First Dance

Hello, everyone!  It's time for a new challenge from the Creative Moments Challenge blog.  The theme is: Ribbons and/or Bows.  I am using an image from our fabulous sponsors: All Dressed Up.

 Here is my card:

The oldest son of my best friend is getting married in two weeks!!  Two weeks ago, some of us at church threw his bride-to-be a wedding shower.  It was amazing!  This is the card I created to give her with my gift.  For some reason, my printed just decided it did not want to accept my card stock anymore, so I had to do a quick readjust and printed this out on printer paper which is definitely NOT a good medium on which to use alcohol markers.  So, I had to pull out my colored pencils which I rarely ever do.  Thankfully, there wasn't a lot of area to color as most of it is the bride's white dress!  I matted the image on black cardstock, then some torn mulberry paper before adding it to an embossed white panel.  I finished everything off with a fun sentiment, some pearls and a yummy black and white dotted ribbon and bow.

You have all month to play along.  So, get inky and link up your creation; I can't wait to see what you create!

Supplies:

Stamps: All Dressed Up "First Dance" digi; PaperTrey Ink "" sentiment

Cuttlebug damask embossing folder

Challenges:

You are amazing

This is the latest installment of my attempt to use up this paper pack; it just keeps multiplying!!  This first card used up a TON of little strips of paper!!  I pieced each layer together (but I'll let you in on a secret: I didn't put strips on the portions that are covered by other layers) using different narrow strips of the paper.  It creates a lot of color and interest and is kind of fun.  I added a bit of ribbon and a single pearl to the body of the butterfly.

The second card also uses a herringbone piecing technique, but I was able to use more of the larger pieces.

I think this third card is my favorite.  I just love that yellow rose paper; it has a bit of gold foiling in the pattern.  It is so gorgeous!!

And the final card used a bunch of circles.  I had several squares that were just the right size for my circle die and voila!

That's it for now, but there will be more, probably several more--those scraps just keep coming.

Card 1:

Supplies:

Stamps: YNS "Whatnot Sentiments Thirteen"; Verve "Blue Skies"

Martha Stewart butterfly punch

Challenges:

Creative Fingers #277--anything goes

Cards Galore #123--anything goes

Crafty Calendar--anything goes

We Love Stamping--vintage OR anything goes

Tuesday Morning Sketches #756--sketch

Lil' Red Wagon #755--create your own background

Card 2:

Supplies:

Stamps: YNS "Whatnot Sentiments Thirteen"; Papertrey Ink "The Sweet Life"

Dies: Spellbinders "Classic Ovals, large"

Martha Stewart butterfly punch

Challenges:

A Gem of a Challenge--anything goes

Make My Monday #225--florals

Craft Rockets #114--flowers

The Paper Funday #65--anything goes with the optional twist: flower shoppe

Moving Along With the Times #166--flowers

Aud Sentiments #313--foiling AND/OR flowers

Beautiful Blossoms #16--anything goes with flowers with the optional mood board

MFT Sketch #697--sketch

Card 3:

Supplies:

Stamps: YNS "Whatnot Sentiments Thirteen" 

Martha Stewart butterfly punch

Challenges:

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #229--anything goes

Through the Purple Haze #215--anything goes

Sheepski Designs #86--anything goes

Crafty Gals Corner#255--anything goes with the optional twist: lace or pearls648

Word Art Wednesday #648--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Pixie's Snippets Playground #480--anything goes using snippets (all the pattern pieces and cardstock were scraps, and the butterflies were punched from a scrap of card stock)

Card 4:

Supplies:

Stamps: YNS "Whatnot Sentiments Thirteen" 

Dies: Spellbinders "Classic Circles, large"

Martha Stewart butterfly punch

Challenges:

Sketch Saturday #750--sketch

Unicorn Challenge #98--for the girls

Creative Inspirations--feminine

{Pin}spirational Challenge #313--patterned paper

Penny's Challenge #571--anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--use dies

Amazing

 If you have been by to visit by blog in the last several weeks, you may have heard me talk about trying to use up the scraps from a patterned paper pack I have.  This card uses some of the last remaining "larger" scraps; they were just large enough for this fabulous sketch I found.  I love a good sketch and they are often perfect for using up scraps just like this.

