a gender neutral card in my birthday stash that worked out ok, but I quickly moved making masculine cards to the top of my list.

The inspiration for today's card came from France Martin.  I had saved a copy of one of her cards on my computer (pre-Pinterest) and when I went back to her blog to link to it, I couldn't find it...  Her card was quite similar but with a different embossing, sentiment, and she added some brads.

Now, doesn't the testosterone just ooze off of this one?  I don't think there is one girly thing on this card!!  I used the retired Packed for Dad stamp and colored a few items to add interest without being too colorful.  My favorite part is the silver foil paper embossing. Nothing says man card like a little diamond plating! 

I enjoyed this design so much I even made a few extra to stick back for Father's day!  Well, I hope you enjoyed your visit and things aren't too frosty where you live.  I know my friends in southern Florida and Australia are nice and warm...  Have a great weekend and happy crafting!

Card Recipe: Paper-crumb cake, always artichoke, whisper white, silver foil paper, Stamp Sets-Teeny Tiny Wishes, Packed for Dad (ret), Ink-black stazon, crumb cake, always artichoke, bashful blue (ret), silver pen, Accessories-word window and modern label punches, non SU diamond plate embossing folder

ABAC Challenge 26- One Sassy Fairy!

Hello and happy Sunday to you!  I am so glad you are here because I have quite the interesting post today, at least, I hope you find it interesting!

Our current challenge at Anything But A Card Challenges is Fairies or fairy tales.  While I absolutely love this challenge, it was truly a challenge for me.  Now let me clarify that I am not anti-fairy.  I have nothing against the tiny little winged flitters, but my girls never got into the whole fairy themed merchandise and I never bought any fairy images.  I was going online for a digital image, when I stopped by the ABAC site to see the inspiration posted by my incredibly creative teamies.  That is where I found this!  The fairy name generator!!  How fun is this???  So I took a little bunny trail to the website and found my fairy name and background.

My fairy name is

Columbine Cornweb

She creates bounty and harvest. 

She lives in mushroom fields and quiet meadows. 

She can only be seen in the mist of an early morning. 

She wears lilac and purple like columbine flowers and has butterfly wings the colour of yellow corn.

This led me to creating my very own fairy based on the generated information.  The purple was not a problem; I had plenty of that since it's DD #1's favorite color.  I realized I didn't have any columbine images, but I did buy a gorgeous retired SU coneflower and grass stamp recently.  Besides, if I'm truly a fairy that lives among the meadows, wouldn't I love coneflowers just as much?!

I managed to create the background without a glitch when I realized I still needed a fairy... Hmmm... I did have a Sassy Susie stamp that might work.  Yep! She's even sitting in a chair! Hmm...chairs in a meadow? What I needed was a mushroom.  So I punched an oval and rounded the bottom with a circle punch and used the word window punch to make the stem. A little fussy cutting and Sassy Susie, um I mean Columbine was almost ready.  A butterfly punch, vellum, and some elegant eggplant ink created the snazzy wings and now Columbine was ready to perch on her toadstool.  I also found a sentiment from Blooming With Happiness that fit her pesonality.  It wasn't until I posted my picture with the information that I noticed that her wings were supposed to be yellow... Oops! It was a little too late to change them now.  Honestly I'm not completely sold that I would have corn yellow wings anyway.  Growing up on a farm, I am aware that corn is tasty, but it's also very 'hairy' and itchy. I would much rather have lovely eggplant purple wings!

So here is Columbine Coneflowerweb, taking a break from germinating and planting to say 'hello'!  She would love it if you would join us this week with your own fairy or fairy tale creation!  Be sure to check out the fabulous creations shared by the design team as well!

Have a fairy-tastic week and happy crafting!!

Project Recipe: Paper-whisper white, vellum, Ink-wisteria wonder, elegant eggplant, certainly celery, baked brown sugar, blush blossom, basic black, crumb cake, Stamp Set-Sassy Susie, Blooming With Happiness, Inspired by Nature, Accessories-pastels, butterfly punch, 1 3/4" circle punch, large oval punch, word window punch

Wanna play Doctor??

