Full Support

I feel like over the last 2 weeks my main focus for cards has been pink/breast cancer awareness...but each card I make turns out nothing like I want and I end up scrapping or shelving it...

I tried again today.  I'm happier with this card.  But it still isn't what I was hoping for, not that I really know what that is... :)  But I feel this one is closer..
I really love brown and pink together, doesn't matter the shades.  The dark brown framing on this card really pops with the light pinks and I love that!  And of course, I love leopard print and since I had some of that paper, I used it...(though thinking about it now...I never make cards with leopard print...hmmm...)

Nothing too fancy with this card...again...I cut the frame from a cut file with my cricut.  The image and sentiment are from the Ooh La La set from Paper Makeup, colored in with my colored pencils.
I layered up some white and pink ribbon and tied a bow with them, gluing a large pearl in the middle.
Around the edge I added little white paint dots that I covered with pink glitter so it was all nice and sparkly :)

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:
    The Crafty Pad-Breast Cancer Awareness/Think Pink
    Dawn's Crafting-Breast Cancer Awareness/Think Pink
    Forever Friends #45-Color Challenge
    Mojo Monday Sketch #260
    One Stitch at a Time #132-Bingo (Ribbon, Digi, Die Cut)
    Pattie's Creations #53-Anything Goes
    Stamptacular Sunday #182-Bling it On
    That Craft Place-Bling it On

I also wanted to share with you another opportunity to give to a heartbreaking cause.  Krista Smith at Saturated Canary has shared information in her Butterflies post about a disease called Epidermolysis Bullosa.  Such a horrible disease...breaks my heart reading parents stories of their little ones suffering from this.
To help raise a little money for this cause, Krista has drawn up an adorable little Butterfly Baby and for the next week, all proceeds from this digi will go to the Butterfly Fund Charity.
Please visit her blog and check out her shop, and maybe spend $4 on this cute digi to offer a little help :)
Thanks for stopping by!



9 Fabulous Comments:

My Friend

Happy Thursday!
I've been holding off on sharing this card with you because I wanted to give it a chance to arrive at it's destination before putting pictures up on my blog.  It's for a dear friend/family of mine that I love so very much.  They recently lost their wonderful four legged family member and it has been heartbreaking.  I knew this sweet little pup since the day they brought him home, so losing him has been hard.  It was always a given that any time I visited, I would be covered in his kisses...crazy dog :)

So this card is for them (I'm hoping they received it by now...)
I love the way it turned out.  Captain was a black lab...which isn't the dog in the image...but the image was so precious that I knew it would still work wonderfully with this card.  The image is Girl's Best Friend from Tiddly Inks.  I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it and knew I had to have it!

Since Captain was black (and graying :) ) I stuck with a black and white theme.  I thought about doing a nautical card, but felt this worked out better.  I used a double sided piece of paper with dots on one side and a damask print on the other.  The frame is from spellbinders.  I had to really trim down my image...I printed it out at one size and then decided I wanted to use the die cut frame...so I had to make it fit...lol :)  I do that a lot...cards never seem to end up the way I originally plan them!
I quilled up some of my little roses and made a few buds with them as well.  Layered up some black and white ribbon and tucked a black bow under the flowers.
The sentiment flags are stamps from a Cardz TV set that I love!  Little sentiments that fit anywhere :)

So here is to Captain!  A wonderful companion, friend, and family member!  Forever in our hearts :)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
    The Corrosive Challenge #158-Animal Companions
    Digital Tuesday #179-Say it with Flowers
    Raise the Bar #112-Damask or Swirls
    Send A Smile for Kids-Anything Goes
    Stampin Sisters in Christ #158-Include Something Handmade
    Tiddly Inks #94-Make it Like Asa
    There She Goes #174-Sketch
    Word Art Wednesday #47-Encouragement

Thanks for stopping by!!