Supplies:

Stamps: YNS "Whatnot Sentiments #13"

Dies: unbranded butterfly die

Challenges:

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #576--sketch

Creative Fingers #277--anything goes

A Gem of a Challenge--anything goes

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #229--anything goes

Cards Galore #123--anything goes

Crafty Calendar--anything goes

Creative Inspirations--feminine

Crafty Gals Corner #256--anything goes with the optional twist: lace AND/OR pearls

{Pin}spirational Challenge #313--patterned paper

Triple B--anything goes with butterflies, blooms, or birds and the optional mood board

Word Art Wednesday #648--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Penny's Challenge #571--anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--use die cuts

Mother's Day

Today I'm sharing the Mother's Day card I made for my mother-in-law.  I didn't put any sentiment on the outside because I really didn't want to take away from this stunning butterfly!  But I will show the Mother's Day sentiment on the inside at the end of this post.

For the bast couple of weeks I've been working on using up this patterned paper pack.  I'm down to a lot of small scraps, so I have been getting creative with how to stretch those scraps.  Probably many of you already know this, but I just wanted to share a quick little behind the scenes view of how I do it.  This works best if you use a sketch (or layout0 that has a lot of layers--layers that you can hide things behind.  In the photo below, you can see that each panel has been pieced together.  Most of the time, the patterned paper doesn't come close to covering the mat layer.

Once those layers are placed together on the card base, you see how most of the bare spots are hidden behind other layers.

And once I add the focal circle, no one will ever know that these are not full sized patterned paper panels!

I added a large die cut butterfly and finished it off with a bunch of pearls lining the body.  Here is the sentiment on the inside:

Supplies:

Stamps: Papertrey Ink "Tucked In: Mother"

Dies: unbranded butterfly; Spellbinders "Classic Circles, large"

Challenges:

Creative Fingers #279--anything goes

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #229--anything goes

Cards Galore #123--anything goes

Crafty Calendar--anything goes

Sheepski Designs #86--anything goes

Creative Inspirations--feminine

Crafty Gals Corner #256--anything goes with the optional twist: use lace or pearls

{Pin}spirational Challenge #313--patterned paper

Triple B--anything goes with the optional mood board

Cheerful Sketches--sketch

Penny's Challenge #571--anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--use die cuts

 

Amazing

 Happy Friday!!!  It's time for a new challenge from the Cut It Up Challenge Blog.  This week, the challenge is: Add a Sentiment

Here is my card for your inspiration:

If you've visited my blog recently, you may remember that I am working on using up the end of a paper pack.  This card is another one using up some of those scraps.  I found a fun sketch using some fishtail banners that were perfect for using some of the larger pieces of patterned paper.  I pulled out the pink in the floral piece with a hot pink circle mat for my beautiful butterfly that I die cut out of a pale pink.  The die is actually designed to die cut two separate pieces that can interlock and be used on the top of a treat box, or something similar.  It creates two bodies with alternating slots that can fit together.  I wanted to just use it as a butterfly, so I carefully trimmed off some extra pieces on the bodies and layered them together to make it look like one piece.  To hide the slots, I added a bunch of pale pink pearls and unless you look really, really, really closely you can't even tell!  I finished everything off with a sweet sentiment and some hot pink rhinestones!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you will hop over to the Cut It Up blog for the full details of the challenge and to see what the rest of the Design Team has created. 

Supplies:

Stamps: Your Next Stamp "Whatnot Sentiment Set Thirteen" sentiment

Dies: Unbranded butterfly die; Spellbinders "Classic Circles, large"

Challenges:

Creative Sketchy Girls Challenge #90--sketch

NBUS--never before used schtuff (first time out of the packaging for this butterfly die)

Triple B--blooms, butterflies, or birds

Word Art Wednesday #646--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Penny's Challenge #570--anything goes

Pixie's Snippets Playground #468--anything goes with snippets (all the elements were cut from snippets)

Simon Says Stamp Monday--feminine

Double Trouble--SomeThing, AnyThing, EveryThing (Thing #1: anything goes)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--feminine

Who's turning 7??

