Team Spirit

Well good afternoon/evening!
I was afraid I wouldn't get something done for our new challenge at Tuesday Throwdown since my cricut died as I was starting it...but I pulled it together and made it happen...though not nearly as elaborate and wonderful as my other team mates!
Our theme is Team Spirit this week, and our wonderful sponsor-Creations by AR-has provided the team with some fabulous templates!
I used the Take Out Pizza Gift Box for my project.  It seemed like a nice little box that could be used for lots of different things.  I bought this sports paper specifically for this challenge.  There aren't many reasons for me to have sports paper around, so I had to go shopping :)  All the edges are inked up with brown to give them a faded distressed look.  Then I trimmed some layered flags, printed out the sentiment and scallop cut around it.
I didn't do anything on the inside other than put some patterned paper in there...

A little lack-luster, but you will be blown away by the rest of the design teams creations, so go check them out!!  And I do hope you will join us this week for our Team Spirit challenge at Tuesday Throwdown!

Thanks for stopping by!

2 Fabulous Comments:

Holiday Wishes

Good morning everyone.
Sorry for my delay in getting my post up this morning for the new challenge at Digi Makeover.  It's been a sad morning for me.  I basically got confirmation that my beloved Cricut Expression is officially dead.
It happened yesterday afternoon while I was cutting out name tag rings to be used on stem ware...mid project my cricut stopped moving the paper around and was making a loud grinding noise.
I tried all the resets and let it rest...still made the noises this morning.  So I called Cricut support...but since it is 3 years old and outside the warranty time, they couldn't repair or replace it.

I know...silly to be so upset about a machine, but I've had a cricut machine for at least 5 years!  It's become my focal point for everything I do!  And now it's dead...I cried...a lot...and pulled the bottom off to look inside.  I figured, it's already broke and they won't replace it...what harm will come from taking a look, right?
But I'm not up with the whole technology parts...so it looked like just a bunch of wires to me.  Fortunately I have a computer-wize-husband who knows everything and will help me out tonight.  But I'm sure it's done for and I will have to get something new :(

Any suggestions?  I've looked at a few-the Black Cat Cougar cutter which looks ah-mazing!  But way too expensive...anyone want to gift me one? :)
I've looked at the Silhouette Cameo and I'm leaning toward that one, but still need to research it.  Can I use SVG files with the Cameo?  I'd hate to have all my cut files go to waste...
I'd love your advise...any information is greatly appreciated :)

Anyhow, so onto my card.
I love every part of this card!  The papers, the coloring, the flowers!  It all just fit so perfectly together.
I used the super cute image Holly Fairy from Paper Makeup and colored her in with my colored pencils.  Lately I've been struggling with my coloring...haven't felt like the images were turning out the way I wanted them to look.  Or maybe I was just being really impatient and rushing through so I could finish the cards..I don't know but I haven't been happy.  Until this image.  It turned out exactly as I wanted it to and it's perfect for the paper I used.  I slowed down and really focused on the colors and shading and making sure that it looked polished.  I love it!

I added glossy accents to the holly berries and her buttons so they had a little shine to them.
Then I printed and cut out another one of my poinsettias.  I colored it in with my copic sketch markers again but pulled the colors out farther onto the leaves so that it had more color to it than my original one here.
I punched out and made up some little roses to match the poinsettia and then layered some leaves behind it all.  I had a flourish cut out from awhile ago, so I snipped a few of the swirls off and tucked them into the arrangement to help pull the black into the rest of the card.  Then added my stamped sentiment flag and it was done!  Love it!

Be sure to join us this week at Digi Makeover for our Lots of Layers challenge!  And check out the rest of the design teams fabulous creations!  They blow me away every week :)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
    The Crafty Pad #194-Christmas is Coming
    Let's Craft and Create #56-Dimension
    Love to Create #39-Lots of Layers
    One Stitch at a Time #137-Make 1 for Christmas
    Ooh La La #117-C...Christmas

Thanks for stopping by!

11 Fabulous Comments:

Zombie Ava

TGIF!!  So happy it is the weekend!  This week has not been the greatest for me and I'm just ready to take a few days of doing nothing but chilling with my hubby.

I decided to make one more Halloween card before the holiday passes...I love Halloween so much and the ideas seem to be taking over the areas of my mind that need to be thinking about Christmas.  So I gave in one last time and made a simple Halloween card.

We started watching The Walking Dead a few days ago.  Not sure if it was a good idea yet or not...I sort of feel like a wimp...I had nightmares all night about zombies after watching the first episode...and this is our second go at getting into the show.  The first time we tried was right after the first season started...yeah...we got about 10 minutes in to the hospital scene and I flipped...so we turned it off.