12 Fabulous Comments:

Twisty Tree


Happy Wednesday to everyone.
I've been busy making cards this week but haven't really been in the mood to blog about them...sort of lacking a little motivation and inspiration so they have been not so great cards...
But I wanted to share a fall card today.  I fell in love with this image from Paper Makeup and have been dying to use it on a card.
The image is Twisty Tree.  It offers up so many possibilities, from simple fall to spooky Halloween.  Today I've used it for a fall card and paired it with a sentiment from Create with TLC.
I cut the frame out with my Lacy Labels cartridge and I have distressed all the edges with my scissors.  So love doing that now that I've figured it out..lol :)

I embossed the middle band with the Leafy Branch folder to help carry the leaves throughout the card.  Not too many details on this card, which helped it come together really quickly.  But I'm happy with the simplicity of it :)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
    Bearly Mine #54-Add a Sentiment
    Designed to Color-Autumn
    Dilly Bean-Autumn Colors
    Love to Create #34-Anything Goes
    Pixie Dust Studio-Fall Theme (Pixie Flixs Legends of the Fall!  Seriously one of my forever favorite movies!  Watched it all the time growing up, along with Last of the Mohicans and Dances with Wolves :) )
    {Pin}spirational Challenge #26-Fall Photo Inspiration
    Ruby's Rainbow #38-Trees
    Sassy Studio #143-Fall Colors
    Sentimental Sundays #121-Autumn
    Timeless Tuesday #188-Fall Theme

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to stop by and "Like" my Facebook fan page!!!

14 Fabulous Comments:

Disney World

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!  We did a whole lot of nothing...which is nice.  Went out to eat Friday night for my husbands birthday and then came home and played Borderlands 2 together...all weekend :)  It was nice.  I'm not much of a video game player but sometimes we find one that works for both of us and we just play the crap out of it :)

But alas...the weekend had to end..I don't like Mondays.  I love having my husband home with me.  I love not having to really do anything because it's the weekend.  But they always end...oh well :)

Today starts a new challenge at Paper Makeup and this week is a favorite-Anything Goes!!  Super easy :)
I had my husband help me with my card this week.  Paper Makeup has so many wonderful images, I needed a little help choosing which one to use.  So I had him choose/come up with a theme.  His explanation for this image was "the only reason my brother and I ever checked our height was to see if we were tall enough to go on the rides."  Makes sense :)  So I ran with that idea.  I printed off some Disney paper and followed the sketch at Sketch Saturday.

The image is Beyond Measure, colored with my colored pencils.  I typed up and printed out the sentiment, then trimmed around it with my scallop scissors.  The stars are cut from the George cartridge and I made up some buttons to go in the centers, then strung some cord around them.  I added a few black and white staples to the corners...not sure if I like how they look but they were fun to try for once.  I drew in some stitching and added some black and yellow ribbon and it was done!

I'm actually very happy with how it turned out!  Not my normal theme for a card but I love it :)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
    Send a Smile 4 Kids-Anything Goes
    Sketch Saturday #226
    Totally Papercrafts #135-For a Child

Swing on over to the Paper Makeup challenge blog and check out all the fabulous creations by our Makeup Artists!!  And welcome our guest designer this week-Donna!

7 Fabulous Comments:

Fang-tastic


Woo hoo it's Friday!!!  That is always a good thing, but today is extra special.  It's my wonderful husbands birthday!!  Happy Birthday babe!!
Not doing anything special.  Still haven't really made too many friends here in Montreal, and the few we do have are busy...so we are just going to do a little shopping and have a little supper at Five Guys.  Then come home and have cake!!

With that, I guess it would make sense for me to post a birthday card...but I'm not :)  Haven't made a birthday card in forever...still stuck on Halloween...though I think I'm about done with that holiday.  Ready to move on to other things.  I'll probably still have one here or there if something pops into my head, but I think I've done a pretty good job with those Halloween cards :)
This card turned out so sweet!  I know it's simple, but there is just something about it that I totally love!  Not sure if it's the simple orange and black color combination...or the image...or the inking I did around the edges...not sure but I think it's fabulous!
This dangerous little cutie is from Saturated Canary.  The image is called "My Bite is Worse than His Bark."  So so cute!  I am overall addicted to vampires so it really surprises me that I haven't used this image more often.  But anyhow.  I've colored her up with my colored pencils.  I made her eyes golden yellow with a little fleck of green.  Not sure why...just thought it looked cool :)
I cut out the flags and added a dot of black paint on the end, then covered the paint with some clear glitter so that it sparkled.  Even Halloween cards have to sparkle...though I suppose this card doesn't necessarily have to be for Halloween! 