 Happy May 1st!!  It's time for a new challenge on the Critter Crazy Challenge blog!  As always, it is a month long challenge: Anything Goes as long as you feature a creature.  Here is my card for your inspiration:

My youngest nephew just turned 7!!  I can't believe it!  Where has the time gone?  While I was looking through my Pinterest boards a while ago, I came across a card with a number wreath with the specific age highlighted and I wanted to sort of recreate that look.  So, I die all the numbers out of dark brown card stock and the "7" a second time in yellow to make it stand out.  I die cut a circle out of craft card stock and adhered the numbers around the edge of the circle using a smaller circle to help space them out.  I stamped my sentiment on white card stock and then die cut an arrow out of red card stock to help draw even more attention to the "7".  Then I stenciled my kraft layer with pawprints and then die cut it to create a fun pop-up slider card with a hidden message.  I used more red and yellow card stock to keep the card feeling bold and bright and finished the front of with a sweet little kitty!

On the inside I finished the sentiment and added another little kitten having fun with a ball of yarn.

Interactive cards are fun for any age, but I especially like to make them for kids as I know they enjoy the movement and hidden surprises.

Thanks for stopping by!  Hop on over to the Critter Crazy blog and check out the details and the rest of the projects from the Design Team.

Supplies:

Stamps: PaperTrey Ink "Big Birthday Wishes" all sentiments except the hidden one and "Just Sentiments: Birthday" hidden sentiment; MFT "Cat-astrophe" cat; Lawn Fawn "Push Here"

Dies: PaperTrey Ink "By the Numbers Border Die"; MFT "Slider Surprise" and "Blueprints 13"; Spellbinders "Classic Circles, Large" and "You are Here" arrow

Challenges:

613 Avenue Create--anything goes with the optional twist: a splash of color (my yellow is the splash)

Crafty Catz #670--for a boy

Creative Fingers #276--anything goes

A Gem of a Challenge--anything goes

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #228--anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #646--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Penny's Challenge #570--anything goes

Creative Knockouts #520--for the kids

Krafty Chicks #713--all occasions

Creative Creases #81--fun fold

Birthday blessings

 I've had this paper pack sitting on my desk and have made several cards recently using it.  I have had it for a very, very long time and it is down to just scraps and pieces.  One of my very favorite things to do in card making is use up full patterned paper packs, so you will be seeing many cards using up the last little bit of this one, coming soon.  This card is a birthday card for my mom.  The piece of paper with the roses on it is gorgeous and it is has some gold foiling on it, so I heat embossed the sentiment and the top layer of both the rose and leaf layering images.

It's hard to see it in the photos, but in real life it is so sparkly and shiny!  Really beautiful.  The ribbon also has been sitting on my desk--it goes perfectly with this paper pack as it has a nice gold shine to it.

Supplies:

Stamps: Verve "Love Deepens" sentiment; PaperTrey Ink "Life is Sweet" rose and leaves

Dies: PaperTrey Ink "Life is Sweet"

Challenges:

Unicorn Challenge #97--use dies

Crafty Calendar--dry or wet embossing

Craft Rockets #113--layer it up

Beautiful Blossoms #16--anything goes with optional mood board (I did not use the mood board)

Triple B--birds, butterflies, or blooms with optional mood board

Cupcake Inspirations #592--flowers

Creative Fingers #276--anything goes

Shopping Our Stash #520--Mamma Mia (for a mom)

Fab n' Funky #594--embossing

Penny's Challenge #570--anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--anything goes

Mom

Hello, everyone!  It's time for the mid-month reminder for the challenge from the Creative Moments Challenge blog.  The theme is: Cute and Cuddly.  I am using an image from our fabulous sponsor: Beccy's Place.

 Here is my card:

This cute little mouse is a freebie from Beccy's Place and he is just adorable!!  I decided to create a card using a fun fold.  The pink panel opens up to reveal more of the sentiment.

And then that panel opens up to reveal another sentiment and to provide a place to write a message.

The idea for this fold came about because I already had the pink shaped piece die cut and it had a little bit of the white border on it from the part of the pad that connects the sheet of paper to the binding.  So, it made me think of folding it along that line and then it all went from there.

You have all month to play along.  So, get inky and link up your creation; I can't wait to see what you create!

Supplies:

Stamps: Beccy's Place "Little Mouse" freebie digi; Verve "Love Deepens" sentiments

Dies: Spellbinders "Labels 4" and "Floral Doily Motifs"

Challenges: 

Cards Galore Challenge #422--anything goes

Pattie's Creations #217--anything goes

Unicorn Challenge #97--use dies

Sheepski Designs #85--anything goes

Craft Rockets #113--layer it up

Crafty Gals Corner Challenge #254--anything goes

Creative Creases #80--fun fold

Di's Digi Designs--scraps & stash

Try a Sketch on Tuesday #645--sketch

Creative Fingers #276--anything goes

A Gem of a Challenge--anything goes

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #228--anything goes

Everything's Better with Frosting

Happy Friday!!!  It's time for a new challenge from the Cut It Up Challenge Blog.  This week, the challenge is: Something that begins with "B".

Here is my card for your inspiration:

This is for my sister's birthday which happens to be today (April 19)!  The two of us have a love for food, specially yummy treats, so this card is very fitting for her.  We also both run and exercise quite a bit so we can eat those yummy treats!  My "B"s on the card are Better, Birthday, Bunting and Banner on my cupcakes.  I am coming to the end of this paper pack, which I have had for a very long time.  The papers are gorgeous but I am down to small pieces so I'm trying to find ways to use it up.  The sketch I used was great for using up some of the larger scraps.  The gold die cut doily pieces came into being in order to cover up a bit of the green that had a different pattern on it.  Now, no one will ever know (except all of you!).  The ribbon was also added to make the green piece seem a bit larger.  The pink rhinestones were actually left over from some tile/sticker kits my girls had several years ago that they didn't end up using.  And since I am never one to throw things away, they've been in my stash for a while.  Using up bits and pieces of things is my favorite!!  Even the little gold dots on the cupcakes are the left over pieces from the die cut doilies.  And yes, I am one of "those" people!  You can see the foil in the pink paper shimmer better in the photo below.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you will hop over to the Cut It Up blog for the full details of the challenge and to see what the rest of the Design Team has created. 

Supplies:

Stamps: PaperTrey Ink "Baker's Dozen" cupcakes; MFT "Delicious Birthday" sentiments

Dies: PaperTrey Ink "Baker's Dozen"; MFT "Small Doilies" and "Blueprints 12" stitched rectangle

Challenges:

Pattie's Creations #217--anything goes

Sheepski Designs #85--anything goes

Paper Funday #69--anything goes with the optional twist: sweet treats

Crafty Gals Corner Challenge #254--anything goes

A Gem of a Challenge--anything goes

Di's Digi Designs--scraps & stash

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #573--sketch

God's Love

Some Christmas cards that you receive in the mail are just too pretty to throw away.  I have several in a bin near my desk waiting for some inspiration to strike.  The one I used today has been sitting on my desk in the midst of being cut up for a while.  So, today, I finally pulled together a card using the sentiment and I'm working on a second one that will use the image and other parts of the card.  Also sitting on my desk was the piece of scrap paper that I use to protect my desk when I'm inking, stenciling, embossing, etc.  I've thought for a while that it would make a really fun background, and today was the day.  One side of the paper had a lot of gold from a paste and the other side had more blue/purple/black from blending ink and off stamping.  I really thought I was going to use the gold as it was so pretty, but the blue fit much better.

I matted my sentiment on gold card stock and die cut some snowflakes out of a gold glitter paper.  Then finished it off with some irridescent blue/purple rhinestones that I had had for YEARS and never used as they don't match with very many other colors (or at least my style!).  You can see the shimmer and glitter in the photo below:

The background piece has a bit of silver sparkle on it in places, I don't remember if it was from a shimmer spray, or just some diamond glitter that doesn't brush off.  Either way, it adds a nice little sparkle that's hard to catch in a photo.

Supplies:

Dies: MFT "Cute Snowflakes"

Challenges:

Sparkles #159--non-traditional colors

Cards Galore #122--anything goes

ABC Christmas--H is for hats, I is for inky (I chose I for inky with my inky background)

Unicorn Challenge #97--use dies

Craft Rockets #113--layer it up

Crafty Gals Corner #254--anything goes

Try a Sketch on Tuesday #644--sketch

Creative Fingers Challenge Blog #275--anything goes

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #227--anything goes

Girlz Creative Christmas  Challenge #67--no red

Fab n Funky #593--add a sentiment

Word Art Wednesday #643--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Krafty Chicks #711--Christmas

Jingle Belles--Peace On Earth Day (use at least one recycled element--Christmas card and the pieces of scrap paper) 

Prayer for you

 Hello, everyone!  It's time for a new challenge from the Creative Moments Challenge blog.  The theme is: Cute and Cuddly .  I am using a Freebie image from one of our fabulous sponsors: Beccy's Place.

 Here is my card:

A saw this sweet little bear in the shop and thought he was too cute to pass up!  I did flip him vertically to fit my card design better.  I colored him up with my Spectrum Noir markers and added a sentiment about prayer (because, obviously, he is praying!)  I finished it off with a scalloped patterned paper panel and some gold ribbon to match the gold foil in the paper.  A quick and easy card that's also Cute & Cuddly!

You have all month to play along.  So, get inky and link up your creation; I can't wait to see what you create!

Supplies:

Stamps: Beccy's Place "Prayer Bear" freebie digi image; Papertrey Ink "Inspired: Prayer"

Dies: MFT "Stitched Scallop Trio"

Challenges:

Cards Galore #122--anything goes

Pattie's Creations #217--anything goes

Cutie Pie Challenge #193--simply cuties

Sheepski Designs #85--anything goes

Crafty Gals Corner Challenge #253--anything goes

Incy Wincy Designs--Inspired by a movie, song, book (I was inspired by the book "I Prayed For You"

Once Upon a Time #21--inspired by "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?"

Double D--cute little animals

MFT #692--sketch

Crafty Catz #669--anything goes with a cute critter

Creative Fingers #275--anything goes

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #227--anything goes

Experience

 Happy Friday!!!  It's time for a new challenge from the Cut It Up Challenge Blog.  This week, the challenge is a recipe challenge: Use 3 gems, 2 die cuts, and 1 sentiment.

Here is my card for your inspiration:

Sometimes it is challenging to use more than one die cut and other times it is challenging to use ONLY 2 die cuts!!  I had a card I was working on, but it had waaaaaay more than 2 die cuts, so wanting to stay true to the challenge, I had to create a completely different card.  I love the softness of this one with the light gray and shades of pale, wintery blue papers.  I realized after I was all finished that I should probably have used black for the sentiment as it is a bit challenging to read when you are not holding it in person.  It says "May you experience the richness of God's love this holiday season."  But if I had used black, I think it would have stood out too much against all the softness.  My strips of paper were all cut from scraps from the same Christmas themed paper pack.  The pack was already on my desk and needed to be put away, which I did AFTER I used some of it.  My two die cuts are the white rectangle panel and the silver snowflake.  This is one of my favorite snowflake dies; it's so delicate and elegant.  

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you will hop over to the Cut It Up blog for the full details of the challenge and to see what the rest of the Design Team has created. 

Supplies:

Stamps: Verve "Blessed Beyond Measure" sentiment

Dies: Spellbinders "A2 Matting Basics A" rectangle; Memory Box "Lindeman Snowflake"

Challenges:

Word Art Wednesday #642--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Penny's Challenge #568--anything goes

Snippets Playground #477--anything goes with snippets (all my paper strips were cut from snippets --leaving a little bit more for next time!)

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #571--sketch

Sparkles #159--non-traditional Christmas colors

Christmas Craft Creations--Designer paper

Crafty Gal's Corner Challenge #253--anything goes

It's your day

 Happy April 1st!!  It's time for a new challenge on the Critter Crazy Challenge blog!  As always, it is a month long challenge: Anything Goes as long as you feature a creature.  Here is my card for your inspiration:

I can't believe it: my baby turned 18 this past week!  Where has the time gone??!!  She has a big Rottweiler named Hawkeye, so I tried to color up this little pup to look like him.  But, at least for me, Rotties are really hard to color!!  They are mostly black with a little bit of brown thrown in here and there.  I had this fun paw print cover die that I had not used yet and thought it was the perfect backdrop for the little pup.  I used a couple of the hearts left over from the die cut panel to add a little embellishment to the image circle.

Thanks for stopping by!  Hop on over to the Critter Crazy blog and check out the details and the rest of the projects from the Design Team.

Supplies:

Stamps: Pretty Pink Posh "Playful Pups" image; PaperTrey Ink "Just Sentiments: Birthday"

Dies: Your Next Stamp pawprint cover die; Spellbinders "Classic Circles, large"; PaperTrey Ink "By the Numbers" border die

Challenges:

Creative Inspirations--anything goes

Crafty Gals Corner #259--anything goes

Alphabet Challenge--Z is for zoology

A Gem of a Challenge--anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #641--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Penny's Challenge #568--anything goes

Simon Says Wednesday--anything goes

Lil' Red Wagon #749--animal antics

Krafty Chicks #709--all occasions

Di's Digi Designs--lots of layers

Sweet Stampin'--birthday girls (this is not girly, but it is for my girl)

Try A Sketch on Tuesday #643--sketch (unfortunately, I was too late with my entry)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

NBUS--never before used schtuff (the pawprint die has been sitting in my stash for quite a while and this is the first time I've used it.)

Lantern Bear

 Hello, everyone!  Here is a mid-challenge reminder for our "Flora or Fauna" challenge over on the Creative Moments Challenge blog.  You still have almost 2 weeks to play along with us.  Our fabulous sponsor is Polkadoodles.  Here is my card:

As you can see, I chose both Fauna and Flora for this card.  I used the adorable "Lantern Bear" image from Polkadoodles and dressed him up with some gorgeous patterned papers and ephemera from Not 2 Shabby.  (Both were part of a prize I won last month.)  I printed the bear image rather large so I used the "Out of the Box" die cutting technique letting bits of the image hang outside the circle I die cut.  It's such a fun touch and it makes the image take up less room over all.  I finished everything off with a small sentiment and some red pearls.

Remember, you still have almost 2 weeks to play.  So, get inky and link up your creation; I can't wait to see what you create!

Supplies:

Stamps: Polkadoodles" Lantern Bear" digi; Papertrey Ink "Just Sentiments: Be Merry"

Dies: Spellbinders "A2 Matting Basics A"

Challenges:

Sparkles #158--plaid or tartan (I have a pink/tan plaid layer just under the image panel)

Pattie's Creations Challenge #216--anything goes

Die Cut Divas--anything goes

Cheerful Sketches--sketch (I used my poinsettias as the square corner elements)

Sheepski Designs #84--anything goes

Creative Inspirations--anything goes

Paper Funday--anything goes with the optional twist: the DIES have it

Crafty Gals Corner Challenge #253--anything goes

613 Avenue Create--anything goes with the optional twist: diamond or pearl

Peace on Earth #60--anything goes with the optional twist mood board

NBUS #60--never before used schtuff (papers and ephemera just received last week)

MFT Christmas--anything Christmas goes

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #226--anything goes

Shopping Our Stash #517--round and round

Word Art Wednesday #640--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Penny's Challenge #567--anything goes

A Gem of a Challenge--anything goes