OK... Get your mind out of the gutter!  This is a PG blog! :)

I was going through my supply of cards and while I had plenty of 'get well' cards, I also like to have some that are a little humorous to send some laughter with the wishes.  Night Nurse Nina definitely fits in the fun category.  I found her at Dr. Digi's, yet another purchase I made thanks to the enabling of my dear friend, Lisa M...  If you enjoy funny and slightly warped images, you will love this place!

I used copics to color the lovely Nina, and created the background with pastels.  Notable Alphabet worked perfectly for adding the sentiment on the first one.

and I changed things up just a little on the second one with Teeny Tiny Wishes.

I'm hoping that when these are delivered, they will bring a smile to someone's face.  I also hope that they won't be facing a needle like the one Nurse Nina is clutching... Makes me shiver just thinking about it!

I hope you have a wonderful day and remember, paper crafting each day keeps Night Nurse Nina away! And for all of my American friends and visitors, Happy (early) Independence Day!!!

Card Recipes: Paper-basic gray, basic black, tempting turquoise, real red, whisper white, Ink-copics, black stazon, Stamp Sets- digi images from Dr Digi, Notable Alphabet, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Punches-modern label, word window, 3/4" circle, Accessories- whisper white grosgrain ribbon(ret),  pastels

Going Manly... um boyly??

Hi! I am so happy you are here!  I checked my stash of thank you cards at the end of the school year and realized all of my thank yous were quite girly.  This is not at all suitable when sending a note of appreciation to 4 and 5 year old boys...  So I decided I needed to add some more manly cards.  If you were a little confused by the post title, I was searching for the appropriate word for a masculine boy card.  I came up with boyly... yes... well aware that this really isn't a word, but I'm ok with that!  Maybe you can help me with a better term!

For those of you who are new to my blog, I recently resigned my position as a preschool teacher after over 15 years of teaching.  I was pleasantly surprised by the wonderful cards, notes, and gifts I received during my last week.  So I really wanted my thank you cards to be extra special too.  I had plenty of butterflies and flowers that worked perfectly for the girls, but nothing suitable for boys.  So out came Dinoroar. I was so sad that this retired from the catalog, since it's my go-to set for young boys, but I figured that these guys wouldn't care if the stamps were retired or not! Kind of makes them more 'extinct'... (insert wink here)

Isn't that T-Rex the cutest?! Not fierce at all!  I used DSP from Woodland Walk and thought the green piece had a wonderful scaley quality (sparked another idea to be shown later...) and when DH saw this card, he commented that the brown piece looked like a nest of dinosaur eggs. SCORE!  I used my trusty pastels to create the sky and sponged some garden green ink along the bottom to make the grass appear thicker.  I really hope my little guys enjoyed their cards as much as I appreciated their thoughtfulness.  While I was making these, I created an extra for OWH.  Thought they might need some boyly cards too!

I hope you find some time this week to be crafty and your mojo doesn't go the way of the dinosaurs! Happy crafting!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-wild wasabi, chocolate chip, whisper white, Woodland Walk (ret), Stamp Sets-Teeny Tiny Wishes, Dinoroar (ret), Ink-garden green, markers-crumb cake, wild wasabi, Accessories-word window punch, pastels

Anything But a Card Challenge #12- Share the Love

Hello! Well, I guess all of my fellow Americans know what today is right? It's Scrapbook Sunday!! You know, the night when everyone else in the family gathers in front of the tv, and you enjoy the peace and quiet as you craft your little heart away.  Oh, and I hear there's some sort of big sporting event being played tonight too...

Today is also the first week of Challenge #12 at Anything But a Card.  And what a 'love'ly challenge it is too!!

"Hello everyone!  Today we begin a new challenge perfect for the season: Share the Love- anything related to hearts, Valentines, love sick, love struck, love stinks, red, cupid, honeymoon, wedding, get the idea?  So this is a nice broad category that should generate lots of fantastic entries!  Be sure to link yours up below!  Just remember that we allow any craft project except cards!"

Now, before I show you my project for today, I want to clarify that this is NOT my design team project!  It is a card that I made that just so happens to tie in well with 'share the love' so I thought I would give you a little something to look at while I'm telling you about our challenge.

