Cards N' Things

Birthday Duo

2011-01-27T08:11:00.005-06:00

I'm back with a simple duo. One of my goals this year is to use up some of my stash that I've had sitting around for years. It's so hard because after a while the papers just don't "talk" to you like they used to. I've decided that making cards for Operation Write Home (OWH) is just the thing I need to get me using these supplies. And, as a military wife, it's a cause that hits close to home.

This week the OWH Blog is asking us to make cards for our Heroes to send home to their kids. I used some DCWV Card in a Stack papers that I had and cut them down to size to make the A2 sized cards. Add some ribbon, cut a scalloped circle and cupcake with my Cricut and viola! Cute little cards that could be used for a variety of ages. My only regret is that I didn't make more of them! I will have to be mindful of that on my next ones.

Thank you for looking! And if you have the urge to craft, but no particular occasion coming up, would ya think about joining Operation Write Home and their cause? Thanks!

Who Loves You?

2011-01-20T13:45:00.004-06:00

Yay! I'm back with a card that I think is absolutely adorable! There's two separate websites that gave me a bit of inspiration. Copic Creations is challenging it's readers to show off the new things they got for Christmas. And Diva Coffee Break Designs had this cute sketch up. So I put them together and viola! A cute, very girly Valentine's Day card for my eldest daughter.

Trying to stay true to my rule of "Use My Stash" all papers came from my drawer, so I have no specifics. As for what's new... the white lacy border was a made by a Recollections punch I got for Christmas, and the image was colored in with my new Copics! I'm so glad to have a few more of those now. I dusted off my old SpellBinder dies to cut out the image and the scalloped frame. And I Inked them up while still in the die. It was nice to not have to "fight" my way through the creative process on this one!

Valentine Princess

2011-01-15T16:25:00.003-06:00

Ever feel like you're just stuck? I've been that way the last few days when it comes to crafting. This is the third card I've made since the last one I've shared, they've all just been lacking something, but I seem to be stuck when it comes to fixing them, so I thought I'd share this anyway. Maybe "it" will come back to me.

Even though I'm not happy with the end result, I love the little unicorn, the flowers, and almost love the princess (I did her nose wrong). I cut them out with my cricut, colored them in with my copics, and dusted the unicorn down with shimmering chalks. Unfortunately the camera doesn't really pick the slight shine up. But I know my six year old will love it. She's all about unicorns lately.

Fabulous Birthday

2011-01-10T12:42:00.005-06:00

I finally found a few moments to make a card. I've been a bit overwhelmed with other responsibilities lately, it was so nice to be able to make a card for an upcoming friend's birthday.

Some of the inspiration came from a challenge at Scrapbook & Cards Today. I love the look when white is given a bold burst of color. Silke is the master of this sort of elegant simplicity.

The other bit of inspiration came from a conversation I had with friends at church yesterday. I made the comment that my cuttlebug never gets used anymore. It seems pretty useless for die cutting in the day and age of Make-the-Cut and Cricut. So I returned to the machine that got me started, and used it for embossing the background of this card, as well as using my Spellbinder dies to cut out the Birthday Bella.

All in all, I think it's a great simple card. I wish I had done two, one to send and one for my stash!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-02T08:28:00.003-06:00

One of the many new things I'd like to take on for 2011 is participating in Scrapbook and Cards today's Project 12. I was so excited to start with the new year, that I kind of goofed. I used last month's sketch on accident! lol Oh well, I still have a nice Christmas layout. Will have to try again.

The papers are a vintage style that I've had sitting in my stash for some time. The wreath and tree I cut using MTC and the title, poinsettias, and ornament were cut from the Celebrate with Flourish Cricut Cartridge. (I'm totally loving that cartridge!) I sprinkled some little red brads throughout the embellishments for a little bit of cohesion, and hopefully to pull the eye through the layout.

My 2010 Scrapbook is now complete! I'm so proud of myself. I have a bunch of books started, but have never completed one before. It feels good! I found a new album on sale at Michael's that's just waiting for the first fruits of 2011!

Birthday Fishes

2010-12-28T13:36:00.000-06:00

With Christmas once again behind us, it's time for me to look ahead to January. Though I've never been one for New Years resolutions, I do have a three part goal for the upcoming year of 2011. Gain, Use & Loose. I want to gain a closer relationship with my Lord, use the scrap supplies I already have (instead of hording even more stuff) and loose 30 lbs. That way this time next year I can buy new scrap goodies and some new clothes!

To help with my use goal, I'm thinking about the January birthdays coming up in my family. (Thankfully they're all male, and they don't look at my blog so I can share safely. :)

My starting point was this sketch from Cute Card Thursday. Using my make-the-cut software I cut out the three fishes, assembled them and used markers to enhance them a little bit. The inside sentiment reads "Sending you Happy Birthday "fishes". Though admittedly not my "prettiest" card, I think they're cute.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T13:29:00.003-06:00

Merry Christmas!
Don't they look so yummy? My oldest daughter and I spent yesterday afternoon in the kitchen baking up the goodies. I'm so glad I have friends/neighbors to give some of them away to. It's the only way I won't eat all of them!

I found the cute little gingerbread guy on my Paper Doll Dress Up Cricut Cartridge. I've had that cartridge for years, and have never used it till now. He was hiding with Mrs. Claus' accessories.

Hope everyone out in the bloggo-sphere has a great Christmas. May you find the love of Christ this season!

C&S 121

2010-12-21T18:57:00.004-06:00

Hola!
I know I haven't really posted in forever, not sure anyone even stops by here any more. I've still been creating a few things here and there, just haven't bothered to take pictures and post them really. Guess you can call me lazy. lol

Anyhow, I had to make a few last minute Christmas cards today, and I used last Friday's sketch from Clean & Simple Stamping to get me going.

I used some older papers that I still have on hand, and used my Celebrate with Flourish Cricut Cartridge to make the wreath. I added some red and green Stickles to help the wreath pop out a bit.

I hope to be sharing things fairly regularly once again!

Boo

2010-11-08T15:27:00.001-06:00

We don't always dress up for Halloween, but we did this year and the kids had a ball. Real simple layout, with sticker letters for a tiles and simply matted pictures sprawled on the page.

Still Sweet @ 11

2010-10-08T15:23:00.003-05:00

This two page layout was based off of a sketch at Nuts About Sketches. It was perfect to capture my daughter's 11th birthday. I used some small left overs I had from a kit and light yellow cardstock for a base. I designed the title in Make-a-Cut and cut it out my Cricut. Glittered up some of it for some visual interest.

Finally Lost

2010-10-02T15:19:00.000-05:00

My sweet 6 year old finally lost her first tooth! I say "finally" because she had been waiting a long time to join her older siblings in the ranks of those who have lost a baby tooth. Though for me it was yet another reminder that my baby is no baby any longer.

I used my Make-a-Cut software and the Cricut to draw the title on a piece of vellum and highlighted lost with a bit of stickles.

Cincinnati Zoo

2010-08-08T15:12:00.002-05:00

Back in May the kids and I went on a little road trip. One of our destinations was the Cincinnati Zoo. I used my Make-a-Cut software with my Cricut to make the negative title. Made sure to include two of our tickets on the layout as well. Lot's of pictures! But they work pretty well thanks to a sketch from Nuts About Sketches!

Rough House

2010-07-08T15:08:00.002-05:00

I struggle with making non-girlie layouts! Though this one hints toward flowery, it's not too bad. My excuse will be that there are two girls in the picture, you just cant see them well. lol Roughhousing with daddy is a cherished memory amongst my kids. As daddy gets older, it happens less often, but this way it can be remembered vividly!

Love to Learn

2010-06-06T15:02:00.002-05:00

Homeschooling is such a huge part of my life. With the exception of one year, I've homeschooled my four kids since the beginning. I did this layout to try to capture the moments that happen every day for us.

Boy Oh Boy

2010-05-31T14:57:00.002-05:00

I made this cute little card for a friend's baby shower. I know I've use the brown/blue combination a lot, but I love it. Stamp is from high hopes, I colored it in with my limited copic supply. I used Nestabilities Oval Scallop to frame the image.
Some Prima Flowers with a brad to finish it off. :)

Fishin' Father's Day

2010-05-24T11:33:00.004-05:00

Father's Day is right around the corner! Time for me to get my "masculine" creativity flowing. (ha ha... not sure I have any!)

I saw this stamp set and just HAD to have it! I had a lot of fun piecing the scene together. I kept it simple, as it is intended for one of the many Father's in my life. The hightop on the hook is great! lol

Summery Birthday

2010-05-20T11:30:00.001-05:00

There's a special birthday coming up in July. I made this card to send. It's a Bella image I received as a RAK some time ago. The papers were left overs from some previous layouts. These are not my usual colors, but I think they worked out so well! It's nice to be pushed outside of the comfort zone from time to time!
Thanks for looking.

Turning 12

2010-05-17T10:03:00.003-05:00

So yeah, I'm a little bit behind this year, but thankfully not too far behind. I have a full scrapbook for 2010 and the year isn't quite half over with yet. I'm feeling proud of myself. :) Now to drive to the nearest big town and get some post extenders!

