Celebrate

Hey there! Hope your first week of 2013 is going well so far. I'm trying to enjoy the last few days of my Christmas break. Not sure I'm ready to go back on Monday...

I spent my afternoon crafting (& eating...& chatting) with some friends--all hosted by the fabulous JoLynn! I made these two cards using new stamps from Paper Smooches & Hero Arts, along with some new papers from My Mind's Eye.

I'm entering these in the Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes challenge as well as A Blog Named Hero's New Year, New You.

Hope you like them!

Stamps: It's All Good & Hey Y'all (Hero Arts), Sentiment Sampler (Paper Smooches)
Paper: PTI white & kraft
Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black
Accessories: dimensionals

Desires of Your Heart

Happy Saturday! Mine is especially happy after the Cardinals pulled off that AMAZING comeback last night! Woot! Woot! for October baseball! 

Today's card is for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge--use a heart on your CAS creation. I was in a sparkly mood, so I used some American Crafts aqua glittered cardstock & some of their red glittered ribbon. I am in LOVE with AC glittered ribbon--really can't get enough of this stuff! I finished it off with a "hearty" sentiment.

Hope you love it as much as I do!

Stamps: Signature Series: Dress Form Mini (PTI)

Paper: Aqua Mist, Kraft (Papertrey Ink), Aqua Glitter (American Crafts)

Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black

Accessories: American Crafts ribbon, PTI dies

Shoebox Swap

Hey there! It's been a busy July around here...can you believe I've been working a LOT on back to school already? :(

I've also been busy on the crafty side; last weekend my friends & I had a HUGE garage sale. I cleared out stamps that I've owned since I started crafting about 8 years ago...so not only is my crafty space less cluttered, but I also made several hundred bucks! Woohoo!

Today I'm sharing a set of cards I made for a shoebox swap I attended recently. It was up to us whether we wanted participants to make one or two cards...so I compromised & had the ladies make the same card in two different colors. It's always a challenge for me to come up with a design for a shoebox swap...it needs to be easy to make AND I have to make sure I have enough supplies for all the cards. 

The ladies loved them...hope you do, too!

Stamps: Everyday Button Bits (PTI)

Paper: PTI white, American Crafts & SU pp

Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black

Accessories: buttons (stash)

Think Pink

Happy hump day! Hope your week is going smoothly. Today is supposed to be the first of many HOT days ahead...hoping the weather forecasters are wrong, but then again, it is almost July. Can you believe it?!

Today's card is for CAS-ual Fridays 58--Pretty in Pink. I used my new die from Simon Says Stamp (designed by Kristina Werner--love her!) & played with some color blocking, using 4 varying shades of pink. I love how it turned out!

And while we're on the subject of love, can I just say how much I love Simon Says Stamp? I placed my first order on Thursday, & it was here by Monday! Woohoo for fast service!

Have a great day!

Stamps: Birthday Basics (PTI)

Paper: Sweet Blush, Raspberry Fizz, white (PTI), Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose (SU)

Ink: Adirondack Espresso

Accessories: Oh Happy Day! die (Simon Says Stamp)

Celebrate YOU

Happy Sunday! It's a cloudy day here, so I snuck into my crafty space for a little creative time. 

I'm playing along with the current challenge at The Play Date Cafe. This week is the ever-popular "color splash"--black, white, & blue. I went CAS on this one...only took a few minutes to put it together, but I love the way it turned out. Gotta love it when that happens!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Stamps: Spot Dot (PTI), A Little Birthday Cheer (SU)

Paper: PTI white

Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black, Brilliant Blue (SU)

Accessories: rhinestones (Michaels), dimensionals

Berry Best

Happy Saturday! Hope you're enjoying your three-day weekend & kickoff to summer!

My first day of vacation started yesterday, & that has put me in full summer mode. When I saw this week's colors over at The Play Date Cafe, I immediately thought of fresh strawberries.

So, I pulled out my (new to me) Strawberry Patch Sentiments set from Papertrey along with some (also new to me) SU patterned paper. Throw in some ribbon & bling & voila!

Hope you like it "berry" much!

Stamps: Strawberry Patch Sentiments (PTI)
Paper: Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, pp (all SU)

Ink: Night of Navy, Real Red, Garden Green (SU)
Accessories: ribbon (stash), Kaisercraft rhinestones

Papertrey May Blog Hop Challenge

 Hey there! I'm joining in on the fun with this month's Papertrey blog hop!

This month's inspiration is this fun mix of patterns combined with a fresh color combo.