But I'm trying again!  And I like it so far...just creeps me out a bit, that's all...
So with zombies on the brain, I made a zombie card :)
I have read several posts from other crafty bloggers about turning normal characters into zombies, and I really wanted to try it out.  As you know, I'm addicted to the Saturated Canary images, can't get enough of them.  I decided to use a non-zombie image of Krista's and turn it into one.  I think it came out pretty good!  This is Ava...zombified :)  Again, I messed up on coloring the first print-off of her so I had to try again...I didn't want to color her skin green..I wanted it more grey but the first time coloring her, it was way way too grey...so I toned it down a bit the second time through :)
The large spiderweb background is a Memory Box die cut that I bought a while ago and never used!  I loved it when I purchased it, but I think I loved it so much I didn't want to put it to use :)
I found the sentiment quote during a google search for just general Halloween phrases a while ago and thought it was perfect for this card, so I typed it up and printed it out.

All the edges are distressed with my scissors to give the whole card a roughed up feel.  Love it!

And it fits with lots of challenges this week :)
    2 Sisters Challenge #114-Cute n Creepy
    Crafting for all Seasons #38-Spooky
    Crafts 4 Eternity #95-Ghouls, Ghosts, Goblins
    Daisy Doodles #70-Halloween
    Delicious Doodles #8-Fright Night
    Designed to Color-Halloween
    Digital Tuesday #183-Halloween/Spooky
    Divas by Design #58-Use Some Orange
    Dream Valley #43-Halloween
    Forever Friends #47-Halloween/Autumn
    Forever Night #51-Orange/Black/Grey
    Lexi's Creations #76-Halloween
    Lia Stampz #27-Halloween
    My Mum's Craft Shop #81-So Spooky
    The Paper Shelter #87-Halloween
    The Pink Elephant #171-Halloween
    Ribbon Carousel #73-Halloween Spirit
    Robyn's Fetish #130-Halloween
    Sunday Sketch and Stamp #129-Sketch
    Whoopsi Daisy-Halloween

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to join in my Crafter's Dream giveaway!!


23 Fabulous Comments:

Twilight Christmas :)

Happy Thursday!!  Only one more day till the weekend!!  Woot woot!
I'd like to welcome all of my new followers, both on GFC and Facebook!  I'm so glad you are here!  I hope you will stick around and enjoy the fun items I share with you here :)

I wanted to show off 2 cards today.
This first one popped into my head right after I purchased the image yesterday and I got right to work on it...though I had to reprint the image and try to color it again as the first round didn't set well with me :)

Now I try not to be obsessed with these movies...but I do get a little excited at the thought of watching them...just ask my hubby :)  So when I found my sentiment, it sort of seemed perfect to go with the image...there are always moments where I feel this way.
This image is My Twilight Mama from Saturated Canary.  Honestly, I'm surprised it took me this long to purchase this image...I love it so much!  And it cracks me up...the over excited mom with the totally embarrassed daughter...how many times will you see this once the last movie comes out in a few weeks?  Lol...

I've colored the image in with my colored pencils...though I'm starting to get the itch to upgrade to markers...my pencils keep breaking and won't sharpen very well and it's just ticking me off...I might just have to make the leap into markers :)

I distressed all the edges with my scissors, and then printed off the sentiment and scallop cut around it.  Pretty simple, but I love it :)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
    Challenges 4 Everybody #5-Anything Goes
    One Stitch at a Time #136-Use a Digi
    One Stop Craft #201-Anything Goes
    Sketch Sunday #170

My next card is geared toward the holidays/coming winter.  I purchased this image a few weeks ago after seeing a few adorable cards featuring it..new I had to use it :)
I love light blue...I never seem to have enough paper of that color :)
Anyhow, I colored in my image (Inky Critters from Tiddly Inks) and then scallop cut around it.  Wrapped a few ribbons around and behind the image and then printed and flagged a sentiment under the bow.
The snowflakes are punched out and then covered in light blue stickles.  I added a clear gem to the centers as well.

I like that each square can be used individually, or all of them together...gives the whole thing diversity and lots of options for layouts :)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
    ABC Christmas-U for Up to You
    The Crafty Pad #193-Use Animals
    Fab 'n' Funky #144-Animals
    PanPastel #41-Animals
    There She Goes #178-Sketch

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to check out and enter my giveaway!  Open till Nov. 4! <3

13 Fabulous Comments:

Winter Kisses

Happy Monday everyone!
I hope you had a fabulous weekend!  Mine involved lots of chocolate tea and games with my hubby :)

We start a new challenge this week at the Digi Makeover challenge and it's Weather Report!  Show us your rain, snow, clouds or sunshine!  We've sort of had it all here in Montreal lately...but I love the cooler weather.  My husband and I took a nice long walk around the neighborhood late last night and the crisp air felt so good in my lungs.  Of course, it's suppose to warm up a bit this week...but that's ok :)  Fall is here to stay and winter will be following close behind.