Anyhow, last month my oldest turned 12. Hard to believe my original baby is so stinkin' old now! I really like the blue/brown/green combo with a little bit of "metal" added. Makes it very boyish! This is also the first time I've used journaling strips to journal. There's a first for everything!

Wish I were an Elephant

2010-05-12T08:10:00.005-05:00

I saw this cute little sketch at Paper Sundaes. And I just happened to have a couple scraps left over from the layout I've done for my son's 12th birthday (pics coming soon), so I threw together this cute little card.

The adorable elephant is by Crissy Armstrong. I absolutely adore her work. Anyhow, I colored him in with my copics, cut a scalloped circle with my cuttlebug to mount him on, added some brads to the corners, and tiny jewels to the sentiment. Really simple actually, but he's still so stinkin' cute. Here's a picture of the inside of the card. (Partially anyway, I'm having awful luck getting it to focus!

Both sentiments were printed via my printer.

And though I haven't forgotten anything lately (I think anyway!) I know I will before too long, and how happy I will be to have this card waiting in my stash so I can mail it asair (As Soon As I Remember.) lol

Easter 2010

2010-05-11T09:57:00.003-05:00

I did a horrible thing this past Easter. I forgot to take pictures of the most important parts of it! My kids designing decorations, making Resurrection cookies, and the kids finding eggs. I know... my mind completely blanked. So, my Easter layout is sparse, but it is what it is.

It's a simple layout, but I like the colors. Thankfully I did get a good picture of the kids dying eggs. It's so hard to get a pic of everyone smiling. Usually someone has an odd face, or their eyes closed. lol

Happy Birthday Sis!

2010-05-01T12:01:00.000-05:00

Twenty two years ago, my little sister was born. How I hated the idea of no longer being an only child at the ripe old age of 11. How wrong I was, and how thankful I am that she's in my life! Love you sis!

Here's the birthday card I sent out her way.

It's clean, simple, yet elegant. I like it!

Creation Book

2010-04-25T17:30:00.006-05:00

I know I haven't been around in forever. Sorry. There's just not enough hours in the day to do everything I'd like to. And I have had absolutely NO creative flow. So rather than forcing it, I've been letting it go.

Anyhow, earlier this month the kids an I went on a field trip up to Kentucky to go to the Creation Museum and the Cincinatti Zoo. We had a great time! The Creation Museum is excellent! I wanted to do more than just a layout to hopefully capture our fun there, so I put together this book. I'm afraid it still doesn't do half of what I hoped, but it's what I got. :)

I cut several pieces of chipboard into 9x7 size for my book. I put the picture of my kids outside the Museum on the front of the page.

It was good to use my Bind-it all once again. This makes a whopping TWO projects I've done with it. lol

Thanks for looking. :)

Snow Much Fun

2010-03-19T08:50:00.005-05:00

Yay! I've finally gotten another layout done. This one is for the rare Southern Snow Storm we got last month. The kids really enjoyed the thick wet snow that was great to build with.

I used a sketch from Nuts About Sketches, yet again to get me started. The papers I used are from the Kaiser Craft Waterberry Line. The adorable snowmen are from the Snow Friends Cricut Cartridge and the Snowflakes from the When It's Cold Outside Cartridge (Thanks Mom!)
Thanks for looking.

Clean & Simple 80

2010-03-04T09:26:00.000-06:00

One of the great parts about the internet is finding new (to me)challenge blogs. Thanks to a comment on my blog I found the Clean & Simple Stamping blog. There are times when I want to make a little work of art, but other times keeping it simple is just so much more effective. More and more I'm drawn to simple, elegant designs. Too bad the "cute" in my style always crops up!

I made this for Layout 80 at the Clean & Simple Stamping blog. The adorable image is Oliva from All That Scraps. There isn't much need for a rundown on "how to" as it is really simple. Thanks for looking!

Our Pack

2010-03-02T08:17:00.003-06:00

One of my goals for this year, is to scrap as I go. Meaning to not be so crushed by being years behind on my scrapbooks. Yes, work on those when the inspiration hits, but more importantly scrap the now, while the memories are fresh. Since March is upon us, I got to thinking that there wasn't anything to scrap for the month of February. Then I looked through my pictures and found I was wrong!

Once again, I used a sketch from Nuts About Sketches. I love this color combo, so bright and cheerful. I kept the layout simple, adding a ribbon and bicycle die cut as my only embellishments.

Thanks for looking!

Sleepy Head

2010-02-28T07:56:00.002-06:00

It's been a little while since my last baby scrapbook post... so here's the next layout in my oldest's baby book.

Like so many kids he had his days and nights mixed up. We would try to wake him during the day and we got some of the funniest looks from him.

Once again, I used an older sketch from Nuts About Sketches. Journaling and lots of pictures are so important to me as I try to document parts of our lives, and their sketches always work out so great for me! The picture of daddy and baby had a horrible orange date stamp on it, so it was covered up with a carefully placed star. My title was once again cut with my cricut compliments of make-the-cut. :)

Thank you for looking.

DeNami Color Challenge 01

2010-02-27T16:43:00.004-06:00

Yikes... it's been almost a week since my last post! What can I say? Life has gotten a little bit hectic and crazy.

Anyhow, this morning I came across a fabulous little blog, and they have the cutest stamps! Little chickies and flowers and animals. Too bad I already spent my birthday money! Anyhow, they are starting up challenges, and I made this card for their first color challenge.

Putting these colors together was a real challenge for me! What resulted was a creation not my norm, but I think it's cute! I stamped the trees and outlined them with a darker Copic. Stamped the deer in the same color and cut it out. Scored two lines along the bottom and placed my ribbon within them. Added my sentiment and two flowers over the ribbon's knot. It's a simple card, but I think it pulls together well.

Thank you for looking!

Mojo Monday 127

2010-02-22T13:05:00.003-06:00

I was able to sneak in a quick card today. :)

Usually cards take me seemingly forever to make, but this one came together quickly, thanks to the February kit from Life Preservers Scrapbook Club and today's sketch over at Mojo Monday!

I love how bright and cheerful these Basic Grey papers are. Inside I included a get well sentiment. It just seemed to fit.

Thanks for looking!

Different 1st Birthday

2010-02-18T07:26:00.001-06:00

I'm still struggling to get my mojo back from my weekend long scrap fest over a week ago! Thankfully I have some occasions coming up so I have things I need to make. One such thing is my nephew's first birthday in March! Unfortunately, due to our military lifestyle I haven't been able to see the cutie in person, but my sis is good at sending pics. :)

This is so not a traditional baby's first birthday card! This is what happens when I have a blank slate and no idea of where I want to go with it. I knew I wanted to play with the new papers I graciously got in the mail from Heidi at Cropstar, but that was about it.

I cut the two cupcake pieces with my cricut, and ran the bottom half through my crimper. I LOVE the texture it gives, and it's been far too long since I've used my crimper. lol I inked the edges of the 'frosting' then added bridal embossing powder and a few gems to give it sparkle.

I applied it to the card front with thick adhesive to give it dimension. So though it isn't traditional, I do think it's cute, even if it is lacking something. That's what happens when I let my mojo guide me. Sometimes I end up at a place far greater than I had hoped, and other times I end up with okay. But at least I had fun getting there! And let's face it, my nephew is turning one, not like he's going to care, he'll be happy with the toy that accompanies the card. lol

Paper Romance Design Team Call & Give-away

2010-02-16T14:05:00.000-06:00

I'm back with another cute card. This one I did up for a Design Team call at Amy's Paper Romance. I absolutely ADORE the High Hopes Stamps, and sure wish I had a bunch more of them!

I know I don't usually take pictures of the insides of my cards, but thought it might be a nice change. Though I'm usually ready to be done with a project by time I get to the inside, I do usually "finish them off" so to say. I just like for the whole thing to be a package.

This one is currently blank, as I don't have a recipient in mind. This way when I need a quick card, I can pull this one out and write/stamp a message inside. I have quite a few cards in my stash waiting to be used.

Not only is Amy having a Design Team call, she's also got some goodies up for grabs. Check out this post to see what she has. Better hurry though! The give-a-way ends on the 20th.

Falling in love with Copics

2010-02-14T11:28:00.000-06:00

Whew... it's been a little while since my last rush of posts. I had scrapped so much in such a short time I think I burned myself out. So instead of scrapping, I've been taking time to get used to my newest toys... Copics! I have a good supply of Prismacolor markers, but just now got my hands on a few Copics. Oh my do I love these markers. They sure do blend differently, and have a whole different feel to them with the "sketch" nib.

Even though I only have a few colors, I wanted to participate in the current challenge over at Copic Creations. More and more I'm moving away from the precut, prestyled and into the custom cut, and custom made. With a small scrapping corner, my storage is limited, so it's great to have the basics on hand and be able to customize them. (Too bad I have a ton of stash waiting for me to use it first!) So using the copics to custom color embellishments was a great exercise!

The ribbon and the three layers of the flower were colored with the same marker I used on the sash on the cross. The layers look like different colors because they started out different colors. I'm not too terribly thrilled with the card, because like I said, I have very few color choices right now. lol

I definitely need to work on my shading. Here's one of my practice sheets.

The purple and brown mushrooms, and brown hair were done with a different type of marker, because I don't have those colors in Copics.... yet! I am thrilled with the quality of the Copics... I just need a little more practice.

Dressed to the Nines

2010-02-10T08:49:00.005-06:00

Here's yet another layout I have gotten done. Does anyone else really struggle with masculine layouts? I can totally pull off a girly layout, but anything masculine and it's like I've turned into a fish out of water!

My youngest son is all about dressing up on Sundays, despite the fact we're part of a very casual church (the pastor wears jeans). I enjoy the fact that he wants to look his best. I'm pretty sure it won't last that long as his older brother went through the same thing. So I'm enjoying it while it lasts. :)

The title and frames were all cut with my cricut and mtc software.

Love Fights

2010-02-09T09:00:00.003-06:00

I guess the approach of Valentine's Day is getting to me because it is a truly rare thing that I work with so much red!

This is a totally different style than my norm, but I think it turned out great. It's highlighting the little "fights" my daughter and I have over who loves who more.

Time Flies

2010-02-08T07:35:00.000-06:00

This layout was done for a monochromatic challenge. This layout kicked my behind, but I'm so glad I stuck with it and finished it.

I adore the picture of my mother when I was a baby. I wish I could remember those days. Anyhow, my cricut came to the rescue once again, cutting the frames, the swirls and the title. I gave the layout a bit of sparkle by adding glitter to the swirls and using gems to dot the "i"s. A few carefully placed blooms help anchor the pictures.

Thanks for looking!

How Beautiful

2010-02-07T07:30:00.001-06:00

These last two days I participated in an online crop. It was just the thing I needed to get my juices flowing. I got three layouts done, which is a lot for me! This was the first one I got done featuring my two beautiful daughters.

The original colors in the pictures clashed something awful, so I turned them into black and whites. The papers are from an SEI collection I've had sitting around for sometime. I cut three extra large flowers with my Cricut to layer on the right hand side and inked their edges. I matted the pictures on pink patterned paper to make them pop a bit. Add my embellishments and viola!

I'll be sharing my other layouts in the next few days.

2 Page Michael

2010-02-06T09:44:00.000-06:00

I'm back with another shot of baby boy!

Here's the next spread in my son's baby book. (Title page is a couple posts back) I wanted to carry over the same color and theme as the title page, so it doesn't look all that different. All though, I have a heck of a difficult time getting a decent picture. It sure would be helpful if we had some sunshine around here!

Anyhow, I started off with an old Nuts About Sketches sketch. Since this page is all about pregnancy and the excitement of his birth there is a LOT of journaling. My goal for these books is that when I'm not around my children and their children can look through them and find out everything I would be able to tell them. So there's a lot of journaling.

The stars and his name were all cut with MTC and my cricut. I inked the edges of the white pages with blue ink and did the same with the stars, though it's hard to see in this picture. Thanks for looking!

Fluttering By...

2010-02-04T07:40:00.000-06:00

Though this isn't Valentine related, it sure is soft and girly!

But I love that butterfly so! It's a die cut from the Graphically Speaking Cartridge from ProvoCraft. When the challenge at Practical Scrappers was to use a die cut this cutie came to mind immediately!

Though this is a simple card, I think it's elegant. Except for my horrible handwriting! I so wish I had a stamp that said something along the lines of "fluttering by" but I don't. You can bet I'm on a mission to find one though!

Anyhow, I cut the background and the wing outline from two different shades of pink and added a generous amount of glitter to the outline of the wings. Added some pearls down the body and viola... a delicate, beautiful butterfly! I stamped a flourish in a light pink to give a hint of it fluttering about. I scored a few lines across the bottom and tied a pink ribbon to give the bottom of the card a little bit of visual weight.

I really would like to make simpler cards like this more often, but I always want to add a ton of stuff to them!

40 x 4 = a whole lotta love!

2010-02-02T15:02:00.002-06:00

This post is a little bit more of a personal note, but I just have to share.
We are a homeschooling family, and this Friday is the homeschool Valentine party. They're expecting about 40 kids, and since I have 4 children giving valentines... let's just say I had a LOT of Valentines to make!

I can not believe we cranked out this number of Valentines in two days, but oh my does it feel good to have accomplished such a goal. It couldn't have been done without my Cricut, that is for sure! That thing definitely got a work out playing a part in each of the four types of Valentines. And of course I made my kids help a little!

My oldest got blue and pink bags to put candy in, and I designed a topper on MTC for the bags. We cut them out of white cardstock, he wrote Happy Valentines Day on them, and I attached them to the baggies.

Though I am often after him for his sloppy handwriting, there is something charming about kid handwriting on Valentines. I think the blue or pink coming through the hearts is really striking as well.

My older daughter went with conversation hearts.

We got cute little bags from the wedding aisle at Walmart, and two big bags of conversation hearts to go in them. I used paper scraps to cut 3x3 cards, and my cricut came to the rescue cutting out hearts for her to glue on to them. She has some of her own stamping stuff, so she enjoyed stamping hearts on the inside of the cards along with writing Happy Valentine's Day. We attached the cards to the baggies with shiny twist ties.

My younger son did pretty much the same thing as my oldest, but used clear bags and red toppers.

He says it was just a coincidence that he wore his "I'd so rather be playing a video game" shirt on the day we were making these. But I'm not sure I believe him. lol

For my youngest, we went sweet and simple. (Can you blame me?)

Once again, cricut to the rescue! We cut scalloped squares with two small holes on either end. I then stamped "Happy ♥ Day". She slid them onto the lolly pop sticks and was a happy camper. Sure she put most of them on upside down, but she's five, who's going to care. lol

Thanks for looking!

Be Mine

2010-01-31T16:33:00.003-06:00

This week is going to be all about Valentines Day crafts. My four children are participating in a Valentine exchange with our local homeschool group. I don't have the numbers yet, but I'm betting I'll have about 100 valentines to make!

But for today I have a Valentine to share that I made for my daughter.

I started out with this great sketch from Friday Sketchers.

The cute cupid girl is from CC Designs. They have a bunch of cute as could be images. If I could color her over, I think I'd make her shoes the same color as the bow instead of the heart arrow, but it's still cute. I wanted to make her a blondie, but I don't have appropriate markers for blonde hair. Now I know what's next on my wish list. :)

Anyhow, I embossed her wings and the heart on her shirt with Bridal embossing powder. Then added some cotton candy pink stickles to the arrow. I'm happy with it, and I know my daughter will love it.
Thanks for looking!

Baby Boy

2010-01-30T09:20:00.006-06:00

I had mentioned in another post how I'm 10 years behind on my scrapbooking. Here's the proof. lol I posted the layout about my 11 year old son who is crazy about wood... well I'm starting his baby book. Finally! Yeah, we'll see how long this book takes to finish! Anyhow, looking over his pictures brought back so many memories, it's sad how quickly they grow up!

I rarely ever do a layout with only one picture, it was kind of a nice change of pace. The tag in the bottom corner says "a babe in your arms with all of its charms undeniably from God". The stars have been slightly glittered up with holographic embossing powder as you can see on the bottom trio of stars.

I added just a tad of dimension with thick adhesive under the letters and a few of the stars. Though it doesn't have a ton of embellishments it's simply clean and cute. That tends to be my style when it comes to layouts.

I don't know about you, but I am always trying to figure out how to get good lighting when I take pictures of my layouts. I have a plastic bin that's been turned into a mini photo studio for my cards, but it's not big enough for full sheets of 12x12 paper. In the quest for good lighting (as it is a cloudy, wet day today) I seemed to have gained a "helper" along the way.

My daughter's cat always has to be involved when there's something happening in the house, and this was no exception. I did get a good shot of him though. :) The light brought out his gorgeous stripes and blue eyes.

Love You A Latte...

2010-01-28T00:01:00.000-06:00

I'm back with another Valentine's card. This one for my hubby... hard to believe we're working on fifteen years! My how the time passes. The man loves coffee, and I thought the "Love You A Latte" sentiment was perfect for him this year.

This card is so yummy to me! Doesn't it just makes you think of Valentine Chocolates? I can almost taste them! I used this weeks sketch at Card Patterns as my starting point. I don't have any good coffee stamps so I had to make due. I found the image through google image and used my MTC to cut some stamp material with my Cricut. I had been wanting to try that out for a long time. I must confess I'm not to crazy with it's performance. The material doesn't accept ink to well. But I'm determined to use up some of my stash this year!

I embossed the brown background paper with my swirls cuttlebug embossing folder. I used Microsoft Word to print out the sentiment, then stamped my image and colored it in with my Prisma markers. Put it all together with just a few cross stitches added, and I think I have a good card. Not to girly I don't think. Now I'm just thankful that my husband doesn't watch my blog!

Cool Cat

2010-01-26T09:41:00.005-06:00

I found this cute floating cat when looking on line for digital stamps. She was a freebie, and now I wish I could find her again to share the link, but she's remaining elusive to google right now.

Anyhow, this was a quickly put together card made especially for a friend of mine. She is crazy about cats, and I thought it fit her nicely. I just added a few touches (coil metal clip) to add to the fun factor.

Thanks for looking!

Surfer Emma

2010-01-24T09:21:00.004-06:00

I don't know about you, but I am a little tired of this cold! I am longing for warmer days... guess that's why I did this summery card. :)

I got the absolutely adorable Surfer Emma image from a RAK back before we moved. It was fun to get my markers out and color away. While digging through my paper stash I found cream colored paper with just a bit of sheen to it, I had to make flowers with it! They look so soft and silky. I cut them from my new favorite cartridge for flowers, the wedding cartridge.

Thanks for looking!

Bee Mine

2010-01-22T09:15:00.002-06:00

A couple days ago I posted some valentine pillow boxes I made for my daughters. Now I'm back with a more boyish version that I made for my sons. :)

I know "bee" my valentine has been around forever, but I'm really pleased with how cute this simple set turned out. Once again, the pillow box was cut from my Wedding Cartridge. The card is simply layered paper, the main pane was cut with my cricut thanks to Make-The-Cut (mtc). The little bee was in my stamp stash. I did an extra of him to pop up on the card with thick adhesive. I colored him in, and added holographic embossing powder to his wings to give them a little sparkle.

Thanks for looking!

Love You

2010-01-20T07:14:00.000-06:00

So I'm back to cards now! I've kind of hit a creative wall the last few days, so it took me a while to get this one going. I usually don't use this much PINK in any project I do, but what can I say. I think the Valentine bug has bit me!

Any how... I made this card for this weeks challenge at Practical Scrappers which is to include embossing on your project. The white paper (at the very bottom) is embossed with a flower pattern, and I've added bridal embossing powder to the tree. I added some gems to the ribbon to call attention to the sentiment.

Wood Work

2010-01-18T08:58:00.005-06:00

Well... it looks like I may have revisited my first paper crafting love... Scrapbooking. Here's two in a row! I had decided that this year I was going to scrap as I go. Meaning that yes, I do have 10 years worth of pictures to scrap, but that always feels so overwhelming. If I continue to try to start from the beginning, I'm going to miss today, going to miss the now. So I'm making sure I get the now done, and maybe I'll get some of the past done along the way.

Ever since our visit to my Mom's my oldest has been practically obsessed with firewood. Given the cold temps lately he and daddy went to gather wood and came back with a truck load. The mother in me didn't want to let my precious first born handle a saw, but with daddy's oversight he did an awesome job.

For the layout I chose boyish colors and roughed up the edges of a few of the papers, as we know, boys tear everything up. I used an older sketch from Nuts About Sketches. The title and campfire were cut using MTC and my Cricut (naturally.) Though this layout doesn't have much embellishments, I think all came together nicely.

Oasis

2010-01-16T09:42:00.000-06:00

Believe it or not, I've finally got another layout done! This is for my Germany Scrapbook that I've been working on for ... oh... five years now!! I know... I am waaay behind!

Though this is not the best layout I've ever done, I am quite happy with it. What do you think about those palm trees eh? Thanks to my new software (that I talked about here) I was able to make my own palm trees and title!! I love it because you can really make a page go together when you create them from scratch. It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would either. I love this thing!

Valentine Gifts

2010-01-13T21:17:00.004-06:00

Believe it or not, Valentine's Day is just around the corner! I know I'm not really ready for it. So it's a good things we have blogs out there to keep us on our toes!

Bitten By the Bug 2 has a contest that I came across, and I desperately want a chance to win their prize. So viola! Valentine gifts for my two precious daughters were made.

The pillow boxes and the flowers were both cut with my Cricut, thanks to the Wedding cartridge. I just adore those flowers! I used my stylus tool to give them some dimension and added a tad bit of stickles to each petal.

The boxes are filled with Valentine colored m&ms. Now to make some boyish ones for my two little men!

Coupon Organizer

2010-01-12T09:39:00.004-06:00

I may not be the most in-style mom on the block, but now I will have the cutest coupon organizer in any grocery store I shop!

As the leading lady in a family of six living off of one income, you have to do what you have to do to make ends meet. That includes clipping coupons from the Sunday paper. We've been in Alabama for a month now, and the envelope I had been using has become disorganized, so I decided to make something to help me get organized. I followed this tutorial here, but with some minor tweaks of my own. I used two over sized eyelets to fashion a closure much like those old vanilla envelopes. Using brown embroidery thread I make a figure eight around the eyelets to keep it snugly closed. I didn't want to add a ton of embellishments as this will be going in my purse on our grocery trips.

I still need to add my labels, but I'm looking forward to using this next time I head to the store!

Warm Wishes

2010-01-10T08:49:00.004-06:00

While browsing around I saw the first challenge of the year over at the Cards Blog. I LOVE everything snow (except for shoveling it), and couldn't resist taking part. Even if my card wasn't picked as a top 10, I'm still fond of it, and want to share it!

I know these are not your traditional colors for a snow themed card, but I love them! There's nothing wrong with being a little different is there?

The "snowflakes" were cut with my Home Accents cartridge on my Cricut. They were actually labeled as flowers, but I think they make nice snow flakes. I ran them through my Xyron and applied a hefty dose of Martha Stewart Crystal flakes. I layered them and ran embroidery thread through buttons to hold them all together. I glued all my layers down, and did a little piercing around the top paper to give it a tiny something. I inked the edges of the lower paper, applied ribbon, and stamped my sentiment.

My only regret? That I didn't make more than one of them!

Crafty Find

2010-01-08T08:40:00.000-06:00

Well... I may not have a crafty creation to post today, but I do have something to share! I've found this new awesome software that I just downloaded today. I've played with it a little, and have been having fun. I'm so excited!

The program? Make the Cut
It's purpose... to turn my Cricut Personal Cutter Machine into something more useful than a money sink hole! I never did splurge on the Cricut Design Studio, I had heard too many bad customer service horror stories to foot the bill for that. So I am truly enjoying this one!

Make the Cut is a program you run on your computer that allows you to design things to cut with your Cricut. I am so excited about the possibilities this opens up for me. I just wish my laptop was compatible with my old (ancient) version of Paint Shop Pro. (The last one before Corel took over.)

Now if there would only be a few more hours in the day!

Beautiful Butterfly

2010-01-06T09:39:00.004-06:00

I absolutely love it when something turns out better than you planned it. It's these fun moments that keep me coming back to my card making.

I saw the Clean & Simple challenge at Our Creative Corner blog, and decided to go for it. The plan, to cut out this pretty frame and butterfly using my Home Accents Cricut cartridge, add a little glitz and be done. This time I put the Stickles on before adhering it to my card, and much to my surprise the paper curved up! The frame curving away from the card is something I would never had tried to do on purpose, but I think it just looks magnificent.

Question is... will it be flattened out by time it gets to it's recipient in California?

Cute Cole

2010-01-04T09:18:00.004-06:00

I'm back with another card!, and I'm glad to report that I seem to have gotten my mojo back! Though the card is simple, I really did enjoy creating this one. Too bad a good friend had to mess up his ankle for me to get creative again! I'm sure that having my papers organized helped me out too! I'm the sort of person that needs easy access to her stuff to create. All my paper being in a big ol pile wasn't helping me. Anyhow... enough of my rambling.

Isn't he the cutest? I had gotten this Cole's Laid Up stamp from High Hopes quite a while ago, and just hadn't had the opportunity to use it yet. When my Pastor friend hurt his ankle I knew this stamp would be perfect. The sentiment inside says "Hope you are back on your feet soon."

After I stamped the cutie I colored him in with my Prisma markers. While I'd love to have some Copics, these were a much more affordable option when I got them. I masked him and sponged around him by applying my inkpad (Color Pad's Cream Brown) directly to the paper. I got this cool speckled look that's great. Layered him on some papers and put some eyelets in the corner. If this card were for a girl, I would have girled it up with ribbon or something, but since it's for a man I wanted to stay away from frilly stuff.

Prisma Colors used:
Sienna Brown, Eggshell, Cherry, Dark Green, Eggplant, Golden Rod

1st Birthday of 2010

2010-01-02T09:09:00.007-06:00

I was shocked to see just how hard it was for me to get back into the swing of creating cards! Maybe the stress of having so much work to do was zapping me of my creative energy. I'm not sure what it was, but this card took me ages, and it's not even that great. But everyone must start somewhere, and I'm sure with a little time it'll come back to me.

I used papers from DCWV's Birthday Card Kit in a Stack. I quilled some basic balloons to adorn the sides. Tied black embroidery thread for the strings. It's a simple card, but there's something cheery about it anyway. Here's hoping my mojo doesn't take too long to come back!

Chaos Complete

2009-12-20T19:08:00.003-06:00

Howdy World! Wow... four months of no posting. Life has been crazy here. Six months ago, the military packed up our house and took our goods from Kansas to Alabama. A month later my hubby went, leaving me and our four kids in Kansas. I am glad to say that earlier this month we finally arrived in Alabama!

Today I tackled the big job of getting all of my craft stuff out of the boxes they've resided in. I have a much smaller place to work now (went from a 2060 sq. foot 5 bedroom house to a 1600 sq. foot 3 bedroom house), but it was so nice to see my crafty toys again! I haven't found my Cricut cartridges yet, so I still have some more boxes to go through. I'm hoping to be posting regularly once again come the beginning of the new year!

SSSC32 - Shabby Chic Birthday

2009-08-28T13:56:00.002-05:00

Hi again! I've had time lately to browse the web, and there's so many great blogs out there for inspiration! My "Blogs I ♥" list there on the side just keeps growing!

This card came about from the great sketch at the sweetest thing.

The papers are from My Minds Eye. I took marker to some chipboard shapes I had laying around, and glittered up the middle layer, just to give it a little sparkle. Distressed the edges of the paper and punched the holes and threaded through them for that sewn look. Maybe one of these days I'll get a mini sewer.

TESC 79 - Classic Birthday

2009-08-27T14:46:00.003-05:00

I've had a successful crafty morning! Yay!

I used the last sketch from Taylored Expressions. I don't have any classic masculine images, so I hit to the net and googled free line images, and found this one. I printed it out on cardstock and colored away! I just wish I had a marker with some shine to do the chrome justice. But sometimes you have to work with that you have.

The papers are from the Basic Grey Cupcake collection. Though it's hard to tell, the car is up on thick foam adhesive so it 'pops' from the card! I added some vellum where the rear window would be to give it a bit more realism. The sentiment reads "Some things only get better with time." On the inside it reads "Congrats on being one of them!"

Simple Good Wishes

2009-08-25T13:59:00.003-05:00

I know it's been a couple days. I've been working on a project for a friend. I'm eager to share pictures of it, but I need to wait till after I've given it to her, just in case she meanders over here.

I threw this card together quickly today for one of the ladies at our Bible Study. Life is kind of a mess for her right now, and I just wanted to let her know she's thought of.

Though it's simple, I think it's adorable! I totally cheated and used a KCompany rub-on instead of a stamp. I found the package in the closeouts at Hobby Lobby and couldn't pass it up! I cut it out with my Nestabilities, and stamped on the Chipboard tag and attached it all to the card! I think I need to do more simple cards!

GS2

2009-08-22T08:42:00.006-05:00

Yesterday was crazy in this house. To make a long story short, my 9 yr old daughter is now hobbling around on crutches. Her brothers of course think the crutches are cool, and it's been fun being mom to all of them!

So given the excitement around the house, this card took a bit longer to finish than normal. It's for one of my mother in-laws birthday that's coming up. (Before any one asks, I only have ONE husband, he just has two moms. Gotta love the family combinations now a days!) This time is a busy time of year as far as family birthdays are concerned. I have much to keep me busy. :)

I used the fabulous sketch over at Get Sketchy this week. (I'm still honored to have made top five last week!) I had to really ponder this sketch, it didn't come naturally to me. But it's always great to grow in your creativity and push through those limits!

The stamp is from High Hopes, papers from sei. The construction of the card doesn't need explanation. I couldn't have done the side fold without my Scor-pal! (Okay, so maybe I could, but it would have taken me even longer then!) The card is quite simple, but with the busy patterned paper if I added many more embellishments it would be over kill.

So there it is. :)

2 in 1 Celebrate

2009-08-20T20:18:00.003-05:00

So what's a girl to do when she has so many challenges she wants to participate in, but not a lot of time? Combine them! I know I'm not the first to do this, but it is my first time to do it. I usually can't manage to combine challenges, but these two worked together nicely. :)

I was browsing last night and found a new blog! Stampin' Sisters in Christ. I love when I find places that put scripture right out there. It helps to remind me of who I serve! Anyhow...

I'm sorry this picture is soooooo saturated! It's the end of the day, and I'm out of daylight, what can I say?

This card combines Challenge #1 at Stampin' Sisters in Christ, and this weeks sketch at All That Scraps.

The papers are from a Basic Grey collection, the cupcake stamp from Inkadinkado. I don't have a sewing machine, so I punched all those holes by hand and threaded them with embroidery floss. I know, I must be out of my mind! This is destined to be my son's birthday card this September! He saw me working on it and told me he liked it. lol I'm glad I have his approval! I didn't dare tell him it was for him, and I'm so glad he didn't ask me who I was making it for!

2 Sketches 4 You - 33

2009-08-18T10:06:00.003-05:00

Hi again!
I have another late night card today. I've been browsing the web a lot lately in search of new inspiration. I came across this sketch and just had to give it a go!

At first I wasn't sure I liked it, but it's been growing on me. I love the brown/pink and brown/blue combinations that are popping up every where lately. I'm just wondering if I overdid it with inking the edges. I wonder if I went past chic and into grungy.

This sketch was a challenge for me, because I don't have a scallop edge punch, and my corner round doesn't work with the "guide" off of it. So I defaulted to my Martha Stewart lace punch. The papers are from an sei paper pack, and the flowers are from my stash, probably spare parts brand.

Improved

2009-08-18T09:32:00.000-05:00

A few posts back (this one here) I shared about my feelings over being published for the first time. I had a few critical comments about the magazine, and now I must take them all back! The owner has added some extra substance, and done completely away with the blank pages! How awesome is that?? Now I so wish I could get my hands on a paper version of this thing! It's absolutely beautiful, and pleasing to Christ!

Simple Threesome

2009-08-17T10:58:00.001-05:00

Wow! How about them Get Sketchy girls eh? My last post has more love than nearly any other post I've made to this blog! They sure know how to lavish the love!

I have to apologize for the quality of this picture. It was taken late the night before I needed them! I made two sets of these cute little cards. One in the blue pictured here, another in a yummy peach color. Unfortunately I wasn't thinking about taking pictures before I wrapped up the peach ones, so you get to see the blue ones.

I made two sets of six of these to be prizes for the Baby Shower yesterday. Because of the quantity of cards, I needed a simple sweet design. The CAS08 (Clean And Simple) Sketch over at Splitcoast Stampers got me started. I used a Martha Stewart hole punch, then my wonderful scor-pal to emboss the lines above and below the holes, scoring the card fold at that time as well. Then I picked some general stamps from my TPC Studio Greetings set and stamped away. I tell you, having that embossed line does wonders for making sure your sentiment is straight! Then I weaved the ribbon, tied it off, and viola! A clean, simple, card.

Newborn Babies - GS Sketch 1

2009-08-15T09:35:00.005-05:00

I am back today with yet another card for a newborn baby girl. Okay, well girlS this time. Yup, another precious sister I know through church is due to pop any day now. But she's expecting twin girls! So exciting! I tell you, there are babies coming out of the woodwork!

Yesterday I stumbled across a new blog: Get Sketchy. They're just starting up, but their first sketch was exactly what I needed to push through the late night and create something adorable!

The patterned papers are from DCWV's Nana's Nursery Girl line. The vellumn saying is from DCWV's Baby scrap kit in a stack. (Hmm... wonder if I like DCWV?) The flowers are my creation, as quilling is my newest adventure in this craft that I love. I gave them a generous dosage of "sugar". It helps them stand out, but also ties in to the glitter that is on the left side patterned paper.

All in all I'm pleased with it! Now I'm feeling the urge to create something boyish!

Adorable

2009-08-14T13:08:00.003-05:00

I'm back with another card! This one is for a mommy to be (kinda, as it's her fourth baby) in my church. Her baby shower is this Sunday, and I'm throwing it!

It's so soft and girlie and pretty!
The main image is from High Hopes stamps, and colored in with my markers. The flowers were a Dollar Store find. Though I don't encourage the use of those type of items on scrapbooks because of iffy acid issues, I figure on a card they're pretty and in the budget! The flourishes were all cut with a die, and given a healthy dose of embossing powder to give them some shine and dimension.

Good Wishes

2009-08-12T11:04:00.002-05:00

This card I made for my mil's birthday coming up. I love the colors of this card, so bright and cheerful yet still soft. The image is a birthday Bella that I got through a swap. I love getting images in a swap, there's nothing for inspiration like new images! The rest of the items I had sitting in my stash, just waiting to be used. The scalloped edge was done using a Martha Stuart edge punch.

PUBLISHED!! Sorta...

2009-08-10T10:46:00.001-05:00

I think I shared a while back how excited I was that I was going to be published. (Maybe it was at my personal blog.) I was so very excited. Well, the magazine is out now. Well, sorta. It's the very first issue of Christian Paper Crafts Magazine. As far as I know, there aren't any stores that carry it yet. You can purchase it, or an electronic version of it from their website. I got the electronic version of it, and was quite flattered that they used my card for the Fall Section main page. Wanna peek?

I spent forever on this card back in April!

Honestly, I have mixed emotions about the whole experience. I love, love, LOVE, that the magazine is focused on Jesus. But I feel that since our cards were what gave the magazine it's substance, we should have gotten the electronic version of it free. It boasts over 160 pages, but a lot of them are blank pages which seems to me that they could have done a better job on that.

It is a brand new publication though, so I'm curious to see how God uses it. There are some truly beautifully done cards in it, and I'm not referring to mine! In fact, thanks to some of those cards, and my friend that stayed with me, I'm beginning to learn how to do paper quilling! It's a very time consumin craft, but I think the items made from it are beautiful! Hopefully I'll be using it on cards in the near future. :)

Still Around, and a little behind

2009-08-08T10:19:00.004-05:00

Wow! It's been ages since I've shared here! Life has kind of been put on hold for the last three months. I have made a few cards, but I haven't been taking pictures or sharing them due to not having my ideal things. But I've been living without my stuff for over two months now, and I miss sharing my work. So I thought I'd start up sharing again.

I made this card back in the beginning of May. It's a belated birthday card for my step-mom. Yeah, I've been a little behind. The stamp set is from High Hopes Stamps. But unfortunately they're not talking orders anymore. They're in the process of switching over to wholesale only. I am anxiously waiting for their list of retail shops to buy their stamps through. I love them!
The papers are all from sei. I pierced holes and ran embroidery floss through them to give the look of stitching.

It's good to be "back". :)

TSSC72 - Thanks a melon!

2009-06-05T11:40:00.002-05:00

Whew... it's been ages since I've posted! For those that don't know, my husband is in the military, and we're getting ready to move. The movers have come and raided our house, so now it's relatively empty. I did keep my favorite crafty things however, and today I got to make a card. I have a big list of cards I need to make before we head for our new home, so the blog should see a little increased activity. Till we hit the road anyway. :)

It's my take on the sketch at Techno Stamper posted earlier this week. For the past year an amazing Pastor has been making a long trip to teach Sunday Evening service at our little church. This month is his last one doing that, so I wanted to make a thank you card for him. I really struggle making masculine cards so I'm fairly pleased with the results. I have many more masculine cards on my to-do list with Father's Day just around the corner!

TECC 68 - #1 Teacher

2009-05-15T16:31:00.003-05:00

The school year is winding down, and I'm cranking out cards! This time I was inspired by this week's sketch at Taylored Expressions. Unfortunately the one set of stamps I have featuring cupcakes just wouldn't work for this card, but I am happy with how it turned out!

It's so feminine and pretty! Papers are from Paper Studio, I used a Martha Stewart edge punch for the border on the left. I used my Cricut to cut the sentiment and flourishes thanks to the Wild Card cartridge. I added the same peach ink I used to edge papers to color white flowers.

I sure can see myself using this sketch again in the future!

Three Clover Designs Challenge 13

2009-05-14T14:48:00.003-05:00

Wow... it's been a while since I've been able to participate in one of the great challenges at Three Clovers! I'm still working on teacher thank you gifts since there's a measly week of school left! This weeks challenge to use flowers was perfect!

The color scheme came from the ribbon that I used on the card. I've been organizing my ribbon the last two nights. I came across this ribbon that I had cut to use on a previous project and never did, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to use it with this challenge.

The papers are plain colored papers from Paper Studio. I ran the lighter yellow through my Cuttlebug in an embossing folder. I stamped some little blue flowers on the plain white, but that was a bit too bold, so I adhered vellum to it to soften it up just a tad. I cut the sentiment with my Cricut and propped it up there using thick adhesive. Add pretty yellow flowers (part of the Spare Parts line by paper studio) with a blue brad and be sure to ink/distress the edges and viola! Cute little card for a teacher.

The candle is a left over from my Christmas craft show. It's just a plain vanilla scented candle that I added the same ribbon and flower to to make a simple matching gift!

Lady Bug Thank You - CPS115

2009-05-13T13:40:00.004-05:00

Hee hee! I'm back! I've been busy trying stage and keep my house clean for an upcoming Open House (hopefully), so unfortunately crafting time has been rather limited. But school is almost over and it's time to be making Thank You cards and gifts for teachers!

This one is for my daughter's teacher, who likes lady bugs. (According to my daughter anyway, and I sure hope she's correct!) I used this week's sketch from Card Positioning Systems to get me started. The papers, and smaller flower are from Paper Studio. The larger flower is a Prima. The little plastic lady bug charm is home made from shrinking plastic. I thought it added a nice touch. :)

The Best (times 2)

2009-05-07T09:04:00.003-05:00

Keeping with my simple Mother's Day cards for the many mother figures in my life, here's another.

This turned out nothing like I had visioned when I arrived at my scrap table. In fact I think it resembles the other one a little too much, but eh... when there's a deadline, it's what I have to work with. This one is for my step-mom. Though she's no longer married to my dad, she was the woman I had in the mother role growing up and she had a lot to do with how I turned out. After I finished it, it dawned on me that her favorite character of all time is Betty Boop, and doesn't the black, white and red of this card just scream Betty Boop?

Simply the Best

2009-05-05T09:49:00.000-05:00

Here I am with another Mother's Day card. This one I kept really simple, but it works for me!

There's a time for a ton of personal touches, and a time of simple elegence. I think it's obvious I was going for the latter. The thing is, when I started to create I totally intended to do flowers and a bunch of stuff, but it just worked better this way.

For my sis...

2009-05-03T09:19:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in the last post, this year is my Sister's first year as a Mommy! I just had to send her a special card.

I used a sketch from somewhere, but for the life of me I can't find it now. Measuring at four and half inches square, it is a little smaller than I usually make, but I think it's cute none the less.

The image is from High Hopes. I colored it in with my newly acquired Prisma Markers. I am seriously loving these things, just have to get used to working with them to shade more effectively!

May it begin...

2009-05-01T09:09:00.003-05:00

As Mother's Day is quickly coming upon us, I find myself rushing through making cards. Between my hubby and I we have four mother figures, not to mention this is my sister's first Mother's Day as a Mommy, so I have quite a few cards to make! With the pressure, my mo-jo has taken a vacation! Add on top of that being sick, and well... I don't think I'll be creating my best. But I wanted to post them anyway. Gotta take the bad with the good eh?

Though it's not the current challenge, I used a sketch from CCEE Stampers to get me started. The adorable image is from High Hopes. Now that it's done, I see that I really should have done something with the blue circle background. Whether it be embossing, or texture, it kind of needs something!

Spring Thank You

2009-04-29T09:15:00.001-05:00

I was asked to make a thank you card for our guest speaker for the Mother Daughter tea we have coming up next weekend. I find that I struggle to make cards for people I don't know. Add that to the fact my mo-jo has been seriously missing lately, I was just happy that this card is decent!

I didn't distress or ink any of the edges because I was going for a simple clean look. I did pierce the corners to give it just a little something. Looking at it now I think perhaps I should have inked them at least, but the card is still cute.

For the center strip I used white embossing ink to stamp flowers onto the green cardstock then added bridal embossing powder. I stamped my Thank You sentiment on vellum to layer on top of it. I layered a Spare Parts flower on top of a bazzil flower, add a little clear gem, and viola! A springy thank you card!

Cupcake

2009-04-27T08:51:00.002-05:00

It looks like I'm back to averaging a post a week. What can I say... life tends to get hectic! Things may pick up here though, as I have quite a "to-do" list in card creating. Today I'll share one I've worked on in my spare moments over the weekend.

I used Sketch #48 from the Sketch Saturday Blog to get me started. (I really do love that sketch!) The card isn't my usual colors, but I saw the Basic Grey paper at Hobby Lobby and new it was perfect for a birthday type card. I've been playing around with Bic Mark-It markers that I had found at Sam's club. They are seriously lacking some softer colors, but I'm still learning to work with them. I can't afford Copics (over $6 a marker!) so I make do with what I have!

Chocolate Butterflies

2009-04-19T14:48:00.003-05:00

I have had a major creativity block for the last... oh... let's say MONTH! Life has been a bit stressful with the arrival of surprise orders for my husband, sudden need to sell our house and the list goes on and on. Yesterday was a cloudy, near gloomy day, but I thought it was the perfect soft lighting for a photo shoot. I took my daughter down to the river by our house and had fun photographing her. I just have to say that I absolutely LOVE my digital camera. I sit there and click away, knowing that if I take twenty pictures and get one perfect shot, it's all worth it!

So today, after coming home from church I announced that I was going to go play, and wouldn't you know it, a layout came to be...

Unfortunately my lightbox is disassembled at the moment, I was unable to properly capture the "yummy"ness of this layout. It's so rich, delicate and sparkly! It's pretty in real life. This type of layout is not my usual, I used a sketch from Creative Scrappers to get started. But I'm pleased with how it turned out. I think my daughter will like it to. :)

Kids at Play... and a personal note

2009-04-02T17:36:00.003-05:00

I suppose the personal note will come first. For those that don't know, my husband is in the US Army. Last week we got notice that our expected tour of 5 years has gotten cut 2 years short. My husband has to report to his new duty station July 10th. So I have been rather busy with trying to get our five bedroom house ready to be shown to perspective buyers. Unfortunately it is taking up near all my time. I have been working on a few charms and things in the rare spare moments I get, but I don't have anything to show as of yet. So, if this blog is slow, you know why. There's quite a few challenges out there I want to do, but unfortunately other responsibilities come first. Not to mention my in-laws are visiting next week!

Anyhow... I made this 12x12 spread a couple months ago. I created it to submit to a popular magazine. Since I have not heard from them, I figure I might as well share it here. I really do love this layout, and I spent a LOT of time on it!

I love the bright primary colors on this layout that I drew out from the background of the pictures. We had gone to the Burger King on base one very cold February Day. I got in with the kids and did my best to catch the life and energy that our children seem to have an abundance of. I chose to lay the pictures on slight angles to give the feel of movement. The sprinkling of brads and curly q's help to keep the "fun" in the layout.

Three Clover Designs Challenge 6

2009-03-26T13:45:00.004-05:00

I'm participating in a new challenge blog this week!
Three Clovers Designs challenge today is to make a birthday card with purple and glitter!

It's a bit simpler than I've been making lately, but it still works. I brought out my old cuttlebug dies for this one. The papers are old Making Memories papers that I've had in my stash for years. I added some glitter to the diecuts, the sentiment is stamped with Versamark White and embossed with bridal powder. It looks a bit silver but I think it still goes well!

High Hopes Challenge 23- Buttons Galore

2009-03-24T08:15:00.002-05:00

This last week I got my order from High Hopes, and I've absolutely enjoyed creating with them. This weeks challenge is called Buttons Galore, bet you can guess this one. ;)

My little sis is having her first baby here in a few weeks. I had stamped and colored the image in with my Prismas a couple days ago, but then got stuck for a little while. Seeing this weeks challenge helped me complete it.

The white background paper was embossed with the fiskars dots plate in my cuttlebug. The image cut with nestabilities circle and a nestabilities scalloped circle behind it. I used my Cricut to cut chipboard letters and added a few thin coats of Modge Podge. (Love that stuff!) Added ribbon, flower, buttons, a few gems, and viola! You've got a cute card to welcome a new blessing into the world with!

Thou Art Crunchy

2009-03-23T07:29:00.000-05:00

I'm back with another birthday card.

This one is for my mom's husband who happens to share a birthday with my oldest son. My mom and he have done Renaissance fairs so on the inside I put a note about him getting out his shiny armor. The brads look gold in the picture, but they're actually silver. This is another card that's rather simple. I can't seem to figure out how to do manly without also being simple.

Once again the image is from High Hopes, though I couldn't find it on their website with a quick search. I'm so glad I joined that swap. :) Anyhow, cut it out with Nestabilities Label die, colored with Prismas and dabbed some blue ink around him. Prop it up on several layers of distressed papers, and there you have it!

Warm Wishes Birthday

2009-03-22T07:08:00.000-05:00

I know just yesterday I posted about my baby turning five. About a week after that, my first "baby" is turning 11! As we were talking about planning his party he kept saying "don't make it baby-ish!" No balloons, no cute things, all he wants is presents. *sigh* Pre-teens here we come!

While it's definitely boyish, I'm not so sure about grown up. lol I guess I should have known better when I thought "adorable" when seeing that dragon! I got this image through a swap at Split Coast Stampers, it's Warm Wishes from High Hopes.

My coloring is getting a little bit better. I need to keep at it to get fairly competent at shading. I roughed up the edges and added some piercing to keep the boy feeling. It was so hard to not add a button or flower or something! I did add a little ribbon with just a knot, no bows allowed!

Quick Happy 5th

2009-03-21T10:52:00.004-05:00

It's so hard for me to believe that my baby is going to be five in less than a week! Seems like the years go faster and faster! This morning I put together a quick little card for her. I don't think she'll remember it long, but I know she'll be happy Mommy made her something.

I love that I can make my own chipboard elements with my cricut machine. It's nice to make what you need and not buy a whole package with remnants going to waste. My only worry is that I'll run out of the thin backing on paper pads! I inked the edges, and added a good layer of holographic embossing powder to the 5 to give it sparkle. Unfortunately it didn't show up so well in this pic. I added a sparkly ribbon and brad with the sentiment and it's good to go!

One in a Melon

2009-03-20T15:34:00.004-05:00

My stamps from High Hopes finally came in yesterday! In between chores today I've been working on a cheery bright card for my (hubby's) Grandma.

As you can see I've even done an envelope to match. Looking at the cheery yellow and orange, I think perhaps I'm wishing for summer?

Anyhow, the papers are just from my stash, not sure where any of them came from. I stamped the girl and colored her in with my Prisma pencils. Cut her and the green out with Nestabilities circle, and scalloped circle. Added some ribbons, a flower with button and a dangly thing I got from the Walmart clearance aisle. I pierced the scallop circle a little to give it a slight more texture.

I mimicked the main focal point on the inside for the sentiment. I think the scalloped oval plays off of a flower, or bites of watermelon. :)

Thanks for looking!

Get Well Soon

2009-03-18T18:06:00.004-05:00

I don't know why, but I'm totally loving the brown/pink combination lately. It's just so much more mature yet girly. Okay, so maybe I'm weird. :p

I am surprised at how simple this card looks when the truth is I spent quite a bit of time on it. I cut the flowers and used my embossing tool to make them pop a bit. Colored in the Daisy Bella which I got thanks to a RAK. Had to cut the flower off of a second one, glitter it up and attach it. Over all I like it, and I think my friend will too. :)

CSAD #197

2009-03-16T09:00:00.004-05:00

I was tickled pink to be able to do two more cards for the Card Sketch A Day Blog by Susan.

This time I used her great sketch to make two different cards.

This birthday card seems simple and elegant. It's not my usual style, but I like how it turned out. The sentiment strip is a piece of paper that's been embossed, stamped and has double sided tape wrapped around the top and bottom. I then sprinkled a hefty dose of silver glitter giving it a nice border. It's definitely something I'd like to experiment with in different colors for different occasions!

This card varies from the sketch a little more. I straightened out the four squares, added some space between them, and straightened out the sentiment. I'm pleased with how it turned out, not to mention it was supposed to somewhat match the announcements I had made for the same friend. I'm so glad her adorable baby girl is here now!

Sketches are a great tool, they give you a great starting place and you can totally customize them to give unique cards!

Treat Boxes

2009-03-05T13:06:00.003-06:00

The Sunday School class I teach is hosting the morning service this Sunday. We're having a "Bible Celebration" and the kids have done so good with learning songs and recitals. I wanted to make them each a little something for all their effort. When I saw these acetate boxes at Splitcoast Stampers, I knew that they were perfect!

Aren't they adorable? They measure 3 1/2 inches tall, 2 inches square, so they're not very big. But they're just the right size to stuff a few candies, and a few toys in. The clear sides allow the bright colors of the contents to show through and really adds to the cheeriness of them.

They did take me a few hours to make, but once I got the system down they went rather quickly. Now I'm THANKFUL for my small class of eight kids. I couldn't imagine doing much more than that!

March Christmas Card

2009-03-02T08:27:00.004-06:00

Yikes... this is posted a little late. I thought I had done a post that was set to automatically publish yesterday, but obviously I was wrong!

Our assignment over at Christmas Cards All Year 'Round for March was to make a Christmas card using green and leaves in honor of St. Patty's Day. It's been fun to create different Christmas Cards outside of the Christmas Season. I do admit though, it's getting tougher for me. I'm sure it'll be even harder once the weather decides to warm up!

Though the card looks really small it measures 5x5. I started by cutting out a bunch of holly leaves with my Cricut in two different sizes. I then piled them up in a circle to create a wreathe. Add a red ribbon bow and some red brads and it's a cute Christmas wreathe.

I felt like the card needed another layer that wasn't green, but wouldn't distract the eye very much. That's when I remembered this piece of gold foil I've been wanting to use. It's actually a recycled sheet from hubby's gourmet coffee! It's absolutely perfect! I love it when I can recycle in this craft. And I bet you wouldn't even know there was recycled "trash" on this card if I hadn't told you!

Didn't make the cut

2009-02-28T08:00:00.000-06:00

Since I got an e-mail letting me know I didn't make the Design Team for High Hopes, I thought I might as well share this card here that I made for it. Honestly I don't blame them. This isn't even my best work, never mind the fact they have one of the best DTs there is! That's okay, I still love the product they carry and will continue to participate. :)

Thank You

2009-02-27T08:05:00.003-06:00

Sorry for the not so spectacular picture. I got a new camera yesterday which I absolutely LOVE, but unfortunately it doesn't like my version of a lightbox. lol

Anyhow, I put this little card together for a friend of mine at church. She's been such a supportive part of the Bible Celebration that my Sunday School kids are hosting. They've (most of them) have learned all 66 books of the bible by singing it to a rap tune. So she went and made T-shirts for them all. The kids are really excited about what we're doing. If you can get kids excited about the Bible, that is an awesome thing!

Anyhow, I cut out papers to do the same design, but on other color cardstock, like pastel blue and green. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get those put together yet.

Go Back in Time

2009-02-21T14:34:00.006-06:00

I'm on a roll! Though this layout took a ton of time. I got carried away in the specifics and less in just story telling. I tell you, my Germany scrapbook is going to be a mish-mash of overly done and barely done layouts!

Once again, the picture really doesn't do the layout justice, both papers are just too big to stick in my lightbox!

The papers from DCWV's Happily Ever After were just screaming to be used with my layout all about the castles we saw in Germany. I scattered some of the Prince Epoxy stickers throughout. And though it would be so much easier to buy chipboard letters, I once again made my own. Though they didn't turn out anything like I had been going for, I think they pull out the color of the bottom most paper, so it works nicely. It's one of those things where what you accidentally get is better than what you had planned!

Simply Special

2009-02-20T08:37:00.006-06:00

Though I don't post much, I do visit the Splitcoast Stampers forum a lot. I love that about every month the membership pulls together and makes some cards for a cause. This month's cause happens to be the Lydia Project. This is a great organization that serves women facing cancer by providing hand-crafted tote bags, prayer and ongoing support. I know two women personally who have fought cancer and won. One of which is my own mom, who triumphed over thyroid cancer, and my hubby's step-mom, a dear sister in Christ, who fought a bitter battle with Breast Cancer.

They requested the cards be kept simple, to help keep down the cost of postage, so these will not be fancy and laden with embellishments. But I think they are special none the less. Simply special I'd say.

I immediately reached for my scriptural vellum stack I bought some time ago. I don't know how any woman could get through something as big as Cancer without having Jesus to carry them through.

The sentiment is mounted on a marble blue paper, which reminds me sort of like a blue sky. The beautiful yellow paper below it is from a hand made paper pack I got a while ago. I love the colors in it. I placed a bow along the top. The inside of the card is lined with the same marble blue paper mentioned earlier.

When browsing through Walmart's discount section yesterday, I found this beautiful ribbon. It was marked as Valentines, but it feels much more like a spring ribbon to me. Anyhow, I knew I wanted to use this, so I grabbed some purple paper with subtle white flowers from memory makers and mounted another encouraging scripture vellum on white card stock that had been inked around the edges with purple chalk ink.

They're collecting cards for this organization through March, so I hope to do more but this is what I got done last night. I love the fact that my hobby both gives me an outlet for my creative side, and yet still has an impact on others. How fantastic is that?

Splash

2009-02-19T16:24:00.007-06:00

I tried to create a card today. I especially wanted to participate in High Hopes' most recent challenge. But due to a lack of sleep last night I just stared at my stuff, unable to get an idea in my mind. I rarely know exactly what I'm going for, but still, I didn't even have a starting point! So I headed back to my scrapbooks in progress. Thankfully I was drawn to pictures from a visit to a park in Germany that were waiting to be scrapped.

I found this sketch at Split Coast Stampers that worked perfectly, just I needed to downsize it to an 8x8 layout.

I used three different flourish stamps with a light blue ink on plain white card stock. I matted all the pictures with light blue paper, then inked them and the background paper with darker blue ink. As I positioned the pictures on the paper, it seemed that the layout was really missing something. I decided to draw on the flourishes with a darker blue gel pen. I love how that turned out! That simple action gives them so much more depth! Now they really do remind me of splashing.

As for the title, I used my cuttlebug machine to cut out letters from thin chipboard. Gave them a generous coating of glitter and sealed them. As I laid the letters on the paper, they didn't stand out quite enough, now the flourishes were to strong! So I muted the background a bit by laying a piece of vellum where my title would be. Added borders of the same paper used to mat the pics, and it looks great. And of course, had to add a couple flowers. I wish I had some embellishments a bit more suitable for the theme, but they're all I had, and their colors match fantastically!

Back in Time...

2009-02-16T10:22:00.005-06:00

Before I loved Card Making, I loved Scrapbooking. But ever since I was taken over by Card Making, my Scrapbooking hobby has been ignored. For whatever reason, earlier this week, I pulled out the last scrapbook I had been working on. We lived in Germany from 2003 - 2006, I wanted a scrapbook to capture what our lives were like there. It's now 2009 and I've barely gotten a few pages done! I had been working on a layout for our visit to the Zoo.

It's not nearly as 'pretty' as the cards I do. The fabulous thing about Scrapbooking is it's different to different people. There's no right or wrong way. Some people make their layouts little works of art. I've seen many layouts that focus on one picture and have a ton of embellishments. I love the artwork involved in that, but it just doesn't suit my reason for scrapbooking.

I've seen pictures from my parent's generation and older. Some I sit and wonder who the people are, what's the story behind the picture? So I like to have a lot of journaling in my layouts. I want a story to be told for future generations. I want to spark the memory of our kids who were so little at the time.

So this layout is very busy, lots of pictures. But it does it's job in capturing a day of our adventures in Germany. My daughter helped by making the lion, monkey and elephant with her CuttleKids machine. I love how we can work together on capturing our family's story! Now I'm wondering how long it'll be before I get the next one done!

High Hopes Challenge 17 - Again

2009-02-11T09:00:00.001-06:00

I have the greatest kids! I shared with them about the Guest Designer call at High Hopes, and they told me to try. I asked but what if I don't get it? Can I cry? My son denied me the right, my daughter said it would be okay. I showed them the current Design Team cards, and it's obvious my kids love me, cause they're far to confident in my ability. lol

Anyhow, I went and made this card off of the sketch to submit. I'm not sold on it though, I think I roughed up the edges a bit too much. Visually you wonder how the heck they're staying up! Really wish I had my old sewing machine working!

There's still time, I'm going to keep trying. On the bright side... I'll have extra cards!

CSAD #163

2009-02-10T06:37:00.002-06:00

I volunteered over at the Card Sketch a Day blog in December to do a card off of a sketch. The one I received happens to be #163. I've had this card done since before Christmas, but didn't feel right sharing it until it went live on that site. Now the day has finally come!

I am really, really, really pleased with how this card turned out. It began as a challenge, I don't really have many Valentine Stamps on hand, and I'm not used to a sentiment being the main focus of a card. It went a long nicely till I hit a bump in the design when it came to the heart. I left it for a night and returned to it the next day to put it together. Have I mentioned I love how this turned out? :)

I ever so slightly distressed the edges of the pink striped and worded papers, given it a rougher edge, while the embossed flourishes on the white paper and the heart give it a bit of elegance. Hearing those words, distressed and elegant, you'd think it wouldn't go well, but I think it balances each other out nicely.

The pink papers I picked up in the Target dollar section last Valentine season, the red fabric hearts on a string I picked up in the Walmart discount section sometime before last Thanksgiving. They are not intended for paper crafts, I believe they came from the fabric department originally, but I love to combine materials in this craft. Just goes to show little works of art are all around you! I have no idea who makes the "all my love" stamp, I've had that in my stash since before I was seriously into card making. The flourishes on the white paper is clear ink and bridal embossing powder. I repeated the design on the heart, only using white pigment ink to help it stand out.

This is the first card that I really paid attention to the interior of it as well. I suppose creating this for my husband shortly after his return from Iraq had something to do with it. But it's an area I think needs to be paid attention to. Sometimes all you want to do is be finished with a card, it's challenging to do the inside as well. But I think it really sets a card apart.

Okay, I'm done rambling about this one. :) Thank you Susan for the opportunity to be a part of this! I hope I can participate in more!

High Hopes Challenge 17 - Sketch

2009-02-09T13:41:00.007-06:00

Ever since I found them High Hopes has been one of my favorite stamping companies. And I'm not just saying that now, I've said it in past blog posts. Today they revealed try outs to be on their Design Team. Man, if only I could color better, talk about an opportunity. They have one of the best Design Teams there are!

Anyway... I did up a card for their Challenge #17.

This is one of those cards that doesn't turn out the way you envision it, but you like it anyway. I had pictured this card bright and cheerful, but when I laid the layers together the edges needed something. I don't have a sewing machine so I inked them. Unfortunately the blue ink subdued the colors. So the card has much more of a blue overtone to it than I had intended but all in all I think it still turned out cute.

I would have loved to have paper pieced this fun guy, but unfortunately I don't have this stamp. I received the image in a swap so I had to work around that. Now that I look at the picture I think the clown needs a shadow. Oh well... this is a craft that I'm learning and growing in!

The inside is all ready for a hand written note!

Smile

2009-02-05T13:38:00.005-06:00

Whew! I finally got some time today to make a card. It's been a while since I've brightened my grandmother's day, so I wanted to make a simple card for her. This last week and a half has been unbelievably challenging for me. I've forgotten how spending some time on a simple gesture for someone else seems to brighten my own disposition as well! It doesn't hurt that we're actually warm and sunshiny today!

I started off by rummaging through my drawer of forgottens. This is a drawer that I stick things in and then forget about them! (Not intentionally, but that is what happens!) I found three stacks of vellum quotes that I can't recall ever actually using! That's where I found the smile sentiment. It's so simple and cheerful I head to my paper to pick out some coordinating papers. I think the hint of yellow helps add to it's cheerfulness.

I couldn't find a main paper that did the trick for me, so I created my own. Cut a square of white card stock, sponged some colors on it, and inked the edges. It was still missing something, so I stamped a few random flowers in white embossing ink and added clear embossing powder. The effect is very subtle, but just enough to add some details.

I decided to place the sentiment off center and add a flower folded in half to the far left side with a gem as it's center. I thought the dome button was the perfect addition to sit atop the "i". The card still seemed to be missing something, so I decided to add a ribbon. The fact that it's a sheer ribbon helps to not visually weigh it down. I'm happy with it, I think it's cute, and I'm sure it'll do it's job once it reaches it's destination. :)