Here's what I came up with. I struggle with mixing patterns, but I did my best. I made green the accent color by using some glittered ribbon & bling.

Hope you like it! Happy hopping!

Stamps: Cupcake Collection (PTI)

Paper: PTI white, pp (PTI & stash)

In: Adirondack Pitch Black

Accessories: Michaels ribbon & rhinestones, Paper Shapers star punch

Happy Day

Hey there! Happy hump day! Only a few more weeks of school before SUMMER begins! I'm trying not to count the days...

I got off work a bit early today, so I had a few moments to whip up this card for the current CAS-ual Fridays challenge. This week is a spring theme, so you need to use flowers or trees on your card.

I used two unloved sets on this one--SU's Button Buddies & Friendly Phrases.

Hope you like it!

Stamps: Button Buddies, Friendly Phrases (SU)

Paper: Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet (PTI)

Ink: Berry Sorbet (PTI)

Accessories: Kaisercraft Pearls

Birthday Treats

Hey, all! Sorry I've been so quiet here on the blog. Not only have I been busy with fun summer activities, but every time I sit down to craft, the mojo is nowhere to be found.

On a good note, I've been focusing on my health, & I've lost 25 lbs. since the end of March (almost 50 lbs. since my heaviest a few years ago). Woohoo!

Anyway, on to the craftiness. My buddy, JoLynn, is celebrating a birthday tomorrow, so I threw together some treats for her. 

I was inspired by this cute paper sack, so I used similar colors & a polka dot theme.

JoLynn & I are Zumba buddies, so I wanted to give her some healthier snacks.

I started with a pack of watermelon gum...

 and added some Crystal Light packets. I also threw in some 100-calorie pack snacks for good measure.

Here's the glittery card I paired it all with.

Hope you like it!

Stamps: Tart & Tangy, A Little Birthday Cheer (SU), Pucker Up (A Muse), Feelin' Fruity? (My Favorite Things)

Paper: PTI white, Raspberry Fizz, Echo Park & American Crafts pp

Ink: Only Orange, Pixie Pink, Yoyo Yellow, Green Galore, Taken with Teal, Basic Black

Accessories: SU circle punch, Martha Stewart glitter, dimensionals, American Crafts flair, Michaels ribbon

Wee Memories Challenge 60

Happy Saturday! Are you ready for another Wee Memories Challenge?

This time our sponsor is Eat Cake Graphics! Our winner will receive a $25 gift certificate! Woohoo!

In keeping with our sponsor's name, we thought it'd be fun to do a "party time" theme. Think birthday cards, invitations, gifts, etc.

I created a masculine birthday card using the Little Boy collection from Echo Park. My favorite part is the birthday candle I made using patterned paper & a bit of twine. Fun, right?

So, ready to play along with us? Link up your "party time" creation to the Wee Memories blog. Remember, now that it's summertime, you have TWO weeks to play along. The deadline is Fri., July 1 at midnight PST.

I can't wait to see your party ideas!

Stamps: Simple Sentiments (PTI)

Paper: Aqua Mist, PTI white, Echo Park pp

Ink: Real Red

Accessories: The Twinery twine, PTI ribbon, Fiskars Upper Crest punch

Papertrey February Blog Hop Challenge

TGIF! It's time for another Papertrey blog hop! This month the focus is on scallops. 

I made a scalloped butterfly using a edger punch & a PTI butterfly die, then added another scallop to the bottom of my card.

Tip: I recommend using patterned paper rather than cardstock to create your butterfly. I found (at least with my Cuttlebug) that the butterfly becomes too thick for the die to cut through. I also used a thinner generic white cardstock to attach the patterned paper to (again to diminish thickness).

Hope you like this! Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Cupcake Collection (PTI)

Paper: SU textured cardstock, Bitty Dot Basics pp

Ink: Fresh Snow

Accessories: PTI butterfly die, SU scallop edge punch, PTI button, Michaels pearls

For the Birds

Hey, all! Happy hump day! I'm in the midst of another crazy week here. The musical is in less than 3 weeks, so I'm knee deep in rehearsals.

BUT I did squeeze out a bit of time to play along in the latest Embellish magazine color challenge...this time the focus is on birds.

I pulled out an old stamp set for this one, along with some unloved textured cardstock & this shade of blue which I rarely use, so this was a good challenge for me.

I used Tiff's Sketchy Sunday 008 as my layout.

Hope you like it!

Stamps: Birds Galore (Inkadinkado), Birthday Basics (PTI)

Paper: Close to Cocoa textured, Brocade Blue, Naturals Ivory

Ink: Adirondack Espresso, Brocade Blue

Accessories: SU Square Lattice embossing folder, SU ribbon

Birthday Cupcake

Happy Sunday, all! Hope you're having a good weekend. I have the day off tomorrow for President's Day, so I will be a busy little bee in my craft room. Hoping to catch up on some DT work as well as whip up a few things for some pub calls. I'm getting behind with all the work I'm doing on my school's musical...three-hour rehearsals 4 nights a week! Forgive me if I don't make it around to your blog as often as I usually do.

It's rainy here today...perfect for crafting...so I got busy with a few challenges. I combined Papertrey's Make It Monday #2 (use a vellum sentiment strip) with JUGS72 (aqua, melon, & kraft) & the Totally Stampalicious challenge to add glitter or bling. I glittered the frosting on my cupcake...I figure if you can't eat it, at least I can make it pretty to look at, right?

Hope you like it!

Stamps: Cupcake Collection, Simple Sentiments (PTI)

Paper: Berry Sorbet, Cool Caribbean, PTI kraft & white, white vellum

Ink: Berry Sorbet, Cool Caribbean, Adirondack Espresso

Accessories: Nestabilities circles, PTI buttons, Kaisercraft pearls

Wee Memories Challenge 44

Welcome to Wee Memories Challenge #44! This week we have an awesome sponsor--Oh My Crafts! They are generously offering our winner a $15 gift certificate!

Our challenge this week is to use a papercrafting magazine or catalog as inspiration for your project!

I used a card found on page 29 of the current SU mini catalog as my inspiration piece. I used the layout & similar colors to create my card.

And here's my finished card. I tried to make my card a little more masculine (the inspiration card had birds & flowers) since I always need more guy birthday cards.

So, are you ready to play along? Get busy on your papercrafting project, then link up your finished creation on the Wee Memories blog. You have until midnight PST on Fri., Feb. 25 to be eligible for the prize.

I can't wait to see what inspires you!

 

Stamps: Turning a New Leaf, Birthday Basics (PTI)

Paper: Old Olive, Taken with Teal, PTI white & kraft

Ink: Old Olive, Taken with Teal

Accessories: Fiskars upper crest punch, PTI button, SU linen thread

Etsy Inspired #127

 Hey, everyone! Time for another Etsy Inspired Challenge! This week's featured shop is Claylicious, home of functional & decorative handmade pottery.

Claylicious is offering this handmade ceramic owl desk buddy as a prize to one winner this week!

Plus, you can use the code "INSPIRED" to receive 10% off your purchase at Claylicious!

 

Our awesome sponsor is Your Next Stamp, who offer a unique variety of fun and whimsical rubber stamps for every occasion! They are offering one winner a $10 gift voucher!

I chose this fun little plate as my inspiration piece. The tree immediately reminded me of some stamps I own but haven't inked up, so I pulled them out & got to work.

I paper pieced my tree & added a simple sentiment. This will go into my masculine birthday card stash.

Be sure to check out the rest of the DT to see how they were inspired:

Angi
Ashley
Carole
De
Emily
Jackie

Joy
Kerry
Ruby
Savannah
Sherry
Virginia

So, are you ready to play along? Head over to the Claylicious shop to gather inspiration. Then link up your finished creation to the Etsy Inspired blog. If you are posting your creation to an online gallery, please use the keyword EIC126. You have until noon on Fri., Feb. 25 to be eligible for the prizes.

I can't wait to see what you create!

 

Stamps: Funky Foliage (WPlus9), Birthday Basics (PTI)

Paper: PTI Kraft, SU pp

Ink: Adirondack Espresso

Etsy Inspired #126

Hello! I'm back again with another Etsy Inspired challenge! 

This week's shop is Glow Girl! They offer coupon organizers, tote bags, & sandwich baggies  that are both eco-friendly & ADORABLE! Glow Girl is offering a mega or regular sized coupon organizer to one lucky participant this week!

Our awesome sponsor this time around is The Stamping Boutique! They offer both digital & red rubber stamps that are SO cute! You can also visit their blog for fun challenges & inspiration. 

The Stamping Boutique is offering a prize of 5 digis to one lucky winner!

I chose this coupon organizer with Japanese umbrella fabric as my inspiration. At first I thought about doing something quite literal with some umbrella stamps, but then I started to look at the umbrellas as simple circle shapes.

So I created this graphic masculine birthday card.

Be sure to check out the rest of the DT to see how they were inspired:

Angi
Ashley
Carole
De
Emily
Jackie

Joy
Kerry
Ruby
Savannah
Sherry
Virginia

So, are you ready to play along? Head over to the Glow Girl shop to gather inspiration. Then link up your finished creation to the Etsy Inspired blog. If you are posting your creation to an online gallery, please use the keyword EIC126. You have until noon on Fri., Feb. 18 to be eligible for the prizes.

I can't wait to see what you create!

Stamps: Birthday Basics (PTI)

Paper: Old Olive, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Hawaiian Shores, PTI Kraft

Ink: Adirondack Espresso

Accessories: Nestabilities circles

Dreams Come True

Happy Sunday, everyone! I'm still recuperating from my back injury...it's making it hard to get creative. Hope my mojo returns soon...got lots of work to do!

I did manage to make one card I'm somewhat happy with...only took me the whole weekend to finish it, too.

I played along with PDCC66...not a big fan of purple, but I think this lilac shade is pretty.

And here's what I came up...can never have too many birthday cards in the stash, can you? 

I used my new Square Lattice embossing folder...blame Laurie for using it on so many gorgeous cards...I had to break down & get it.

Hope you like it!

Stamps: Birthday Basics (PTI)

Paper: Basic Black, Lavender Lace, PTI white

Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black

Accessories: PTI butterfly die, SU Square Lattice embossing folder, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Kaisercraft pearls, button (stash)

Wee Memories Challenge 41

 Happy Saturday! It's time for the weekly Wee Memories challenge!

This week's sponsor is the always fabulous Simon Says Stamp! Our winner will receive a $10 gift certificate. With over 100,000 items in stock, I'm sure you'll have no problem spending it!

I really hope you'll join us this week, not only because we have an awesome prize, but also because we are doing a sketch challenge! Sketches are my FAVORITE kind of challenge. I really enjoy seeing all the different interpretations of the same basic layout.

Here's the fun sketch Jenny came up with...

And here's my interpretation of the sketch. I have a standing order for birthday cards for all the faculty & staff at my school, so this will go into that stash. 

So, ready to play along? Show us your interpretation of this week's sketch by linking up your finished creation on the Wee Memories blog. You have until midnight PST on Fri., Feb. 4 to be eligible for the prize from Simon Says Stamp!

I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Stamps: Scattered Showers (PTI), The Birds & The Bees (WPlus9)

Paper: Lavender Moon (PTI), Echo Park & PTI pp

Ink: Adirondack Espresso

Accessories: Fiskars upper crest punch

Time to CASE Kelly!

Hi there! Just a quick reminder to enter my twine giveaway if you haven't already.  

Today's card is a fun one...I'm playing along with Lawnscaping Challenge #2...I get to CASE my good friend, Kelly Alvarez!

I wanted to choose a pre-Lawn Fawn card & CASE it using Lawn Fawn stamps. Here's the one I chose...

And here's my CASE! I used the adorable whale from Critters in the Sea & paired it with a sentiment from Hero Arts. I think it'll work well as a birthday card for either a man or a woman.

Hope you like it!

Stamps: Critters in the Sea (Lawn Fawn), Elephants (Hero Arts)

Paper: Tempting Turquoise textured, PTI white, SU pp

Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black

Accessories: SU ribbon, dimensionals

Your Heart's Desire

Happy Monday, especially to those of you who have the day off (like I do...woohoo!). Strap yourselves in...I did a MARATHON of challenges for today's card!

I started with this week's Etsy Inspired Challenge. The featured shop is Modern Bird, & I chose this heart necklace as my inspiration.

Here's a close-up of how I translated the heart into my creation.

I also realized this piece would work perfectly for The Gray is the New Black challenge over at Moxie Fab World.

Once I started working on the rest of the card, the challenges started to pile up, so I figured I'd enter this in the Pile It On challenge--anything goes. (If you're not familiar with Pile It On, the idea is to complete as many challenges as you can with one project.)

My other challenges include:
Dare to be Sassy--something old (my ribbon)
Delicious Doodles--use 3 colors
Totally Papercrafts--happy birthday
Simply Create--use punches (my flower)
Scrapbook Sisters--hearts desire (my sentiment)
Really Reasonable Ribbon--hearts & ribbon

Whew! That's a LOT of challenges for one card. Perhaps tomorrow I'll take a break & just do a blog candy giveaway instead... *wink*

Stamps: Signature Series Dress Form (PTI)
Paper: Basic Gray, Aqua Mist, October Afternoon pp
Ink: Basic Gray
Accessories: SU flower punch, Kaisercraft pearl, Cuttlebug Distressed Stripes, American Crafts ribbon, dimensionals