Congrats...

Hello!  Check out the cheery little card I made this morning.  It looks so happy!  Anyhow, I made this card for the Papertrey Paper Dolls challenge.  I fell in love with the sketch and knew I had to play right away.  Did you notice the size of the photo?  Blogger has revamped their editor and their are some cool options.  I'm gonna try this out.  Hopefully you'll get a better sense of the details on my cards. ETA: That didn't work so well.  The photo was so large that the right side was cut off.

When I started to think about what I wanted to do with this sketch, I really wanted to use embossed panels.  The embossing folder "birds and swirls" worked the best out of my small collection of embossing folders.  I also used it yesterday on this card.  The finished card looks wedding-ish, so I used a "Congrats" stamp.

There are stickles (glitter) on all the flower petals.  I tried really hard to get a close-up, but failed miserably.  Sorry about that.  You'll just have to take my word for it.

I wish you all a great weekend!  My kiddos have their first baseball games this evening.  So excited!!!  I'll try and snap a few good pics to post next week.  Have a great day!!!

{Congrats!}

Stamps: Communique Sentiments (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Lavender Moon, Plum Pudding, Ripe Avocado (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: Old Olive (SU)

Accessories: Birds & Blooms Sizzix Dies (SU), Birds & Swirls Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug), Circle Punch (SU), Frosted Lace Stickles (Ranger), Foam Dimensionals

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Paper Maniac Thursday - Gettin' Krafty!!!

Hello! It's Paper Maniac Thursday here on my blog!!! This week, the Design Team and I were challenged to make a card using kraft card stock. Well, I for one love kraft and use it all the time! I think that kraft is a really cozy, earthy color, so it pairs really well with just about any color. You really can't go wrong.

Green is my favorite color, so when I saw this green apple ribbon in the Paper Maniac store, I knew I had to have it. I actually have a t-shirt this same color.
Here's the details. I used kraft card stock as my card base and for the embossed panel. I used some light yellow card stock to matte the embossed panel. That layer is popped up with foam dimensionals and then I wrapped the ribbon around it and tied the ribbon in a knot. The sentiment I used is from Hero Arts.

Thanks for visiting today! Have a great day!!!

{thinking of you}

Stamps: Essential Messages (Hero Arts)

Card Stock: Lemon Tart (Papertrey Ink), Kraft

Ink: Green Galore (SU)

Accessories: Green Apple Ribbon, Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug), Foam Dimensionals

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Miss you much...

Hello there! I'm here with a card for you that uses today's sketch challenge at SCS. The layout was super simple so I knew I had to give it a whirl. I followed the layout exactly and then added the heart layer and the sentiment. I used the same papers that I did yesterday simply because the paper was still out on my desk =)
Don't you just love that plaid heart? I sponged some red ink around the edges to define it a bit more. Didn't want it to get lost in the polka dots.

Well, I hope ya'll are having a great day!!!

{Miss You}

Stamps: Communique Sentiments (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Ocean Tides, Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink), Cream

Patterned Paper: Love Me Do (My Mind's Eye)

Ink: Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink), Ruby Red (SU)

Accessories: Heart Punch (Paper Shapers), Blossom Punch (EK Success), Blue Rhinestone (Kaiser Craft), Foam Dimensionals, Stampin' Sponge (SU)

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Thank You...

Hello! I have a card for you today using this week's CPS sketch. I just love doing these sketches. They are so simple, you can do so much with them. I used some patterned paper I haven't used in a while. I just love the blue, red, and yellow color combo.
As you can tell, I am loving my new rickrack die. I love having a perfectly coordinating accent. Love it!

I hope you all are having a great day!!!

{thank you}

Stamps: Communique Sentiments (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: SS White, Ocean Tides, Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Love Me Do (My Mind's Eye)

Ink: Fresh Snow (Papertrey Ink)

Accessories: RickRack Die (Papertrey Ink), Button, Glue Dots, Foam Dimensionals, Red Satin Ribbon (Offray), Heart Die Cut (My Mind's Eye)

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Papertrey Ink Blog Hop - April

Hello! Thanks for stopping by for the Papertrey Ink April Blog Hop! I will admit that I totally forgot about this until the reminder popped up on my calendar this morning. I was reminded why exactly I don't scrap on weekends-- because the kids are home! Not that I don't enjoy doing creative things with my kids, because I do. But it is difficult to work beside them when they are asking me a million questions and asking me how to do stuff. It's easier when I'm not working on my own thing.

Anyway, here is my card! This month's challenge was to use tissue paper on your card. I'd really have liked to do something out of the box and totally creative with tissue paper, but I just didn't have the time or energy today. So, I just made these cute little flowers using dies, tissue paper and a little sponging of pink ink.

I used about 18 layers of tissue for the center flower and 12 for the smaller ones. They all stay together using a mini brown brad.

Thanks so much for taking a look at my Blog Hop card. Have a great day!

{Happy Birthday}

Stamps: Communique Sentiments, Text Style (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: SS White, Kraft (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: Close to Cocoa, Pink Passion (SU)

Accessories: Raspberry Fizz Top Notch Twill (Papertrey Ink), Top Note Die (SU), Birds & Blooms Sizzix Dies (SU), Stampin' Sponge (SU), Geneva Mini Brads (Bazzill), Foam Dimensionals

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OCC Challenge - Blossoms!

Hey guys! I'm here bright and early with a new Our Creative Corner challenge. I have really enjoyed my month as hostess. It's so much fun to come up with the challenges. So far this month we've had challenges to use buttons, bows, and butterflies. So, to keep with the B theme, this week's challenge is to use BLOSSOMS on your cards.

We also have a sponsor this week. Paper Maniac is an online store that has a wide variety of papers, stamps, tools, and embellishments. This store is near and dear to my heart. I'm on the DT, I use products from their store and love them. They have amazing customer service and quick shipping. Patti, the owner is offering one random participant a $30 gift certificate and FREE shipping!!!

My card is a bit out of the norm for me. It is a long and skinny card. The design for this card comes from one of the samples on the Basic Grey Card Kit, Sugar Rush. The layout and elements are the same, I just swapped papers. The chipboard flower was a crazy plaid. So, I covered it with pink card stock and glitter. The black circle and petals are chipboard that came in the kit along with the stem and leaf die cuts. The white swirls and sentiment is a rub-on that cam in the kit.
If you haven't already, head on over to Our Creative Corner and check out the samples from the DT. I hope you make some time to play along this week! Have a great day!!!

{with love}

Card Stock: Spring Rain, New Leaf, Raspberry Fizz (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: Green Galore, Bashful Blue (SU)

Accessories: Chipboard + Rub-on + Die Cuts (Sugar Rush Card Kit by Basic Grey), White Gel Pen (Sakura), Paper Distresser, Glitter, Corner Rounder Punch (EK Success)

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Congrats, you did it!

Hello there friends! I am so impressed with my photography this morning and it was pure LUCK! I made this card for the first ever Papertrey Paper Dolls challenge. Such a great sketch to start off a new challenge blog. I hope you guys check it out. Who doesn't love some Papertrey goodness?

Anyway, I received my Papertrey Ink order yesterday and got to use a couple goodies on my card. The sentiment is from Signature Greetings and is the awesome handwriting of Dawn McVey. I also bought the new rickrack die. It is awesome. I can't wait to order more of their dies. They are high quality!!! Oh, money tree. Where are you???

About the photo. You probably wouldn't ever guess it was pouring down rain here. I put the card on top of our grill, which is under a little canopy on our deck. I barely edited it. I love how green the grass and trees are and how well it coordinates with the pink on my card.
The butterfly is heat embossed with clear embossing powder. All the rhinestones are pink, they sorta look clear.

I hope this rain clears up! Halle and Colin have their first baseball and tee-ball games tonight. I was soooo looking forward to it. I hope you all have a great weekend! I'll be here tomorrow with a new challenge from Our Creative Corner.

{Congrats, you did it!}

Stamps: Signature Greetings, Butterfly Kisses (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: SS White, Raspberry Fizz, Kraft (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: Creamy Caramel, Pink Passion (SU), Versamark

Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder (SU), Light Pink Rhinestones (Kaiser Craft), Rickrack Die (Papertrey Ink), Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Foam Dimensionals

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Paper Maniac Wednesday - Save the Planet

Hi! Welcome to another Paper Maniac Thursday here on my blog. Today is Earth Day! Happy Earth Day everyone!!! This week on the Paper Maniac Blog, the DT and I are showcasing projects with the Planet Earth in mind. When I first started thinking about what I would make for Earth Day I knew I wanted to incorporate nature and an element of upcycling. Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value.

For my card I appropriately used the Green at Heart card kit from Basic Grey. The card base, scalloped border, leaf die cut, rub-on and patterned paper all came from the kit. I took a piece of cardboard (element of upcycling) and tore off the top smooth layer to reveal the corrugated cardboard underneath. I punched the butterfly from another piece of patterned paper in the kit.
Who would have thought that a card using cardboard could look so elegant? I love the mix of cardboard with pearls and ribbon. Maybe shabby chic? The finished size of the this card is a 4.25" square.

Enjoy today and do something nice for the world. Thanks for stopping by!!!

{always}

Patterned Paper: Green at Heart (Basic Grey)
Ink: Green Galore (SU)
Accessories: Rub-on + Leaf Die Cut (Green at Heart Card Kit by Basic Grey), Pearls (Kaiser Craft), White Grosgrain Ribbon (Offray), Cardboard, Curly Label Punch (SU), Butterfly Punch (Martha Stewart), Stampin' Sponge (SU), Glue Dots

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For you...

Hey there! I made this card using today's sketch challenge at SCS. Except for the card base and the little white rectangle, everything came from the Sugar Rush card kit by Basic Grey. The black swirl and the word "for" are two separate rub-ons. The letters that spell "you" and the heart are chipboard.
I love using these kits, especially when I need to make more than one card in the short time I have allotted. There's not much thinking since all the papers and embellishments are already coordinated for you.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope your day is great!!!

{for you}

Card Stock: Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: Sugar Rush (Basic Grey)
Accessories: Chipboard + Rub-ons (Sugar Rush Card Kit by Basic Grey), Foam Dimensionals, Corner Rounder Punch (EK Success)

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Hello...

Hello! Yesterday I mentioned that Kristina Werner posted a new challenge on her blog (finally!!!). The challenge is to make a one layer card. I thought this challenge would be a nice way to ease into the week. Boy was I wrong. This is the third card I made, and I bent the rules a tiny bit. I tried to make the card without the ribbon poofs, but it just didn't look right. This way is looks better (but not great) and it still good for mailing since everything lies flat. KWIM? I hope I don't get kicked out of the challenge!!!
The inks I chose to use came right from the ribbon stripes. The ribbon loops are stapled right to the paper. This finished size of this card is 4.25" x 4.25".

I posted yesterday about all the spring cleaning I've been doing. I was also able to clean my daughter's room, which was a pretty big undertaking. Luckily, she has bins in her room for the toys she plays with the most (dress up, barbie's, doll house, books, art stuff) so it's mostly separating and putting things where they belong. I guess I'll tackle my little guy's room today. I could tell he was a little jealous of his sister's clean room. It's so much easier for kids to keep their rooms clean if they start with a clean room that they just need to maintain (at least in my case). The hardest thing for me is reminding them to pick-up their rooms everyday. Then it turns into a total disaster area and you are partly to blame. At least that's how I feel.

Anyway, I really appreciate you stopping by for a visit today! I've been getting lots of comments lately that always makes me feel sooo good. You have no idea. Have a great day!!!

{hello}

Stamps: Essential Messages (Hero Arts)
Card Stock: SS White (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Ruby Red, Green Galore, Tempting Turquoise (SU)
Accessories: Ribbon (American Crafts), Staples & Stapler, Corner Rounder Punch (EK Success)

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Spring cleaning...

Hello! Just thought I would pop on here for a few minutes and let you know that I don't have anything crafty to share with you today. I've been bitten by the spring cleaning bug. Scott (my hubby) caught it over the weekend when he went crazy with the power washer. It didn't bite me until today.

I went grocery shopping and started the laundry. Cleaned the laundry closet and organized all the dryer sheets and detergent I've been stockpiling. I also cleaned our cupboard in the kitchen where we keep the garbage can. It's been in serious need of a cleaning for a lot longer than I'm willing to admit. We have two kiddos that miss the garbage can frequently when scraping their plates. I used some warm water with some dish soap and steel wool. I couldn't believe how easy it was and am ashamed I put it off for so long. Next stop, de-cluttering all the piles. You know what I mean.

What is it about Spring that makes us want to clean? All of a sudden, things that I normally wouldn't look twice at, are screaming out to be cleaned. Sentimental things lose their sentimentality and you find yourself chucking away anything that doesn't have a place.

I'm trying to hold out making any new cards until my Papertrey Ink order comes. Hopefully tomorrow. Did you see Kristina Werner posted a challenge on her blog. I'm dying to jump in but need to take advantage of the cleaning mood I'm in. You know, strike while the iron is hot and all.

Hope you are all having a great day and I'll see you tomorrow with something crafty!!!

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OCC Challenge - Beautiful Butterflies!!!

Happy Saturday!!! I'm here with a new challenge from Our Creative Corner. This week I'm challenging you to use butterflies on your cards. My card uses paper from Green at Heart by Basic Grey. The flowers that I stamped use three colors. Click on the photo above to see it larger. I lightly applied brown ink to the entire stamp, then applied pink and purple ink to the flowers. I love how it turned out and how well it coordinates with the paper.
For the ribbon I applied a strip across the card front. Then I simply snipped four 1" pieces of ribbon, applied snail adhesive to one end and folded them to make a little loop. I then applied the loops underneath the card stock using glue dots. Hope that wasn't too confusing.

Head on over to Our Creative Corner to see the Design Team's samples and get inspired to create a butterfly card of your own. I hope you can play along with us this week!!!

{Enjoy the Moment}

Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes (SU), Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink)
Card Stock: Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink), Cream
Patterned Paper: Green at Heart (Basic Grey)
Ink: Pink Passion, Orchid Opulence, Creamy Caramel (SU)
Accessories: Labels 9 Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Butterfly Punch (Martha Stewart), Clear Rhinestones, Stampin' Sponge (SU), Pink Ribbon (Offray), Foam Dimensionals

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Easy Enjoy Tag...

Hello! This may look like a standard A2 size card, but it is actually a small 2" x 3" tag. This would be perfect to attach to a gift bag. For this tag, I took one of the elements from the Green at Heart Card Kit by Basic Grey and changed it into a tag instead of a card. If you look at the kit, the card I based the tag on is at the bottom right side of the photo. I simply attached it to a smaller green card base.

The swirl and the words "enjoy" are rub-ons. The butterfly/rectangle element is a piece of chipboard that came with the kit. I drew the lines on the distressed rectangle panel with a fine-tip sharpie. Something that sets my tag apart from the one designed in the kit is that mine has a lot of dimension since each layer is popped up on foam dimensionals.

I hope you have a great weekend! I'll be back tomorrow morning with another challenge from Our Creative Corner.

{Enjoy Tag}

All elements from Basic Grey's Green at Heart Greeting Card Kit (card base, patterned paper, chipboard, rub-ons) + foam dimensionals + black fine-tip sharpie

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