A {Congratulations} Card...

Finally!  I've have been working on this card all day long.  It's been such a busy day.  I've been squeezing in some crafting time in between running on the treadmill, doing laundry, parent/teacher conference, picking up kids from school, getting a few groceries at the store and attempting to make a new soup recipe.  The soup is simmering on the stove as I type this.  There's still laundry to fold and a salad to prepare.  Like I said, busy day.

So, here is my card for today.  It's based on this week's CPS layout that I don't particularly like, but it really intrigued me.  I had to give it a go.  This card uses the Silhouette a lot.  The letters were cut from the black patterned paper and then matted on yellow patterned paper.  The leaves and rolled up flowers were images I cute using the Silhouette.  I think these flowers look so much better than my first attempt. I guess practice really does make perfect.

I love the striped ribbon.  My SIL's was getting rid of some of her sCrap stuff and I rescued a few rolls of ribbon that I knew I could use.  

Have a great day!

{Congratulations}

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar (CSS)

Patterned Paper: Origins (Basic Grey)

Accessories: Digitally Cut Images and Letters (Silhouette), Glue Dots

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A {Congratulations Friend} Card...

Hello!  I made this card this morning, I was really itching to use my Silhouette.  I have always loved the cards that have letters with patterned paper behind it.  Is there a word for that?  I thought it would be really cool way to make a stack of cards for a gift and it would be quick and easy as well as clean and simple.  Some day, some day!

Anyway, I used the Silhouette to cut the kraft rectangular shape along with the letters for "friend".  After I punched out the letters, I glued the center of the "d" and "r" with glue to the patterned paper.

Here's another view.  The gems didn't photograph very well, it looks nice in real life.  This card is really giving me a masculine vibe with the earthy colors and lack ribbon and flowers.  


Take care!  Thanks for stopping by!

{Congratulations Friend}

Stamps: Icons Extras (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar, Espresso Your Style (CSS)

Patterned Paper: Origins (Basic Grey)

Ink: Espresso Your Style, Emerald Bling (CSS)

Accessories: Digital Cuts (Silhouette), Edge Distresser, Stamping Sponge, Light Green Rhinestones

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

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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With Sympathy...

Hello!  I hope you all had a nice weekend.  Ours was full of parties, three of them!  I'm happy to get back in my daily routine today, though.  For today's card I used this week's CPS Sketch.  I really love their simple layouts.  The patterned paper I used is Origins by Basic Grey.  Those flowers are one of the busier patterns in the pack that I was having a hard time using.  I think dividing it into two pieces and adding the neutral brown on top really tones it down.  When I initially wrapped the ribbon around the card it disappeared into the floral paper so I added a layer of brown under the ribbon.

The butterflies were punched from some scraps from the Origins pack and then I added a pewter pearl to the centers.

I hope you all are having a great start to your week!

{With Sympathy}

Stamps: Communique Sentiments (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Kraft (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Origins (Basic Grey)

Ink: Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink), Close to Cocoa (SU)

Accessories: Butterfly Trio Punch (Martha Stewart), Ribbon (Offray), Pewter Pearls (Kaiser Craft), Foam Dimensionals, Stampin' Sponge (SU)

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Paper Maniac Thursday - Father's Day

Hi!  It's Paper Maniac Thursday here on my blog.  This week the DT and I are making cards for Father's Day.  My card base is brown textured card stock from Bazzill.  I used two pieces of Origins patterned paper by Basic Grey for the "landscaping" and distressed the edges with tea dye distress ink and an edge distresser. The sentiment is from Our Craft Lounge's Thankful Flourishes stamp set.  Such a versatile sentiment and very appropriate for Father's Day.  I added the rhinestones as a finishing touch.  The tree is an old 3D sticker that my SIL was getting rid of at our last girls craft night.

If you are still in need of  ideas for Father's Day cards, make sure you check out the Paper Maniac Blog to see what the rest of the Design Team created this week.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Have a wonderful day!!!

PS.  This week at Paper Maniac, Cuttlebug Embossing Folders and Martha Stewart Punches are 35% off!!!

{So very thankful for you}

Stamps: Thankful Flourishes (Our Craft Lounge)

Card Stock: Textured Bon Bon (Bazzill)

Patterned Paper: Origins (Basic Grey)

Ink: Tea Dye Distress Ink (Ranger), Chocolate Chip (SU)

Accessories: Edge Distresser (Tonic/Tim Holtz), Blue Rhinestones (Kasier Craft), Stampin' Sponge (SU)

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Thank You...

Don't let this picture fool you.  It's thunder-storming here today and we are expecting rain through Saturday.  When I went to pick Colin up from school this morning, water was over the main road in three places!

For today's card I went straight to the sketch challenge at SCS, took one look and ran away.  You see, I have some weird phobia about crooked elements on my cards.  Everything needs to straight.  So, I went blog surfing in search of the perfect layout.  The one I ended up using is from Taylored Expressions, TESC112.

 I was able to use some paper from the Basic Grey collection, Origins.  All the papers I like get used up right away and then I'm left with a bunch of just so-so papers.  Both of these prints are a little too busy for my taste.  I diluted the paper in the background by using some solid card stock over it.  I then used the super busy floral print as a focal point.  I don't think I could have ever made that work as a background piece.

Anyway, thanks for putting up with my rambling today.  I'll be back bright and early tomorrow with a project for Paper Maniac.

{Thank You}

Stamps: Communique Sentiments (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Ripe Avocado (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Origins (Basic Grey)

Ink: Fresh Snow (Papertrey Ink) 

Accessories: Coluzzle, Black Brads (Making Memories), Foam Dimensionals

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