If you saw my post on Friday, you already know about the card I made for sweet little Grayson!  Today, I am sharing the card I made for Grayson's big brother, Aydan.  If you are looking for a very good reason to make a few little guy cards, be sure to check out my link.

I went with the Dinoroar stamp set again, but changed up the layout of the card.  I really hope both boys enjoy their cards and that maybe it will bring a little love and happiness to their lives.

Well, as I mentioned at the top of my post, I have been scrapbooking my little heart out and will have several pages to show you very soon! Have a marvelous week and happy crafting!

Card Recipe:  Cardstock-watercolor paper, river rock, always artichoke, basic black, whisper white, Ink-stazon black, always artichoke, crumb cake, river rock, chocolate chip, Stamp Sets-Dinoroar, Just Believe, Accessories-always artichoke denim ribbon (ret), word window punch, modern label punch, 1" circle punch, Houndstooth embossing folder, blender pen

Anything But a Card Challenge #8- Frosty the Glowman

Hello and welcome to week two of the current challenge at Anything But a Card.  We are celebrating the light or Seasonal Holiday.  You are free to interpret light however you like, as long as it's not a card.  We would love it if you would join in our challenge!

I am neck high in planning and making gifts for Christmas and knew that I would combine my design team project with something that would make a nice little present as well. It's multitasking by only doing one thing!! Gotta love that!!

I have been on an ornament kick lately and enjoy giving them as gifts because most people have a Christmas tree and who doesn't love a gift made with love?!  I first saw a snowman using a tea light, at Stamp & Scrap with Frenchie and thought it would make a cute idea for a little gift.  Then I saw another version that had a body as well.  Debbie's snowman is part of her 12 Days of Christmas Ornaments and she has a great tutorial, and some absolutely wonderful creations displayed on her blog!  I loved the hat on France's snowman and decided it had to go on my snowman too.  Of course, I took a little artists inspiration to change things around a little and make this guy my very own...

This was so easy to put together that I made 6 of them using up the tea lights I had left over from DD#1's birthday party a few years ago.  My girls liked them so well, they immediately laid claim to them as gifts for their teachers.  Good thing I made six of them!!

If you would like to recreate my little snowman, he really is super simple to put together.  Just layer the two larger circles and then use the 3/4" circle punch to make a hole for the switch to fit through. A little sticky strip around the base hold the ribbon in place and also attaches the tea light to the circles.  The eyes, buttons, and mouth are pearls that I colored with a black sharpie.  If you need a more visual description, I suggest a visit to Debbie's blog.

Well, that's it for me today! Only three more school days until our Christmas vacation begins.  Woo! Hoo! I am planning on doing a lot of crafting during my break and am looking forward to some 'not busy' time with my family.  Have a wonderful week and happy crafting!

Project Recipe:  Cardstock-basic black, whisper white, red glimmer paper, Ink-Baja breeze, whisper white, black sharpie, Punches-2 1/2" circle, 3/4" circle, Boho blossom, modern label, word window, Accessories-3" circle die, basic pearls, neutrals brads, old olive grosgrain ribbon (ret), sticky strip

Color Me Beautiful #10 I like it a latte for Christmas!!

It is Friday and that means it's time for a new color challenge at Color Me Beautiful.  I REALLY love these colors (must be the coffee junkie in me) and had a card in mind shortly after putting the papers together.  I saw a really pretty card on pinterest using the woodgrain folder and the coredinations paper and really wanted to pull that element.  That card also had a pine tree branch, but since there is no green in this week's challenge palette, I decided to change things up a little bit!! So here are the wonderful inspiration photo and color palette...

and here are my 'Country Christmas' cards...

At first glance, they appear to be the same, but I left the pearls off of one and only sprayed the ornaments with the smooch spray on that one.  I can't decide which version I like better!

There are so many possibilities with the wonderful earth tones.  It amazed me how different all of the fabulous design team cards were! I hope you find a little inspiration and I hope to see your creations linked up at the challenge blog!

Have a fabulous weekend and happy crafting!!

Tiffany's Color and Sketch Challenge-Just a little bling...

Hello! I hope you week is going well and you are finding lots of time to be crafty!  Personally, I feel like my wheels are spinning, but I'm going nowhere... Lots to do and trying to keep track of everything is not conducive to my crafty mojo!! I think I need a vacation (and yes, I do realize that I just went back to work!) so I can relax and play!

Every month my team leader, Tiffany, gives us an envelope with cardstock pieces and a sketch.  If we choose to accept her challenge, we must use the sketch and the colors she chose to make a card.  We can add a neutral and embellishing, but it has to be in the colors she gave us.

When I saw the sketch with the circles at various heights, I thought of ornaments and knew it would be a great chance to use my new ornament stamps and framelits.  I did not know I would be trying three different ways to 'hang' them...  I created everything on the card and embellished the ornaments with a little bling (rhinestones and dazzling details), then set out to hang them on my card.  My first thought was linen thread, but then the thread would be taped on the back of the card and I wasn't thrilled of trying to cover it up.  So I thought, I'll use the night of navy marker and draw lines.  It didn't look horrendous, but it also did not look beautiful.  So as I'm looking at the lines I thought 'What would happen if I used the string of rhinestones...' and I tried it on the second and fourth ornaments.  Beautiful! Next came the strings for #1 and 3...um....wow...that is a LOT of bling...  See for yourself!

Now that is one sparkly card! And definitely NOT what I normally create! Stampin' Anne, eat your heart out!! Tee!Hee! For those of you not familiar with Anne Marie's work, she is the queen of all things glittery (and pink!)!!

It took a little time for this to grow on me, but my girls loved it and I'm thinking it may go to one of my girly girlfriends for Christmas.  I'm just glad that I completed the challenge on time and was able to play with my new toys!!

I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week and that we both find some time to be crafty!! I really need to scrapbook!!!! Have a fabulous day!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-old olive, whisper white, Brights DSP stack, Ink-old olive, pretty in pink, night of navy, Stamp Set-Ornament Keepsakes, Tags til Christmas, Accessories-Holiday Ornaments framelits, ornament punch, word window punch, pretty in pink dotted scallop ribbon, 3/4 " circle punch, RHINESTONES, silver dazzling details

Sorry card...you didn't make the cut...

As many of you already know, I am on the design team at Color Me Beautiful and AnnMarie and Carole really come up with some fabulous color combinations!  I saw the colors for this week's challenge and immediately thought HALLOWEEN!! and I proceeded to make a card, which I quickly decided was not going to be my DT card.  Silly, I know, but I feel like if it's going to inspire someone else, I really need to LOVE it! So I made a new card which was posted on the challenge blog.  But, I didn't hate my Halloween card, so I figured I might as well share it on my blog.  So even though it didn't make the cut for the challenge blog post, it's getting a little love from my personal blog! Apologies in advance for the shadows...

While I really need to use up my DSP, I didn't have a pattern in these colors that I thought matched cute little Frankie's personality! So out came the embossing folder and the sponge daubers to add a little something to the otherwise basic cardstock. The rhinestones were colored with a sharpie to match the rich razz paper. I was thrilled with how well they matched!

So there you have it... I know I'm not the only one who critiques her work, and generally even if I don't love it, someone else does.  I really hope that in some way this is inspiring and I would love it if you found the time to join us in the color challenge!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-tempting turquoise, basic gray, rich razzleberry, lucky limeade, whisper white, Stamp Set-Googly Ghouls, Ink-Black Stazon, basic gray for sponging, Accessories-chevron folder, big shot, lucky limeade ruffled ribbon, basic rhinestones, glimmer brads, word window punch, modern label punch, decorative label punch, googlies, dimensionals

Color Me Beautiful Challenge #3

Hello! It's Friday! My favorite day of the week! Not only does it mean the weekend is here, but it's also time for a new color challenge at Color Me Beautiful! I am having so much fun playing with the wonderful color combinations and this week is no exception!

Check out these yummy colors...

and our color palette...

Anyone else hungry for eggplant Parmesan, or is it just me?!  

When I originally saw these pictures they really called Halloween to me.  So I made a Halloween card, but me and my nitpicky, wishy washy ways, I wasn't loving that card.  It wasn't horrible, but I really wanted something better to share, so I went back to the drawing board and made a new card...

Nope, not Halloween... but I like this one a lot more! Plus, it gave me the excuse to pull out some new toys and play with them!!  AND I have another Christmas card completed!! Bonus!

Have I mentioned that I love the bundles in the Holiday catalog?! As if coordinating stamp sets and framelits weren't wonderful enough, you also save money when you purchase them together!! How could I NOT buy them????

I hope the inspiration picture, color palette, and my little ol' card have encouraged you to pull out these SU colors and some SU stamps and play along!! I'll be patiently waiting to see your wonderful creations!

Be sure to check back later this week and I'll share my first attempt card with you.  Like I said, it's not horrid and I like it, but it just wasn't WOW like I wanted it to be.

Card Recipe:  Cardstock-basic gray, lucky limeade, whisper white, rich razzleberry, tempting turquoise, Ink-rich razzleberry, tempting turquoise, basic gray, Stamp Sets-Teeny Tiny Wishes, Ornament Keepsakes, Accessories- Holiday Ornaments framelits, white bakers twine, basic rhinestones, snow burst embossing folder (ret), Punches-modern label, word window, 1" circle, scallop oval

Challenge #2 at Color Me Beautiful!

Hello all! I am so far behind today, I think I passed myself twice trying to catch up!! I had every intention of having this post scheduled for first thing this morning, but ended up going out to eat with family last night and then completely forgot.

But anyway, my creation today is for the DT at Color Me Beautiful.  I actually did not have to make a card for this week since I'm on the second team, but the colors were just too pretty not to use, so here I am!  Take a look at the lovely inspiration photo...

and the list of colors...

and finally... My card!

 

I loved the gorgeous flowers in the photo and thought the wildflowers image from Just Believe would work to recreate them. Using markers to color the image made it easy to pull 3 of the 5 colors into my card. While I still think it might need a little something, I have yet to decide what it is and will just have to see what I come up with later.  There's a good chance it will grow on me too!

So if you think you might like to join me in the challenge, head over to the blog and check out the other design team members' lovely creations and get the details.  Remember, you do NOT have to use all 5 colors to qualify!  I was so happy to see a blogging buddy link up during last week's challenge and hope many more will join this week!!

Have a wonderful weekend and happy crafting!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-Always Artichoke, More Mustard, Very Vanilla, Raspberry Ripple, Ink- Always Artichoke, Raspberry Ripple, Calypso Coral, Stamp Set- Just Believe, Accessories-square lattice folder, word window punch, modern label punch, Victoria crochet trim

Wrapped up in fall!

Hello! I hope your weekend is off to a wonderful start!  I have my upline Stampin' Up meeting today, so my morning will be full of crafty fun!

I really got into the fall theme for our latest stamp club meeting!  All three cards featured goodies from the Holiday Catalog and were perfect for fall!  

I don't normally do a whole lot of creating with Halloween but the Googly Ghouls stamp set (also part of the Ghoulish Googlies Bundle) was just too cute! The bundle is perfect for making little treat bags so I made sure I put it on my preorder.  When I saw the adorable mummy card at  Robyn's Stamping Hood , I knew I had to CASE it!

 

The 'wrapped' background is an easy technique but looks so awesome.  I started with a piece of whisper white cardstock in the size that I wanted the layer (sorry, didn't write down the measurements...).   I cut 3 strips about 1" wide  and the same length of the layer with the paper trimmer. Then I did some very unscientific or mathematical cutting.  Just make sure that the one side is wider than the other. Hope that makes sense.  This does not have to be even and actually looks better when it's a little wavy.  Before adhering the 'wraps', I inked all of the edges with basic black ink, then alternated the strips onto the layer.  The rest was pretty basic.  Don't you just love the little googly eyes (or is that just the preschool teacher coming out?)!

Thanks once again for stopping by and I hope you find some time to be crafty this weekend!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-whisper white, basic black, pumpkin pie, Ink-basic black, stazon black, Stamp Set-Googly Ghouls, Accessories-lots of punches: word window, modern label, scallop circle, and 1 3/4" circle, googlies, basic black scallop dots ribbon

Blossom Builders Birthday

I was looking for something a little different to create for my stamp club and came across the blossom builders set in the Occasions mini.  I have to admit that I completely overlooked these until a fellow demonstrator did a tictac holder at one of our team meetings.  They are so awesome! All you have to do is punch them out and glue them down! And there is a solid color on one side and a print on the other.  Plus there are those fantastic pink rhinestones too! So I used the card in the mini (changed very little!) as one of my projects.  This was a really easy card to put together and the ladies loved the flowers!

While there are banner strips in the kit, I used very vanilla paper and snipped the ends. The sentiment is from Party This Way which is on the retiring list : (   I also used a circle as the base of my flower.

Card Recipe:  Cardstock-baja breeze, very vanilla, lucky limeade, Ink-baja breeze, Stamp Set-Party This Way, Accessories-Blossom Builders, word window punch, 1 3/4 circle punch, square lattice folder

Tiffany's Challenge

Every month our SU group, The Crafty SisTAHS, get together.  Tiffany, my upline's upline, hosts the meeting and everyone takes turns with sharing, making a project, choosing a swap theme, and bringing snacks.  This month, Tiffany had a challenge for all of us to make a card using a sketch and some cardstock she gave us.  We were allowed to add a neutral color and any embellishments, but couldn't change the color combo.  The colors were wisteria wonder, cherry cobbler, and pretty in pink.  Very girly colors! So I pulled out the stamp, Packed For Mom for the first time; added some whisper white, and began to put my card together. I had a great time playing with this image! I knew I wanted to color some of the images and pop up the flower and the next think I knew...the dazzling details  and crystal elements came out and there was even some fussy cutting too!

A closer shot of the image...

I have to confess that I did use a different base than the one Tiffany gave me.  I knew I wanted to use bakers twine as the 3 ribbon/bows part of the sketch and couldn't wrap them with the base she gave us.  So I cut a new piece the long way for my card.  Hopefully, she'll forgive me for taking liberties with her challenge : )  I really enjoyed doing this and hope she will continue to offer these challenges.  I really didn't use wisteria wonder too much before, but now I think it's starting to grow on me!  Thanks, Tiffany!

Card Recipe:  Cardstock-wisteria wonder, cherry cobbler, pretty in pink, whisper white, Ink-black Stazon and several markers, Stamp Sets-Packed For Mom and Party This Way (sent), Punches-modern label, large oval, word window, 3/4 " circle, Extras- white bakers twine, cherry cobbler & original dazzling details, crystal effects, basic rhinestones, perfect polka dots embossing folder

Be My Valentine

Ever look at a piece of patterned paper and think 'Wait a minute...There's a card in there...'?  That is pretty much what happened with this card.  I was looking for some red sparkly paper for a different project and came across this paper.  It's a retired paper from SU and I actually forgot I had some left.  As soon as I saw the pattern, I had a pretty good idea what my card would look like.  I remember seeing somewhere that someone made an envelope with hearts spilling out, but wouldn't you know, I didn't save or pin that one (a million others, yes...)  So if this was your original idea, please let me know.  The basic design and layout, other than the heart envelope, is from my little ol' head.

**UPDATE- While reorganizing my pinterest card pins, I came across the original card and wanted to give credit where it's due.   Darlene Design is the website where you can see the inspiration piece!

This was not CAS or QAS (quick and simple) and I made 4 of these!  I do not have an envelope die (gasp!), so I used a template that I had from ages ago.  Then I got busy punching, and punching, and punching, and embossing, and glittering, and you get the picture.  I'm slightly obsessive when it comes to putting patterns together, so the hardest part for me was arranging the hearts into a design that I thought looked just right.  I really like the way it turned out!

When I finished this card both of my DD came over and exclaimed "We want to make these for our Valentines!" Ummm.... I DON'T THINK SO!!!!  So now I'm trying to find a more basic way to recreate this so they can make duplicates for their friends.  Plus, I'm not so sure the boys in my youngest DD's class will appreciate this very girly card!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-pretty in pink, real red, very vanilla, Sending Love DSP (ret), Ink-pretty in pink, real red, chocolate chip (distressed edge of envelope), Stamp Sets-Fabulous Phrases, Just Believe, Punches-heart to heart, modern label, word window, Accessories-very vanilla seam binding, basic pearls, square lattice folder, snow burst folder, dazzling details