The sentiment is from Create with TLC's Halloween club which had so many wonderful images and sentiments it kind of makes me sad that I am ready to move on from Halloween cards...
I cut the label out from my Lacy Labels cartridge and then used a black ink pad and scuffed up the sides of the image and sentiment.

Nothing fancy, but oh so cute!  I love that little puppy too!

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:
    The Crazy Challenge #129-Spots or Stripes
    Lia Stampz #25-3 of Something
    Ooh La La #114-If the Shoe Fits
    Paper Crafting Journey-My Sentiment Exactly

Thanks for stopping by!

3 Fabulous Comments:

Boo!

Happy Wednesday!
Wanted to stop in and make a short post for a card I made today.  I've sort of been in a slump...all sorts of ideas in my head but can't seem to put them into paper...so my cards haven't been loaded with details lately.  I'm okay with that.  I'm finding that sometimes the simple cards are cuter than the decked out crazy ones.  But I do like a good over the top card once in a while :)
See, pretty simple :)  I followed the sketch at Sketch Sunday for this cute card.  The images are both from Meljen's Designs.  They are Cat O Lantern and Quilted Boo.  I've colored them both in with my colored pencils.  Cut out the scallop frame from the Lacy Labels cartridge.  Then added some spider webs from a Martha Stewart punch under the middle panel.  Kind of hard to tell they are spider webs...maybe I should have exposed a little bit more of them...hmmm
Anyhow...that's pretty much it!  I was super excited to go to the new Michael's store that just opened up down the road from me!  Spent way too much...but could have spent much much more!  I found the spider web paper there, which was awesome because I haven't been able to find any!  All I wanted was plain black and white webs, but the paper was always a different color, or had other patterns on it that I didn't want.  So I was overjoyed to find this paper and snatched up a handful :)

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:
    One Stitch at a Time #131-Autumn
    Pattie's Creations #52-Embossing
    Scrappy Moms Stamps-Halloween
    Sweet Sunday Sketch #167

Thanks for stopping by!!

7 Fabulous Comments:

Wedding Bells

Happy Tuesday!!!
I'm back again today with a new Tuesday Throwdown challenge!  This week our challenge is to use photo corners!  This can be regular photo corners, or decorative punches...anything that fits the bill of being a photo corner.  And our fabulous sponsor is My Creative Classroom!  The winner of our challenge will receive a free seat to one of their awesome classes!  How cool is that?

This is what I came up with:
Ok, so yeah there is only 1 photo corner on my card...but honestly, I had reserved this gorgeous Wedding Bells stamp at my local craft store, it came in this past weekend and I just couldn't pass up using it!  And I bought the buckle die cut from Memory Box, so that had to go on there too...which left only enough room for one photo corner.  But I think it all works :)

As I said, this is Wedding Bells from the new Saturated Canary rubber stamp line!!  Easily my favorite stamp!!  I don't have a proper mount for it yet (yeah I was that excited to use it :) ) so I inked it all up and then used one of my Cuttlebug plates to press it down.  I had to try a couple of times...those roses in the middle kept giving me trouble.  But I finally got a good press and ran with it!  She's all colored in with my colored pencils.  I loved doing her hair, though it scared me a little.  I'm still learning how to color layers and curls and such...and there is a lot of hair on this girl!

I left the roses white, but used a silver pencil to add some shading and shimmer to the roses, dress, and veil.  The I cut out the buckle in silver glitter paper and white, layered them together and added a bow on top of the ribbon.  The finishing touches were the clear gems and adding some clear stickles around the dress.

It's so gorgeous!  I just love this stamp and will be using it so much!
I hope you will join us this week at Tuesday Throwdown!  Be sure to stop by and check out the rest of the design teams creations!  And welcome our newest member-Susan Dube!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
    2 Sisters #109-Black and White + 1 (black, white, silver)
    Dream Valley Challenges #41-Celebrations
    The Pink Elephant #166-Monochromatic
    Saturated Canary #26-B's (Mine are Black, Bride, Buckle, Bow)
    The Squirrel and the Fox #26-Anything Goes
    Stamptacular Sunday #181-Less is More
    Totally Papercrafts #134-Use Your Favorite Stamp

Thanks for stopping by!

14 Fabulous Comments:

Moody for Fall

Happy Monday!
I know it's been a bit quiet around here lately...I was busy all last week with a large order and it took up so much more time than I expected it to!  But, it's done and out the door and now I can get back to other projects!
I will be busy the rest of today finishing a wedding card for a family member (which turned out so fab I can't stop looking at it!!!) and then taking pics and finally getting stuff posted in my shop!  I'm so far behind....my little ribbon line of finished cards keeps getting more and more full...need to clear it off!

But today is the start of a new challenge at Paper Makeup!!!  Woot woot!  Our challenge is Welcome Autumn, and who isn't ready for fall?  It's been so delightful here in Montreal the last few days!  I love the crisp feel of the air in the morning and feeling the cool breeze blow in through my front window is fantastic!  So yes, I am ready :)
Here is my card:
Yeah...not too elaborate here...I had this awesome idea with the patterned paper I used, it was all going to be great and then it just sort of..fell apart...not sure what happened.  But I tried my best to salvage it :)

I used the Moody for Fall image from Paper Makeup and colored her in with my pencils.  I also used a few of the images from the Color it Autumn set.  Cut around them and added them to the bottom.  Then I made up one of my favorite layered bows and stuck it under the image.  It actually visited several places on the card before finding a resting spot.  Wasn't real sure where it would look best so had to test it a little :)

I hope you will join us this week in our Welcome Autumn challenge!  Be sure to stop by and check out the rest of the design teams amazing fall creations!  So much inspiration!  And a warm welcome to our guest makeup artist this week: Tina Keller

Bye for now! <3

5 Fabulous Comments:

Eerie-Sistable!

I have some absolutely wonderful, totally fabulous news to share with you today!!
I was contacted earlier last week by Michelle from Paper Makeup Stamps with an exciting question.  She asked if I would like to join the Paper Makeup Design Team!!!  Absolutely Yes Yes Yes!!

So today I am happy to announce that I am a new member of the Paper Makeup Design Team!  I'm so excited and honored that Michelle would ask me to join her team!  I'm just blown away :)

For my first challenge on this design team, our theme is Monster Mash!!  So perfect!  Especially since I have been completely in the Halloween spirit lately :)
I loved, LOVED making this card!  That mummy is just so fabulous!  I cut the frame out with my cricut from the Happy Hauntings cartridge.  It gave me a little fit...but I arm wrestled it into working :)  Then I cut a frame out of the middle from the Lacy Labels cartridge.  I wanted to have the mummy sort of coming out of the frame...but I got ahead of myself and glued everything down before I attached the mummy....so that didn't work :)

Oh right, the mummy is from Paper Makeup Stamps called...well...Mummy :)  I colored him in with my colored pencils and added a little green to his skin areas.  Wasn't really sure how to color a mummy...but I think it turned out pretty good.  Has that old, creepy look to him :)

The sentiment is from Create with TLC (did you join her Halloween Club?  Seriously fabulous stuff coming in from that!)  I cut out a drippy frame with my cricut and added glossy accents to the bottom.  Then I just glittered the skulls and added some green glitter dots around the frame! 

Be sure to stop by Paper Makeup and join in our Monster Mash challenge!  And stop by the Paper Makeup Shop!  There are so many wonderful images there!  I can get lost for hours just looking at them all!  And the monsters always make me smile :)

Have a fabulous Monday!!

9 Fabulous Comments:

Child's Play 2

I'm back again today with another post on Child's Play, the charity organization that I talked about in my previous post.

Child's Play is a charity based in Seattle, WA that works to contribute games and game consoles to different hospitals around the world so that the children staying in those hospitals have a fun way to distract themselves "from an otherwise generally unpleasant experience." (from their About section)

Matthew and I are drawn to this charity because our lives are submerged in the gaming industry.  With Matthew being a game developer at Ubisoft Entertainment, video games are a huge part of our lives, and we know how a child can benefit from having access to age-appropriate games.  Games can be a great distraction from whatever treatment they are receiving and help them feel like a normal kid, giving them something familiar to handle in an unfamiliar place.

And it's not just games that Child's Play strives to donate to hospitals.  Tablets, and Ipods are so beneficial to the hospitals.  One testimonial on the Child's Play site states that Ipads and other tablets are being used to help children communicate with their parents if they are in 2 separate hospitals.  How amazing our world of technology is now!  And how comforting for a child to be able to talk to their parents even if they are not able to be there in the room with them.  All with the help of Child's Play.

I encourage you/ask you to please take a few minutes and look around the Child's Play website.  See their work.  Read the testimonials and know how much the work they are doing is impacting patients lives!  It's so incredible to read!

So here is my card for today.  This is the "girl" version for my Child's Play charity cards.
The card base is cut from the Lacy Labels cartridge.  I welded 2 of them together, then cut out a third as the top layer so it was the full shape.
I used the Balloon Wishes image from Saturated Canary.  I love the soft colors of the card and how everything flows together :)
For the 2 flowers in the corner, I tried to do stamp resisting on them...it sort of worked...I tried to do it on glossy paper like all the tutorials instruct, but I couldn't get the embossing powder to stick!  Anyone have any tips for that?  So I did it on normal card stock, embossed it with clear embossing powder and rubbed my pink ink pad over it :)  Rubbed off whatever I could from the embossing and cut around the 2 stamped flowers.

The bees are a stamp that I have had for...oh so long!  But they are so cute on this card!
I made up a few buttons in staggering sizes to put in the corner...just love making those.  The frame behind the image is wrapped with some lacy ribbon and embossed with the D'vine Swirls folder.
I used a new sentiment stamp from Cardz TV for the Big Hugs sentiment.  I love general sentiments and this one was perfect!

Then I cut out the Child's Play logo and mounted it into the corner!  Super cute!  I think it's perfect!

I have decided that for the month of September, 10% of each sale made in my Etsy shop will be donated to Child's Play.  I will also be adding my 2 Child's Play cards to my shop in the next day or two and 100% of the purchase cost of those cards will also go to Child's Play.  It's my small way of helping out a wonderful organization.

I am entering this card in the following challenges in hopes of having as many people as possible hear about Child's Play:
    Bitten by the Bug 2-All Shaped Up
    Celebrate the Occasion #78-Hey Honey (include a bee)
    Come and Get it-Light Shade of Green, Pink, and Blue
    Craft Your Passion #126-Floral Image
    The Crafty Pad #186-Anything but Square
    Catered Crop-In the Pink
    Deep Ocean #33-Things with Wings
    Digital Tuesday #176-Shaped Cards
    Divas by Design #51-Friendship
    Our Creative Corner-Dare You to Resist (use resisting)
    Ribbon Carousel #69-Beautiful Bows
    Robyn's Fetish #123-Pearls, Swirls, Glitter
    Scrappy Moms Stamps-Shape Up
    Seems a Little Sketchy #21
    Tammy's Scrapin Corner #26-Anything with Wings
    V's Sweet Ideas #3-Photo Inspiration

Thank you so much for enduring my long post once again on Child's Play :)  I hope you have a wonderful day and are encouraged to look into your own charities to support!
    

36 Fabulous Comments:

Child's Play Charity

Today I wanted to share with you some information about a charity that we learned about when we lived in Seattle, WA.

Many of you know that last month Krista Smith at Saturated Canary put together a fundraiser of sorts to help raise money for St. Jude's Children Hospital.  After reading through her posts about giving big and thinking about my own life and what I support, my husband and I decided that we wanted to start contributing more to different charity organizations.  There are so many out there, and most if not all of them run off of the money that they receive from gracious donors.

One such organization is Child's Play located in Seattle, WA.  Child's Play works with several hospitals worldwide to create wish lists of items that the hospital would like to have available for the patients staying there.  You can view these wish lists and donate an item by visiting their site.  They also accent donations that will go toward the purchase of new games, toys, and other items for the hospitals.

Living in a hospital doesn't seem to be an easy way of life.  And having a life threatening condition doesn't help.  But Child's Play works to make the lives of these children a little more enjoyable and interactive with the games and consoles they provide.

A quote from their "About" section seems to say it all:  "These donations allow for children to enjoy age-appropriate entertainment, interact with their peers, friends, and family, and can provide vital distraction from an otherwise generally unpleasant experience."
We all wish for distractions from some things in our lives.  Why not help provide that for an ill child?

So here is my card to go along with the Child's Play charity:
This is the Give Big Boy image from Saturated Canary.  I felt it went perfect for this theme.  I will be posting another card later today/tomorrow that also is in support of Child's Play.

I embossed the background behind the image with the traffic jam folder and then dabbed a blue ink pad across the pattern.  The red card stock behind the red ribbons are embossed with the swiss dots folder, along with the yellow flags on the banner.  The banner is cut from the Birthday Bash cartridge.  I cut out and wrote up a little Happy Birthday banner at the top that is removable...I wasn't totally set on a birthday card, but wanted something at the top of the flags.

The 3 red stars are gems that I covered in red paint :)  Worked out pretty good!
I then made a die cut of the Child's Play logo and mounted it in the corner next to the boy.

I hope this blog post helps to draw your attention to new charity organizations and encourages you to consider giving.  So many people need help in so many ways and if there is something in this world that touches your heart, there is probably a charity organization dedicated to it!  And you can always help!

I am entering this card in the following challenges in hopes of having as many people as possible hear about Child's Play:
    2 Sisters #107-Primary Colors
    A Gem of a Challenge #54-A Boy Thing
    By the Cute and Girly-Boys/Men
    Cardz TV #115-Color Play
    Cooking with Cricut #101-What did you do this Summer?
    The Crazy Challenge #128-Seeing Spots
    Divas by Design #50-Let's Celebrate
    Forever Friends #44-Embossing
    Lia Stampz #24-Red, Ribbon, Rhinestones
    My Heart Pieces-Layers Layers Layers
    My Mum's Craft Shop #72-All the 3's (3 stars)
    One Stitch at a Time #129-Use a Digi
    The Paper Shelter #79-Layers on Layers
    Pattie's Creations #51-Birthdays 
    The Pink Elephant #164-Use Patterned Paper
    Saturated Canary #25-Dotty   
    Simon Says Stamp-Anything Goes
    Sketches by Carly #64
    The Squirrel and the Fox #25-One for the Men
    Stampin Sisters in Christ #155-Birthday Card

Thank you so much for stopping by and enduring my long post :)  Please leave me a comment!  I'd love to hear what charities you are drawn to, or if my post encouraged you to consider your own contributions :)

25 Fabulous Comments:

Bookmark

Happy Tuesday!  I hope you all had a fabulous holiday weekend!  Mine was quiet and relaxing, filled with canning applesauce and driving around to new parts of the island :)

Today is the start of a new challenge at Tuesday Throwdown!  This week our challenge is Back to the Books!  Everyone (mostly?) is back in school now and I'm sure everyone will need a bookmark!  I struggled a little with getting any ideas in my head for this one...bookmarks aren't always something I think to make...mostly because we don't buy too many books anymore.  We read everything on our phones/tablet as, I'm sure, most people do nowadays.  But I finally set my mind to it and browsed through ideas to get the mojo flowing.

A bookmark is actually pretty easy...even the corner ones...easier than I expected.  And since it's a bookmark, you don't want too much bulk on it.
So I made this:
See pretty simple :)  Our sponsor this week is Robyn's Fetish and they have supplied our Design Team with some wonderful book images!  I have used Reading is Fun and colored him in with my colored pencils.
I cut out the scallop circle from the Lacy Labels cartridge and then embossed it with the Swiss Dots folder.
The swirl ribbon border is a Martha Stewart punch.  I added a light blue ribbon and some star gems to complete it all!

I hope you will join in this fun challenge!  Be sure to stop by Tuesday Throwdown and check out all the wonderful creations from the Design Team!

Also, swing on back over here later today for a new card I've made to help support a wonderful charity organization!!
See ya later!

3 Fabulous Comments: