A {Hope Your Day is Fabulous} Card...

Monday, January 31, 2011

Hi!  I have a quick card for you today using this week's CPS Sketch.  I'm once again using the same paper (Be-Loved by My Mind's Eye) yet again.  I think you all may need to hold an intervention.  If I can find some paper I like half as much as this I think I'll be okay.  
This card is pretty simple and straight forward.  I used a small hole punch to create notches to keep the floss in place.  I really love the different sizes of the brads and how they are positioned on the striped paper.  


Well, that's about it for now.  I did complete the first day of week 4 of Couch to 5K.  It was brutal but I made it.  I think I'm gonna go ahead and sign up for a 5K.  I should be a pro by May.  


Anyhow, thanks so much for taking the time out of your busy day to stop by.  Have a great day!

{Hope Your Day is Fabulous}
Stamps: Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink)
Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar (Clear & Simple Stamps)
Patterned Paper: Be-Loved (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: A Clean Slate (Clear & Simple Stamps), Pretty in Pink (SU)
Accessories: Floss (DMC), Small Hole Punch, Corner Rounder Punch, Brads 

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OCC Challenge - 3D Valentine

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Hello!  I have a fun challenge to share with you today from Our Creative Corner.  This week we are making 3D Valentines.  It can be a box, bag, altered item, anything that not flat like a card.  


I've had so much fun being on the OCC Design Team, but this will be my last challenge on the team.  I've been on the team for a year and a half and have loved every minute of it.  I think it's just time for something new.  


For my project, I made a pillow box and tag using my Silhouette.  I love the mix of the busy patterned paper with the solid tag.  If you are having a hard time reading the sentiment it says "A bushel and peck".  


Don't forget to see the other design team inspirations at Our Creative Corner!


Have a great day!

{A Bushel and Peck}
Stamps: Love Notes (Clear & Simple Stamps)
Card Stock: Dare to be a Diva Red (Clear & Simple Stamps)
Patterned Paper: Be-Loved (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Foam Dimensionals, Pillow Box & Tag Digital Image (Silhouette), Red Ribbon (Offray)

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An {I love you} Card...

Friday, January 28, 2011

Hey guys!  Valentine's Day is coming up and I've been noticing that I've been making a lot of cards with hearts on them lately.  Feeling all lovey-dovey I guess.

I started this card off with some cream card stock, I masked the edges before I stamped the text.  The heart was cut using patterned paper and my Silhouette. I love the window effect.
It's hard to see, but all of the edges of the cream card stock are sponged with light pink ink.  I struggled with adding more to this card.  I thought of adding a little something to the sentiment panel, but in the end I like the CAS look best.

Thanks so much for stopping by for a little visit.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!!

{I love you so much}
Stamps: Text Style, Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink)
Card Stock: On the Catwalk Cream (Clear & Simple Stamps)
Patterned Paper: Be-Loved (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: A Clean Slate (Clear & Simple Stamps), Pretty in Pink (SU) 
Accessories: Foam Dimensionals, Stamping Sponge, Digital Cut Heat (Silhouette)

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A Sweet {Thank You} Card...

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Hello!  I hope you are all having a great day.  I mentioned last week that I've been running lately.  Well, walking and running in small spurts.  I'm using a program called "Couch to 5K".  I've been running on the treadmill in the morning right after dropping the kids off at school (every other day).  I've noticed that my days have gone so much smoother on days that I run/walk.  Even though I'm squeezing exercise into my busy schedule, I'm getting so much stuff done.  I don't know if I have more energy or just my attitude is different.  Not sure, but I know I'm loving it.
How about I talk about my card?  Well, this one was created using today's sketch challenge at SCS.  I chose to use that particular patterned paper because it was already scattered all over my desk from the card I made yesterday.
Thanks so much for stopping by and brightening my day!
{Thank You From the Heart}
Stamps: Icons Extras (Clear & Simple Stamps) 
Card Stock: On the Catwalk Cream (Clear & Simple Stamps)
Patterned Paper: Be-Loved (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: A Clean Slate, Dare to be a Diva Red (Clear & Simple Stamps)
Accessories: Foam Dimensionals, Sheer Ribbon (Offray), Stamping Sponge, Heart Punches (Paper Shapers)

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Papertrey Ink Blog Hop - January 2011

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Hello blog hoppers!  It seems like a while since I've been able to participate in the PTI blog hop.  I'm so glad that Papertrey made their hops all day long so people like me that forgot still have time to participate.  This month the challenge is to use a PTI stamp set that you've bought and not used yet (none of those here!) or to use a set that you haven't used in a while.

So, for my card I chose to use the sentiment from A Wreath For All Seasons.  I bought the set to make Christmas cards, which I did, and then they haven't seen any ink since. I also used Text Style to create a block background type of effect.  I thought I would use this set all the time, but I haven't used it in a while either.  
Thanks so much for stopping by for the hop.  Have a great day!!!

{Happy Birthday}
Stamps: A Wreath For All Seasons, Text Style (Papertrey Ink)
Card Stock: Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: Be-Loved (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: A Clean Slate (Clear & Simple Stamps)
Accessories: Digital Cut Flowers (Silhouette), Foam Dimensionals, Button, Floss

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Another CSN Store Review!

Hey guys!  I was contacted to do another CSN store review.  I love doing these!!!  I'm having such a hard time deciding what to choose.  We are in need of a few things, but I think I might get a little something for myself (a purse, hey I deserve it!) and then a little something for the kitchen.  I was on their website last night and got a little carried away.  It's amazing to see what the wide array of stuff they carry, from items for your pet to swingsets.  It's crazy the amount of goodies they have.

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A {Dump Truck} Card for Gabriel...

Monday, January 24, 2011



Hello!  I hope you all had a great weekend.  We celebrated my nephew's birthday on Saturday and I just had to make him a personalized card.  He pretty much loves anything with wheels, especially heavy equipment.  When he opened my card he tried to drive it across the table.  I think he liked it!


I've been trying not make any cards that use the Silhouette exclusively, but I loved how this card turned out and I didn't have anything ready (or time this morning to make anything new).  I really don't want to neglect most of my readers by doing an all Silhouette card either.  


I was pretty proud of myself for turning one single dump truck image into an actual card.  I love the software that comes with the Silhouette.  It was so easy to use.  For 99 cents I bought a set of 4 vehicles and then just used this one, enlarged the size and then manipulated it into a card.  
  
Have a great day!

{Dump Truck}
Card Stock: Say Yellow to All Your Fans, You're Such a Gray-cious Host, Perfect Little Black Dress (Clear & Simple Stamps)
Accessories: Foam Dimensionals, Glue (Tombow), Digital Cutting Machine & Image (Silhouette), Black Vinyl (Silhouette)

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OCC Challenge - Color Challenge w/ a Twist

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Hey guys!  We have a fun and unique challenge from Our Creative Corner for you today.  I've seen color charts before, but I've not made a card based on complimentary colors.  You can see the color chart to the left.  The challenge is to use three colors in order from the chart.  


For my card, I used three colors in the lower right quadrant.  I chose a medium blue, aqua blue, and green.  You can also use black and white. I love how the colors pop off the white card stock.  


I actually used three stamps from three different stamp sets. Each layer is popped up on foam dimensionals.  


Be sure to check out the other samples at Our Creative Corner.  You'll find lots of inspiration from all over the color chart.  

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

{You're a Lucky Star}
Stamps: Icons I, Icons Extras (Clear & Simple Stamps), Around & About Sentiments (Papertrey Ink)
Card Stock: Blanc Check, Glamazon Green (Clear & Simple Stamps)
Ink: Simply Blue-tiful, Green with Envy, Your Style Blue Me Away (Clear & Simple Stamps), Fresh Snow (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Swiss Dots Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug), Foam Dimensionals, Rhinestones (Kaiser Craft)

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A {Celebrate Today} Card...

Friday, January 21, 2011

Hello there!  Things have been a little crazy around here this entire month.  My kids have had a lot of snow days and I have my eggs in several different baskets.  I haven't been feeling very paper-crafty this month.  I kinda think it's because my studio is a complete mess.  I added two major components to my space (my Silhouette machine and my light box) and I haven't quite figured out how to arrange everything.  I would be so embarrassed if anyone saw my space right now.  This morning my laptop and Silhouette were on the treadmill.  


Along with my kids being home from school a lot, I've taken up running and crocheting.  Just like anything new, you want to do it all the time (talking about the crocheting, not the running).  I've been crocheting like crazy.  About the running part, I've started a program called Couch to 5K.  I'll be finishing my second full week tomorrow.  That's been fun since I met a great group of girls to do it with.  
Anyway, I made time this morning to get crafty.  This is a pretty simple card.  I wanted to start out simple and get my mojo built up.  The patterned paper and the die cut flower in the center are from Hippy Girl by Kaiser Craft.  


Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a great day!

{Celebrate Today}
Stamps: Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink)
Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar (Clear & Simple Stamps), Raspberry Fizz (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: Hippy Girl (Kaiser Craft)
Ink: Perfect Plum (SU) 
Accessories: Pink Rhinestone (Kaiser Craft), Clear Rhinestones (Michaels), Foam Dimensionals, Stamping Sponge

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An Early {Valentine's Day} Card...

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Hey there!  I didn't mean for this card to be so simple and basic, but when I applied the sentiment panel to the embossed card base, I thought it looked great.  I tried adding some red rhinestones, but it just took away from the clean and simpleness of the card.
I also love the little tiny bow.  It's pretty rare that a bow turns out this well for me.  I originally made the bow bigger, but when I was loosening and re-tightening it this cute little bow just sort of appeared.


This card is super simple and easy to replicate.  Anyone can do it.  Trust me.  Have a great day everyone!

{It is only with the heart...}
Stamps: Love Notes (Clear & Simple Stamps) 
Card Stock: Dare to be a Diva Red, I'm a Princess Pink (Clear & Simple Stamps)
Ink: Dare to be a Diva Red (Clear & Simple Stamps)
Accessories: Foam Dimensionals, Birds & Swirls Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug), Ribbon (Offray)

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An {HB2U} Card...

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Hello!  I hope you are having a great day.  It is rainy and dreary here.  It's the perfect day to curl up and take a nap, oh a girl can dream!  


Today I have one more card featuring the Clear & Simple Stamps January SOTM, Fun Fungi.  For this card I used some glossy accents to make my mushroom pop.  I punched a small hole on each side of the stem and threaded some floss through them to make it look like the "HB2U" was tied around the mushroom.  
The grass was cut out using the Silhouette and Glamazon Green card stock.


Thanks so much fro stopping by.  Have a great day!

{HB2U}
Stamps: Fun Fungi (Clear & Simple Stamps)
Card StockGlamazon GreenI'm a Princess PinkDare to be a Diva RedPerfect Little Black Dress
InkEmerald BlingPerfect Little Black Dress
AccessoriesRed Floss (DMC), Black Pearls, Grass Digital Cut Image (Silhouette), Corner Rounder Punch, Edge Distresser, Glossy Accents

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An {I'm So Grateful For You} Card...

Monday, January 17, 2011

Hey guys!  Hope you all had a great weekend.  We celebrated my son's birthday over the weekend and unfortunately my daughter had a stomach virus and had to miss the whole party.  Good news though, she is fit as a fiddle today.  


For my card today I used a product I purchased at Michaels on Friday.  It's called Enamel Accents and it allows you to make your own pearls.  I love all the flourishes I've seen on cards recently with rhinestones or pearls, but I'm not willing to pay $2.99 a pop.  The pack I bought came with a bottle of each white and black for $5.99 and I used a 40% off coupon.  That's about $1.80 per bottle!  I was actually looking for Liquid Pearls, but my Michaels didn't have it.  I believe those look even more like pearls.


I have a swirl template from Bazzill that I used on my card.  I simply placed the swirl where I wanted it and used a marker to mark all the places to put a pearl.  After I finished applying the pearls, I thought they were spaced too far apart and you would barely tell it was a flourish, so I placed an additional pearl between all the pearls.  
There's a bit of a learning curve to making these pearls.  I love how the ones on the sentiment are perfectly rounded.  The ones on the flourish are sort of flat.   If you guessed I did the sentiment last, you'd be correct!

This is also the first card I photographed in my new lightbox.  I know I mentioned that I made my own lightbox, but the didn't work out so well.  I came across a great deal online and snapped it up.  So far, so good.  

Have a great day!

{I'm So Grateful for You}
Stamps: Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink)
Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar (Clear & Simple Stamps)
Patterned Paper: Origins (Basic Grey)
Ink: Espresso Your Style (Clear & Simple Stamps)
Accessories: Enamel Accents (Ranger), Swirl Template (Bazzill), Stamping Sponge, Foam Dimensionals

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OCC Challenge - Sketch Challenge

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Happy Saturday!  It's time for another challenge from Our Creative Corner!  This time we have a super simple sketch that we want you to dress up in your own style, mine being clean and simple.  My oval is a window where the negative image is popped up on foam dimensionals.  All the papers I chose are from Offbeat by Basic Grey.
Make sure you check out the other design team samples at Our Creative Corner.  Linda has been working really hard to jazz up the challenge blog and it looks really great.

Have a great weekend 

{Get Well Soon}
Stamps: Communique Sentiments (Papertrey Ink)
Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar (CSS), Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: Offbeat (Basic Grey)
Ink: Espresso Your Style (CSS), Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Heart Punch (Paper Shapers), Stamping Sponge, Green Satin Ribbon (Offray), Foam Dimensionals, Digital Cutter (Silhouette)

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Clear & Simple Stamps - App Sneak Peek

Thursday, January 13, 2011

It's me again!  Just wanted to let you know I have a card featured today on the Clear & Simple Stamps App for the iphone today.   You can see a sneak peek below.  This is a card created exclusively for the APP and you won't see it anywhere else.   If you haven't downloaded the APP, you can click here to do it. 
Thanks for stopping by!

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A {Happy Heart Day} Card...

Hello!  Today I'm playing along along with CPS's 200th Sketch!  I chose to use these papers because they were still sitting out on my desk from the card I made yesterday.  I just adore the colors of the Love Me Do collection by My Mind's Eye.
The stamps I chose are from Clear & Simple Stamps.  The hearts are from Icons I and the sentiment is one that I created using Icon Extras.  To get extra mileage out of my sentiments, I sometimes cut the words apart.  The word "heart" came from the phrase "from the heart". Since they are acrylic stamps, they are super easy to line back up on the block when you want to put the phrase back together.  


Today Colin celebrated his birthday at school and the clown cake pops were a hit!  All the kids loved them and said they tasted great.

PS.  I ordered an actual light box so I can take better photos of my cards.  They are so hit or miss lately.  The card today is totally cute and the photo doesn't do it justice.  Ugh.  Can't wait till it gets here.  I would love to consistently take good photos indoors.


Have a great day!

{Happy Heart Day}
Stamps: Icons I, Icon Extras (Clear & Simple Stamps)
Card Stock: Dare to be a Dive Red (CSS)
Patterned Paper: Love Me Do (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Dare to be a Diva Red (CSS)
Accessories: Corner Rounder Punch, Light Blue Rhinestones (Kaiser Craft ), Stamping Sponge, Foam Dimensionals, Red Rhinestones Strip (Michaels)

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A {Happy 6th Birthday} Card for Colin & Cake Pops...

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

If my son ever doubts my love for him, I will remind him (and show him these photos) of the day Mommy made him clown cake pops.  I enjoy baking and am a fan of Bakerella.  Everyone loved the cake pops I made a couple years ago, which tasted a lot better than they looked.  I checked out this book at the library a few weeks ago and once Colin chose these clowns, there was no changing his mind.

They turned out pretty cute, definitely home-made looking.  They required a lot of time, patience and candy (which we have a lot leftover that I'm trying not to eat).  I took a lot of liberties with these.  I was not about to buy 48 sugar cones, cut off the tips for the birthday hats and throw the rest away ('cause what can you do with a bunch of cone pieces?).  Also, the fuzzy hair was supposed to be French Burnt Peanut Candies, which I couldn't find at the two stores I checked.  I ended up using some raspberry gummies that had bumps that resembled hair, although I had to trim all of them down.  For the eyebrows I used some green holly sprinkles that I found all the way in the back of the cabinet.

The book suggested making different versions of the clowns (some with collars, without collars, different kinds of smiles, etc.)  I opted not to do this since Colin will be sharing them with his class and I wanted to avoid the "why does hers have more candy?" thing.  Apparently the author doesn't have children.  So, luckily my kids had a snow day yesterday and I was able to dedicate about three hours to making these (not including the hour I spent the day prior baking the cake, mixing the cake with icing and then rolling them into balls).
When I told people that I was making these cake pops, all of them said the same thing.  They had either tried it themselves or knew someone who had and they all had the problem of the cake ball falling off the stick. After I had the balls rolled, I refrigerated them overnight.  I dipped the end of the stick in chocolate before sticking it in the balls.  Then (thanks to recommendations from friends), I stuck them in the freezer for about an hour before I dipped them in the white candy coating.  This worked like a charm (just make sure your balls don't freeze).  Out of the 48 cake pops only one fell off the stick.  Once the cake pop is dipped you have to work quickly to stick on all the candy.  The white candy coating dries really quickly.  There were a few times where I needed to apply a little more white coating to certain areas with a toothpick and then stick on the candy.

So, will I make these again?  Yes, because my little girl is already asking me to make them for her birthday.  I probably won't enjoy it, but I will make them again.  Hopefully she'll pick a less tedious cake pop.  Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the kids had another snow day today, so Colin will be taking these cake pops in whenever they go back to school.  So glad I rushed to get them all done!
So, onto the card I made for Colin's birthday.  I'm sorta impressed with myself over this one.  There's a lot of stuff on this card and that IS NOT my usual style. It is very Silhouette heavy, but I wanted something really special for my special guy.  Pretty much everything was cut using the Silhouette except the rectangles.  It took me quite a while to do the banner, getting them all spaced out and centered without being able to glue the string down.
Lots of dimension to this card.  The banner flags, number 6, sentiment blocks, and white panel are all popped up on foam adhesive.  BTW, this sketch used today's sketch challenge at SCS.


Wow, this was a really long post.  I'm giggling to myself re-reading this at all the innuendos with the word ball and balls.  Tee hee hee, I'm a perpetual 12 year old boy.

Have a great day!

{Happy Birthday}
Stamps: Essential Messages (Hero Arts)
Card Stock: Ocean Tides, SS White (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: Love Me Do (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Real Red (SU)
Accessories: Red Floss (DMC), Foam Dimensionals, Stamping Sponge, Digital Cutter (Silhouette)

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Clear & Simple Stamps - Mushy For You Blog Hop

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Do we have a treat for you today!  On the first of the month Clear & Simple Stamps announced the SOTM, Fun Fungi.  Today is a group post day where the Design Team was challenged to create a set of Valentine's Day cards using Fun Fungi.  This will be a monthly feature and we are kicking it off today with a blog hop.

The blog hop starts at the Clear & Simple Stamps Blog and my blog is the second stop.  Here's the set of Valentine's Cards I came up with.  These cards are tiny, like Vday cards your kids would hand out.  The dimensions are 2.5" x 3".  The card base is Dare to be a Diva Red and it was cut using my Silhouette Digital Cutter.  By the way, this card stock works great in the machine.  Cuts perfectly every time.
The mushroom stamp that I chose was just begging to be paper pieced.  I stamped the image on On the Catwalk Cream card stock using Perfect Little Black Dress ink and then the sentiment using Dare to be a Diva Red ink.  I colored the mushroom stem and grass with markers.  I stamped the mushroom tops on some red patterned paper, cut them out and glued them on the mushrooms.  I sponged the edges with red ink and applied the cream panel to the scalloped card base using foam dimensionals.
Here's a close-up of one of the cards.  Your next stop on the hop is my super talented friend, Kim HowardHere is a list of the other designers in case you somehow lose your way.  I know how easy it is to get lost amidst all these inspirational blogs.


{Dana Grothaus} - you're here!

Thanks so much for joining me today on the hop.  I hope you enjoy seeing all the Valentine's Day projects and it encourages you to make something of your own.  Have a great day!
{You Put the Fun in Fungus}
Stamps: Fun Fungi (Clear & Simple Stamps)
Patterned Paper: Offbeat (Basic Grey)
Accessories: Digital Cutter for Scallop Card (Silhouette), Foam Dimensionals, Stamping Sponge, Markers 
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