Here is my card for this week:
Now I realized after completing this card that the layout is almost completely identical to the card I made for last weeks challenge....hmm....not having my craft room/cricut has really put a damper on my creative mojo.  I thought I would get to move back in there last week but there is still sanding to do on the wall and I don't want dry wall dust all over my supplies...so I'm still at the kitchen table for a few more days... :)

The image I used for this card is Hayden Fairy.  I thought she was perfect for a weather challenge.  I colored her in with my colored pencils and added some stickles to her wings and snowflakes.  The sentiment comes along with the image and I made it into a tab and stuck it under the image.

The bottom of the panel under the image has been cut to look like icicles.  I used a stencil and cut it out with my scissors, then covered it in light blue stickles.  Added a bow and a few glittery snowflakes and that was it!

I do hope you will join us this week for our weather challenge at Digi Makeover.  It's going to be a great challenge!

Also, be sure to check out my Christmas Giveaway happening now here!  I'm super excited about this giveaway!  I had a blast coming up with the gift package and hope that the winner will love them too :)

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:
    Color Me Creative-A Touch of Red
    Cute Card Thursday #239-Got Glitter
    Digital Tuesday #182-Warm and Fuzzy
    Sketch Saturday #230
    Timeless Tuesday #191-Winter

Thanks for stopping by!

6 Fabulous Comments:

My First Giveaway! #A Crafter's Dream

My Merry Messy Life: A Crafter's Dream Giveaway #ACraftersDream    
 I'm so excited to bring you A Crafter's Dream Christmas Giveaway! This giveaway is hosted by My Merry Messy Life, Earning-My-Cape and Tutus & Tea Parties and has a Christmas, crafting, and supporting small business theme! Each blogger is offering her/his own giveaway worth $25 or more going on now through Sunday, November 4, 2012.

 Christmas is just around the corner, and the time to start crafting our gifts for friends and family is now! Some of the blogs in the giveaway group will be giving away some awesome crafting supplies! Sometimes we want to give a handmade gift, but just don't have the time or know-how to make them ourselves. This is a great opportunity to support small businesses and shops who offer handmade items! Some of the blogs in our giveaway group will be highlighting such small businesses and offering giveaway items for them, as well. Even if you don't win the giveaway, we hope that you will keep these small businesses in mind when shopping for that perfect gift for your special someone.

I'm very excited to be a part of this giveaway!  In correlation with Christmas time, it also helps me mark my 1 year anniversary here as a blogger and as an Etsy shop owner!  A year ago it seemed like just a dream, but I love every minute of it now and can't wait to see how the future develops for this little business that I have started, built around my passion for making cards!

Today I've put together a gorgeous bundle of 5 handmade Christmas cards and a set of 5 coordinating tags to be offered to one randomly selected winner!
 This is a fabulous set!  The details on each card have been meticulous hand cut/colored by me.  Each card has a different layout but all the materials used are the same throughout the whole set.  Even the tags have the same image and papers used!  
 The adorable image on these cards and tags is Christmas Angel from the fabulously talented Krista Smith at Saturated Canary.  Her images have been taking the paper crafting world by storm with their fun and whimsical themes and precious little faces!  Don't miss out on your chance to have this wonderful set as your own!



 Now you can hop from blog to blog entering as many giveaways as you want!

67 Fabulous Comments:

Christmas Nutcracker


Happy Wednesday!!
I hope your week has been suburb so far!  Mine has been a bit slow, but hopefully will pick up soon as I get to start moving my stuff back into my craft room!  Whoop whoop!  The landlord came by last night and patched the wall all up where we had the leak/mold problem so everything is fixed!  I so cannot wait to get settled back in...while using the kitchen table has been nice for the time being, it is not easy to organize and leaves me feeling flustered a lot.  So yeah, I'm ready for my regular space again :)

But today I upped the creative mojo in an attempt to get some Christmas cards made.  I seem to be way behind on that holiday this year, so I really need to catch up!
I think this card turned out exactly as I wanted it to.  I love the gold/brown with the dark green color combination.  And the little bit of sparkle on the background paper is just so gorgeous!  I followed the sketch at The Sweet Stop challenge, but tweaked it a little.  I tilted the back panel behind the image, and instead of having text on the front, I cut out and assembled a poinsettia (which turned out so incredibly gorgeous!!).

The poinsettia is actually printed and hand cut (since I can't use my cricut right now).  Once it was all cut out, I used 2 different Copic sketch markers-R85 and RV91 to add in the veining on the petals. (look at me getting all fancy with my copics :)  I have to play with the few that I have!)  The colors didn't blend as well as I expected them too, but I think it still turned out beautifully!
The cute little image  is Christmas Nutcracker from Saturated Canary.  I just love these images and love using them on my cards!  I colored her in with my colored pencils and cut her out with a spellbinders oval.  Then used my scallop scissors around the edge.
The last element I added was the tree die cut tucked behind my image!  This is the Snowflake Tree die from Memory Box!  I absolutely love this die cut!  It cuts so clean and is a perfect embellishment :)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
    2 Sisters #113-Anything Goes
    ABC Christmas-U for Up to You
    A Gem of a Challenge #57-Flowers
    Color Me Creative-A Touch of Red
    The Crazy Challenge #130-Handmade Flowers
    Ladybug Crafts-Flowers and Embossing
    Stampin Sisters in Christ #161-Include a Tree
    The Sweet Stop #180-Sketch
    Tammy's Scrapin Corner #32-Anything Goes
    Totally Stampalicious-Christmas

Thanks for stopping by today!  And be sure to check back later this week/weekend as I will be having my first giveaway!!  It's for Christmas/celebration of my 1 year anniversary both as a blogger and an Etsy shop owner!!  Can't wait!!



14 Fabulous Comments:

Chocolate!!

Happy Tuesday!
Today is the beginning of a new challenge at Tuesday Throwdown and it's team A's turn to display their creations!  This week we have a wonderful photo inspiration challenge for you, with the theme "Tea at Granny's."
Isn't that such a lovely image?  So gorgeous!
Our fabulous sponsor this week is Sweet N Sassy stamps and man, they have some cute images!!  Here is my card:
Now, hopefully tea at granny's doesn't include mice but...it's still cute :)
I used the image Cocoa's Chocolates because anything with chocolate is perfect!  Colored the image in with my colored pencils and outlined with a pink copic sketch marker.

I followed a Mojo Monday sketch for this card.  I really love how it all turned out in the end.  As I was making the card, I really questioned the color combination I was using, but now, I love it :)

The sentiment is from Create with TLC.  I've been dying to use it since I downloaded it but never seemed to have the right image or theme...though chocolate should be good for any theme!  Hmm..

Anyhow, be sure to join in the fun at Tuesday Throwdown this week!  And check out the rest of the DT's creations, they are fantastic!!

<3 Emily


3 Fabulous Comments:

Daughters

Happy Monday everyone!
It's the start of a new challenge over at Digi Makeover and this one is going to fun!  It's Silhouettes!  I love when I get the chance to work with silhouettes.  It's not very often, but I still love them :)

Here is my DT card for this week:
Isn't she cute!??  And I didn't have to color her!  Sometimes that just makes my day :)  I really struggle when it comes to choosing colors, and then making sure they match with my limited supply of colored pencils.  So since she is already filled in, I didn't have to worry about that!
This image is Shelby Fairy from Paper Makeup, very cute.  I love the little ducky on wheels that she's towing along.  I used to have a raccoon like that...probably still do in my dad's attic somewhere :)

I paired her with some fun light pastel papers to make it cute and girly and then flagged a little sentiment from Desert Diva.  Thought it worked well with the image :)

I punched out a few hearts to make buttons, but didn't punch any holes.  Instead I added some purple pearls to the centers.

Hope you will join in our Silhouette challenge this week!  We'd love to have you!  Be sure to check out the rest of DT's creations.  They all did a fantastic job!  I'm continuously blown away by their talent!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
    Creative Inspirations #184-Anything Goes
    Paper Crafting Journey-Add Some Bling
    The Squirrel and the Fox #28-Things with Wheels (hope the little roller ducky counts :) )
    Sweet Sunday Sketch #169

Thanks for stopping by!!

3 Fabulous Comments:

A Crafter's Dream Christmas Giveaway!!

My first giveaway!!  And just in time to celebrate my 1 year anniversary as a blogger/Etsy shop owner!!  Be sure to join in the fun for your chance to win :)

I'm so excited to bring you, along with My Merry Messy Life, Earning-My-Cape, and Tutus & Tea Parties, A Crafter's Dream Christmas Giveaway
 
This is a group giveaway opportunity with a Christmas, crafting, and supporting small business theme! Each blogger is offering her/his own giveaway worth $25 or more. It will run from October 21, 2012 to November 4, 2012 and bloggers, as well as shop owners, are welcome to sign up to join in the celebration. Bloggers who are not crafters and shop owners who are not bloggers can still join the giveaway by pairing up together! If you need help finding a shop or blogger to link up with, we will do our best to help.  


 

About our theme:
Christmas is just around the corner, and the time to start crafting our gifts for friends and family is now! Some of the blogs in the giveaway group will be giving away some awesome crafting supplies! 

Sometimes we want to give a handmade gift, but just don't have the time or know-how to make them ourselves. This is a great opportunity to support small businesses and shops who offer handmade items! Some of the blogs in our giveaway group will be highlighting such small businesses and offering giveaway items for them, as well. Even if you don't win the giveaway, we hope that you will keep these small businesses in mind when shopping for that perfect gift for your special someone.

Here is how it will work:

Bloggers:
  • Each blogger will run their own unique giveaway, worth at least $25 or more, on their own site using Rafflecopter as the entry form. Please set your Rafflecopter to start at 12:01am October 21, 2012 and end at 12:01am November 5, 2012. You have total control over what you would like to give away (as long as it ties in with our Christmas/craft/small business theme) and to whom (country). 
  • Please announce that you have joined on Twitter using this hashtag - #ACraftersDream,  and/or make the announcement on your Facebook Page.
  • Facebook Group - (this is optional) find our group, A Crafter's Dream Giveaway Group, on Facebook and request to join (you must be using Facebook as your actual name and not through your blog page for it to work)
  • Please write a post announcing you have joined the giveaway, and include the html from the form that you will fill out.
  • Grab the giveaway button and put it in a prominent place to promote it on your site! The more bloggers who sign up, the more entries we ALL get!
  • Please fill out this form to get started.

Shop Owners:
  • You can team up with a blogger on your own, or we can help match you with a blog to sponsor with a giveaway item worth $25 or more, from your shop.
  • Please announce that you have joined on Twitter using this hashtag - #ACraftersDream, and/or make the announcement on your Facebook Page.
  • Facebook Group - (this is optional) find our group, A Crafter's Dream Giveaway Group, on Facebook and request to join (you must be using Facebook as your actual name and not through your blog page for it to work)
  • Please fill out this form if you would like help being paired up with a blog.

Bloggers, please enter your blog link below.

0 Fabulous Comments:

Cutest Pumpkin

Hello everyone! Glad you stopped by today :) I know it's been quiet around here other than my DT cards. Not having access to my craft room has left me pretty uninspired lately. I'm still doing what I can, but squares and circles get a little boring after awhile :) I bought a new punch last weekend though, and wanted to try it out. Not a fancy punch...just a 5 petal flower, but I miss making my roses so much that I had to get something to help me out with that. So I bought it...and another one that's a little bit smaller :)
Isn't she cute?  I just love this Saturated Canary image.  This is Cinders, colored in with my colored pencils.
I printed off the yellow chevron paper from my digital stash.  It printed pretty good...I think because it's a lighter color than what I normally try to print.
My new punches were used on the flowers, more specifically the center roses :)
I cut out the large daisy from the Anemone Spellbinders die set and inked the centers in yellow.  Then I punched out 3 layers of the 2 flower sizes that I had and inked around the edges/centers.  I saw a little tip somewhere in blog land about using a brad in the center when constructing roses, so I gave it a try this time.  It worked pretty good!  I've learned to be patient when making these little tiny roses.  The glue has to be quite dry before I can add the next layer, otherwise I crush the whole thing and have to start all over :)

Once everything was dry, I glued them onto the centers of the daisy and added some star dust stickles.
The image is cut out with an Oval spellbinders.  I used my scallop scissors around the edge and then added lots of gems around the frame.

I really love the black and yellow together!  Just so eye catching :)
I'm also a guest bar-tender at Raise the Bar this week!  Check it out! <3

This card is entered in the following challenges:
    The Crazy Challenge #130-Handmade Flowers
    Cupcake Crafts #213-Autumn/Winter
    Designed To Color-Bingo (I used: Chevron, Bling, Colored Image, Yellow, Double Matted Cardstock)
    Little Red Wagon #154-Fallin for You
    Paper Crafting Journey-Add Some Bling
    Send a Smile 4 Kids-Punches and/or Die Cuts
    Whoopsi Daisy-Flowers Galore

Thanks for stopping by!! <3


7 Fabulous Comments:

Hope

Happy Monday!  And Happy Thanksgiving Canada!!!  It is so weird celebrating Thanksgiving before Halloween...just can't wrap my head around it yet.  But yesterday, we went for a nice long walk to check out a duplex on the other side of Verdun and the weather was absolutely perfect for Thanksgiving!  Sort of kicked me in the mood :)

Today also starts a new challenge at Paper Makeup's Digi Makeover Challenge!!  This week we want you to Think Pink!  And I know a lot of you are already doing that going by all the pink challenges out there supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Month!
One of our very own at Paper Makeup is going through this battle, so we honor her and all the struggles she is going through right now with this challenge.  We continue to keep her and her family in our prayers.

Here is my card for this week:
I sort of fell a little behind on my cards with all the repairs going on with the leaking pipes in our apartment..so it ended up being a pretty simple card (because I made it late last night :) ) but I still love it.  The papers are from Michaels that I just bought yesterday and I love them!  I had this challenge specifically in mind when I looked at them and I knew they would work perfect.

I used the Hope Fairy for my image and colored her in with my colored pencils.  She is darling and I love the birdie on the end of the ribbon.

The sentiment is a new stamp set release that you can check out here!  It's so fitting and so true and I knew I had to use it on my card this week.  It's sort of hard to see in the picture but I distressed the edges of the image and the sentiment with my scissors to add a little texture to the card since it was a bit flat :)

So be sure to stop by the Digi Makeover challenge and check out all the wonderful DT creations!  And then make up your own Think Pink card and join in the fun!  We'd love to have you :)

This card is entered in the following challenges:
    A Gem of a Challenge #56-For the Girls
    Art Impressions #83-Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness
    Deep Ocean #35-More than 2 Colors
    Dream Valley #42-Go Pink
    Link up for Pink
    The Paper Shelter #84-Distressing
    Raise the Bar #114-Sketch
    The Stamping Boutique-Pink, Pink, Pink!
  
Thanks for stopping by!!

12 Fabulous Comments:

Free Hugs

 TGIF!!!!  Lol..I'm so happy it's Friday!  It's the start of a long weekend for us here in Canada as it's Thanksgiving!!  And even though it doesn't seem to be as big of a deal here as it is in the states, we are still having a turkey and enjoying time with friends this weekend :)

Until then though, I have been continuing my battle of crafting with no computer.  I think it turned out pretty darn good today though!  Yesterday...not so much...that was a disaster...not showing you that card :)  Hopefully only 1 more week away from my craft room...the pipes were fixed today so now it's just getting someone in to remove the mold.  Fun stuff I tell ya!

But today!  Oh I was triumphant today with my card :)  Take a look:
Yay me!  Just absolutely love how this turned out!!  I'm so glad I bought my Saturated Canary rubber stamps when I did so I could use them this week :)  This darlin is Free Hugs :)  Colored her in with my colored pencils and then outlined her with 2 shades of pink copic sketch markers...something a little different than what I normally do.

I trimmed around the image with my scallop scissors to make the frame.  Fortunately before my computer room fell apart, I cut out and made up a bunch of my quilled mini roses!  So I pulled some of those out, inked the edges with a pink ink pad and glued them around my sweet image.  Then I dabbed some star dust stickles on them so they sparkled.  Gotta have my sparkle!

I added 3 medium pearls in the corner and a large one in the center of my pink awareness ribbon.
Then I added a tag that tucks in behind the image!
I know none of the wording is Breast Cancer specific but I felt that a free hug is a good sentiment to go along with any situation in life...and I just loved the sentiment that I added to the tag.  It's from Paper Makeup called We Are All Angels.  It reads: "We are all angels with only one wing.  We can fly only by embracing each other."  Isn't that such a touching sentiment?!  Perfect for my hugs image :) And since I can't print out anything in black, I changed the color to green.  Worked out pretty good :)  If only people looked good printed out in green...lol. 

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:
    Amusing Challenges-Anything Goes
    Art Impressions #83-Pink
    Celebrate the Occasion #82-Breast Cancer Awareness
    Craft Your Passion #130-Save the Hooters
    Cupcake Crafts #212-Think Pink
    Deep Ocean #35-More Thank 2 Colors
    Delicious Doodles #5-Flowers
    DigiStamps4Joy #52-You've Been Tagged
    Dream Valley #42-Go Pink
    Lexi's Creations #75-Pink
    Link Up for Pink
    Love to Create #35-Thinking of You
    My Heart Pieces-Use Black
    My Mum's Craft Shop #78-Love is all Around
    PaperPlay Challenge-Shine On
    Pattie's Creations #54-Tags
    Sassy Studio #145-Think Pink
    Simon Says-Glimmer and Sparkle
    Stamping Boutique-Pink, Pink, Pink!
    Sunday Sketch and Stamp #126-Sketch
    Timeless Tuesday #189-Think Pink
    Whoopsi Daisy-Sparkle and Shine
    Word Art Wednesday #48-Love

Thanks for stopping by today and have a great weekend!!!

44 Fabulous Comments:

Birthday Wishes

Happy Thursday to you!
After starting the week off kind of rough and fretting over not being able to print any images or use my cricut, I realized that I have this whole bin of rubber stamps that I have collected over the years and I never use them!  So now is the perfect opportunity for me to start doing that!

Making this card took me way back to the days when I first started paper-crafting.  I even pulled out the stencils to cut shapes out by hand! But honestly, I absolutely love the way this card turned out :)
It's so cute!  I just loved that pup when I came across him in my bin :)  The rest of the card is pretty simple.  I used some stencils to cut out the circles and wrapped a green ribbon around the card with a little bow.  I used my scallop scissors to cut the frame around the image.  Scallops always seem to add character to an otherwise boring card :)

The sentiment is a stamp from the Verve set Wonderful Wishes.  The balloons are from the Black Tie Birdies set but I only stamped the outside line and not all the interior detailing.  While I love the detailing on those balloons, I wanted them simple for this card :)

That's it!  I think my favorite part of this card is the bright pop of color coming out behind the pup in that patterned paper :)  Just love that!

I've learned today that rubber stamps and stencils are still great tools to use when making a card.  I'm glad I've kept them all these years :)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
    By the Cute and Girly-Birthday
    Crafts 4 Eternity #91-When I Grow Up
    Cute Card Thursday #237-Lotsa Ribbon
    Daisy Doodles #68-One for the Boys
    Lollipop Crafts #91-Something Old, Something New (Old-Puppy Stamp, New-Papers & Ribbon)
    Mojo Monday Sketch #261
    Papertake Challenge-Happy Birthday
    The Sisterhood of Crafters-Happy Birthday

Thanks for stopping by!!! <3

5 Fabulous Comments:

Awareness

Good afternoon!  It has been quite a day already...
Actually it started a few days ago..I've been having some pretty major headaches and couldn't figure out what was causing them.  We were thinking it was my eyes, so started looking into where we could go to get them checked when my husband decided to check my craft room for any environmental problems that could cause my headaches.
Well, guess what...one whole corner was completely molded out!!  We had this problem last year and thought it had been fixed...guess not.
So now I am completely displaced from my craft room...all my stuff is sitting on the kitchen table, which isn't really working for me.
Plus, I can't really use my computer/cricut because my computer is having lots of issues and not running properly.  So I'm pretty much stuck using only the few die cuts and punches that I have to decorate my cards.  You have no idea how difficult that is!!!

And to top it off...my printer decided to run out of black ink and I don't have any replacement cartridges...well I do, but they are the wrong number..ugh...now I can't even print images!

So for the next week or so, my cards may be pretty boring...if I even post any at all.
Think I will take this time to do some networking, visit new blogs and find some new challenges :)

But I wanted to share 2 cards with you that I just finished up.
I'm pretty happy with how this card turned out (printed before my ink ran out :) ).  I struggled with the gray/lavender color combo, mostly because I don't have a lot of gray papers/card stock and the purple paper I chose was hard to match.  But it worked out :)
The image is a new one from Saturated Canary called Butterfly Baby.  It's my fav right now..really any SC image is my favorite...I love them all and have a hard time choosing which to work with every day :)
I've colored her in with my colored pencils and then covered her wings with stickles.  This image is to help bring awareness to a very delicate disease.  You can read all about it and find more information in Krista's blog post here.

I printed out the sentiment and used my scallop scissors to cut around it.  Then punched out some stars, turned them into buttons and strung some purple twine into a bow.
One of the panels layered behind the image is embossed with a cupcakes folder.  Wanted to add something sweet on there since it is a birthday card :)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
    Crafts 4 Eternity #91-When I Grow Up
    Frosted Designs-Embossing
    One Stitch at a Time #133-Butterflies or Buttons
    Raise the Bar #113-Gray and Lavender
    Robyn's Fetish #127-Stitching
    Sketches by Carly #66
    The Squirrel and the Fox #27-Celebrate the Occasion
    Stamptacular Sunday #183-It's Your Birthday
    V's Sweet Ideas #4-Embossing


My next card I started working on this morning and right when I figured out the layout and went to print everything...no ink...so I stewed over what to do with it.  Since I couldn't print I had to work with something either already printed or die cuts.
I used my Anemone Spellbinders!  First time using that!  After running the templates through my cuttlebug, I inked up the embossed parts with some pink ink to give the flower some character.  Then I outlined everything with some clear glitter.

Punched out the side with my Martha Stewart Double Arches punch and lined it with small pearls.

The sentiment tickets were freebies from The Crafty Pad.  I'm probably going to be making a lot of BCA cards...that theme just seems to be strong in my mind right now.  I forget sometimes that it has affected my life too...my wonderful 94 year old grandma has breast cancer...I think I forget about that because she isn't actively fighting it.  She has decided to leave it alone, so even though we see her struggle from day to day, I forget that a lot of it is from the cancer.  I love my grandparents dearly and it pains me to watch them slip away from us :(

I just pray for everyone out there that is affected by cancer...of any kind.  It sucks...period...

So, I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:
    A Gem of a Challenge #56-For the Girls
    Craft Your Passion #130-Save the Hooters
    Cupcake Crafts #212-Think Pink
    Dream Valley #42-Go Pink
    Link up for Pink
    The Sweet Stop Sketch #178

Thanks for stopping by!  Sorry for the long post...but thanks for sticking it out!!! <3

36 Fabulous Comments:

Purr-fect

Good morning lovelies!!

Back again bright and early this morning to bring you our new challenge at Tuesday Throwdown and it's Cute and Cuddly!!  I can't wait to see all the adorable entries for this challenge, they will surely get some awww's out of me :)

Here is my card:
Our fabulous sponsor, Robyn's Fetish, has provided the design team with our images this week.  I have used the super cute image Togetherness.  I love puppies and kitties.  Can't get enough of them.  So this image was perfect for me to use :)  I've colored it in with my colored pencils and outlined with a copic sketch marker.

I punched the bottom of the green paper with my Martha Stewart Ribbon Loop punch.  Then made some heart embellishments.
Wrapped it all up with a bow and flagged my sentiment!  Looking at this image, I think it is the purrfect moment :)  lol..

Be sure to check out the rest of the design teams fabulously cute creations!  And why not join in the fun with us!?  I'm sure you have a cute and cuddly image you can use :)

Thanks for stopping by!

5 Fabulous Comments:

Pack Light

I'm back again with another card to share with you :)  Like always :)

I recently took top 6 at the Saturated Canary challenge blog which totally rocked my socks off!  With that I won 1 digi of my choice.  Oh boy...that's so tough!  I don't think I could ever get sick of browsing Krista's shop and choosing new images to buy!  But I narrowed it down to just 1 (I went back and bought some later :) lol...)
After getting a wonderfully touching email back from Krista (she is such a precious gem!) with my image, I spent the rest of the day constructing my card.
So first off I just have to say...PINK HAIR!!  Omg..I had so so much fun coloring her hair pink that once I was done with it I sent a pick to my husband!  This is honestly the first time I have made hair a different color other than blonde or brown..and I just love it!  LOVE IT!  It makes me smile every single time I look at this card.

Oh and the image is Pack Light colored with my colored pencils :)

I fretted pretty hard over the flowers for this card.  I could not for the life of me make one that I liked.  Either the layers didn't work out, or my glue would turn my paper to mush!  So frustrating and I almost gave up...but I finally found one I liked and worked with the shapes to get it to look the way I wanted.  And I love them!  They are so perfect on this card!  I also made a couple of little heather sticks and added them into the ribbon arrangement.  Those were fun too :)  It was just a small punch I had that I poked a hole in the middle and threaded them onto a piece of thick wire.  Pretty easy :)
I loved the pinkish purple papers that I used on this card, but really wanted a pop of some other colors, so I wrapped the bright blue ribbon around the bottom of the image.  Even though it has drastically different colors in it, I love it's brightness.  And was able to pull those colors into my colored image.
Finally, I took a couple of regular paper clips and covered them in white 3D paint, then sprinkled glitter all over them so they sparkled.  I'm pretty happy with how those turned out as well.  I was worried the paint wouldn't stick or would chip off...but they are holding up pretty well :)

I just love this card!  Even without a sentiment :)  I can't help but smile looking at it.

So now my question.  If you make your own flowers/embellishments, what sort of glue do you use?  I am currently using Aleene's Tacky Glue, which I really love but it just seems to disintegrate my paper on flowers.  I've used this other 450 adhesive glue, and while I loved it's strong bond, I hated it's delivery.  I work with such small pieces that I have to have the pen tip like the Aleene's offers.  Any of your tips would be greatly appreciated!!

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:
    Alota Rubber #92-Brighten up Your Life
    Challenges 4 Everybody #4-Anything Goes 
    CMC Copic #53-Bright, Fun Colors
    The Crafty Pad #190-Floral
    Creative Inspirations #182-Bingo (Ribbon, Blue, Flowers)
    Deep Ocean #35-More Than 2 Colors
    Fab 'n' Funky #140-Starts with F (Flowers)
    The Paper Shelter #83-Anything Goes
    Saturated Canary #27-Office Supplies (safety pin in the bow, and paper clips :) )
    Simon Says-Anything Goes
   
Thanks for stopping by!!!  Be sure to stop by and "Like" my Facebook fan page!  I'd love to have you following as it's been a little quiet over there lately...not many new comers...lol :)

9 Fabulous Comments:

Love is a Promise

Good morning everyone!
I hope you had a wonderful weekend, and your Monday started off with a bang!

Today we start a new challenge at Paper Makeup's Digi Makeover challenge blog!  We had a fabulous turn out last week for our Anything Goes challenge.  Thanks to everyone that participated!
This week we have a lovely sketch for you to use on your cards!  I LOVE sketches!  I'm finding more and more that without a sketch, card designs don't come as easily to me.  So I have a large folder with tons of sketches saved and ready at my fingertips to flip through when I need a good one.
Here is what we are working with:
Pretty clean and simple sketch right?!  It offers a lot of possibilities.  You can leave it simple or go crazy with all sorts of embellishments.  Whatever your style!
I kept my card pretty simple, mostly because it needs to go out in the mail and postage here is pretty crazy...if it's not flat (like flat flat...) it costs $2.10!!  So I made sure I didn't go wild with my card :)
I really love it even in its simplicity.  I used the Color Kid Valentine image from Paper Makeup Stamps.  She is so sweet and even though her title is valentine...I think it's pretty versatile in it's theme.
I paired it with a love sentiment that I felt could be good for a wedding.  I didn't want a plan "congrats on your wedding" sentiment...I wanted something a little more, so when I scrolled past this one in my sentiments folder, I knew it would work perfect :)

I cut the image with a spellbinders die and punched out some hearts for my simple embellishment.  I covered the hearts and the heart in the image with star dust stickles and that was it!  See, simple :)

Be sure to stop by Paper Makeup this week and join in our sketch!
Thanks for visiting!


4 Fabulous Comments: