Die Tulpen

Two posts in one day - I have to settle down! I've never participated in one of Mercy's sketch challenges and, since I had some time this holiday weekend, decided to give it a go! I am seriously loving this cute flower set from Taylored Expressions - it will definitely be out for a while!

Supplies:
Stamps - Garden Party Blooms (Taylored Expressions), Polka Dot Basics (Papertrey Ink)
Ink - Versamark, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Perfect in Pink, Gable Green (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock - Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Whisper White (SU!)
Ribbon, Lace - Joann
Punch - Fiskars
Die Cuts - Cuttlebug, Nestabilities

You Are My All Star

I made this card for the Go To Sketch Challenge #3 over on the Paper Crafts Blog. I just got these great sports sets from Papertrey Ink and hadn't used them yet and thought they'd be perfect. I stamped all of the balls and ran the footballs and basketballs through my Swiss Dots embossing folder for the proper texture, and added red Stickles to the baseballs for the stitching, cut them out and used foam squares to pop them up. I stamped the sentiment on the bottom and thought it needed more so I stamped the sentiment on some navy cardstock and embossed it with white embossing powder. This one is going to my little brother who is a sports fiend - I have no idea how my dad and step-mom keep up with his sports schedule!

Supplies: Stamps - All Star Team, Have a Ball (Papertrey Ink); Cardstock - Stamper's Select White (PTI), orange and navy construction paper (my stash); Ink - Chocolate Chip, Basic Black, Brilliant Blue (Stampin' Up!); DP - Get Happy (Cosmo Cricket); Misc - White Embossing Powder (SU!), Red Stickles (Ranger), Swiss Dots Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug)

Thanks a Bunch

I am totally digging the Reader-Inspired Color Challenges over on Kristina Werner's blog! Wow, we'd been away from them for so long and being back has been a lot of fun!

When I first saw all of these colors together, flowers were the first thing to come to mind and I went straight to a new set from Taylored Expressions that totally deserved to get inky! I finished off the stamped flowers with purple stickles on the tulip and rhinestone centers for the other two. The "thanks a bunch" sentiment was the perfect finishing touch.

Supplies: Stamps - Garden Party Blooms (Taylored Expressions); Cardstock - Brocade Blue, Whisper White (SU!); Ink - Certainly Celery, YoYo Yellow, Brilliant Blue, Perfect Plum, Bashful Blue (SU!); Misc - Purple Stickles, Rhinestones (Michael's)

Mojo Monday 140

This is a card I made for the Mojo Monday sketch challenge. If you haven't tried it out, you should! It is a lot of fun and, as I've mentioned before, really gets me out of my comfort zone. I am so nervous of mixing patterns - love it but terrified I do it poorly - but was determined to give it the old college try and I'm so happy with how this came out! I love the twine with the little "wish" charm at the bottom, too. Cute!

Supplies: Stamps - Big Wish (Verve), Vintage Labels (PTI); Cardstock - Kraft (SU!), Vintage Cream (PTI); DP - Joy Ride (Cosmo Cricket); Ink - Basic Black (SU!), Berry Sorbet, Tea Dye (PTI); Twine - PTI; Charm - Frost Creek Charms; Die Cuts - Cuttlebug, Spellbinders

Sizzlin' Summer Fun with Verve!

I made this card for the Sizzlin' Summer Fun challenge which is part of the May project parade over on the Verve Stamps blog. I got a couple of Julee's awesome sets during the last release and am having so much fun making summer cards with them!


I've been loving the beachy scenes that others have made with these sets and tried my hand at one of my own for this Father's Day card. I used some Cor'dinations and embossed, tore, and sanded it to make the sand, used some DCWV paper for the summer sky, and stamped the Father's Day greeting on the front. For the inside, I stamped the waves and bubbles on the bottom and cut out the cute sun on top.

Supplies:
Stamps - Relax, Happy Days (Verve)
Ink - Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise, Only Orange (SU!)
Cardstock - Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White (SU!) Chocolate Box (Cor'dinations)
DP - Tahiti Stack (DCWV)
Cuttlebug, Swiss Dots embossing folder

Hats off to the Grad!

I can't believe my little brother is going to be in high school next year!! And, just in case you were trying to do the math, I was 25 when he was born! :) I just got this great graduation set and had to put it to quick use because he graduates in a week!

Supplies:
Stamps - For the Graduate (PTI)
Cardstock - Perfect Plum, Basic Black, Whisper White (SU!)
Ink - Perfect Plum, Basic Black (SU!)
White Embossing Powder - SU!

Happy Anniversary to Me!

This Sunday is the first anniversary of the first sale in my Etsy shop and I'm celebrating with a sale of my own! For every 4 single cards purchased, you will get the 5th free! My shop announcement has all the details!

On to what is really on my mind and what is really important...thank you!!

This has been a whirlwind year and I've been so blessed to find a little online community of peeps just like me! "Meeting" all of you talented crafters via this blog, my shop, challenge sites, and forums in the past year has been so much fun! As big as this world seems sometimes, it is also very small and filled with so many wonderful people.

Crafting has been a wonderful outlet for me. Nothing clears my head after a stressful day at the office like rummaging around for the perfect paper and the perfect stamp that will ultimately make something lovely for someone equally lovely. I love every minute of it (well, unless my crafty mojo has gone missing) and always look forward to my "studio" time. Someday I hope to have a real studio (or at least a room in the house that isn't triple booked!) so I can be even craftier.

Many thanks and much love!!

Thinking About You

I really can't explain how absolutely thrilled I was to see this color challenge on Kristina Werner's blog again!! Color challenges were the first challenges I started to participate in and one of the reasons this blog was started just about a year ago!

Talk about a challenge - this one has 6 colors! I turned straight to this great paper for inspiration - the paper has all of the colors in it except the gray and white so made a tag out of those.

Supplies:
Stamps - Fancy Phrases (Waltzingmouse)
Ink - Soft Sky (SU!)
Cardstock - Basic Gray, Whisper White (SU!)
DP - Honey Pie (Cosmo Cricket)
Ribbon - Soft Sky (SU!)
Pearls - Martha Stewart
Die Cuts - Cuttlebug, Nestabilities

May Blog Waltz with Waltzingmouse Stamps!

I am so happy to be able to participate in another blog "waltz" with Waltzingmouse Stamps! If you've just happened by, please head over to Claire's blog or to the 'Mouse House to see all of the amazing creations folks have made with their WMS goodies! I for one am quite anxious to see creations from the new sets!

The volcano made transport difficult from Ireland and I don't have my new stamps yet, so I decided to use an "oldie but a goodie," and one of my favorites - Faux Fun Circles. Making stamp sets so Nestie friendly was a brilliant idea!! I heart my Nesties!

I cut the scalloped circles out of a chocolate card base and a kraft overlay, stamped the interior of the card with my favorite image from the set and then embossed it with white embossing powder. I then stamped the leaf image from the set around the scallop and tied it with a pretty bow. Don't you just love this ribbon? It was clearance priced at Stampin' Up and I think it works perfectly with these colors! Next I stamped the "happy birthday" sentiment from my Lil' Buddies set in red on cream cardstock, distressed the edges, and attached it to the center of the circle with a foam square for some dimension. I really like how it came out - seems a bit Tyrolean, don't you think?


Supplies:
Stamps - Faux Fun Circles, Lil' Buddies (WMS)
Cardstock - Chocolate Chip, Kraft (SU!)
Ink - Craft White, Riding Hood Red (SU!), Tea Dye Chai (PTI)
Ribbon - SU!
Embossing Powder - SU!
Die Cuts - Cuttlebug, Scalloped Circles (Spellbinders)

All You Need is Love...

I made this card for this week's Mojo Monday challenge using a few orphaned supplies in my stash. First I found the card base sitting in a pile and decided to use it and thought chocolate brown would be the perfect compliment. I immediately knew I wanted to use Verve's "Love's Flower" set.

Supplies:
Stamps - Love's Flower (Verve)
Ink - Chocolate Chip (SU!)
Cardstock - Whisper White, Regal Rose (SU!)
Punch - Fiskars
Pearls - Hero Arts
Ribbon - Crafta

Time to Celebrate

I made this card for my dear friend Beth. This is a special weekend for her - birthday today and her first Mother's Day on Sunday!

Supplies:
Stamps - Hero Arts
Ink, Punch, Cardstock - SU!
DP - K&Co
Distresser - Making Memories
Ribbon - my stash

Mother's Day Gifts

I made sets of these lovely general purpose cards for our moms for Mother's Day. Just got them into the mail this morning and I sure hope they like them!

All supplies Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted:
Stamps - Vintage Vogue
Ink - Perfect Plum, Mellow Moss
Cardstock - Kraft, Cream
Misc - Scallop Border Punch, Pearls (Martha Stewart), Distressing Tool (Making Memories)

Mojo Monday 137

It is contest time over at Mojo Monday - there is a fabulous prize for multiple winners so go check it out! Here is my take on the sketch -

I just adore my Fairy Tale set from Verve and just got to try out a new stamp from Hero Arts. I think they go perfectly together!

Supplies:
Stamps - Fairy Tale (Verve), Vine Panel (Hero Arts), Paris (PaperSource)
Ink - Pink Passion, Chocolate Chip (SU!), Tea Dye Chai, Chamomile (PTI)
Cardstock - Kraft (SU!), Vintage Cream (PTI)
Ribbon - Crafta