Happy Wednesday!!
Wet and rainy here today...I miss the snow.  The bitter cold was too much for me, but it can keep snowing for sure!

I'm stopping in real quick today to share a card that I made this week that I absolutely love!  I've been working on a lot of animal cards to send to a friend, and even though I don't have a lot of animal images, the ones I do have I love and this image plays right into that :)

See!!?? Isn't this card so adorable?  And that image is just as sweet!  You know I love my kitties, and it seems that finding kitty images is hard (everyone draws dogs...).  So when I found this one at Alicia's Little Shop it didn't take me long to purchase it!

I followed the sketch at the Deconstructed Sketch this week.  It was a unique layout and gave me a bit of a challenge to work towards.  Of course, my goal lately has been to use up some of those darned scraps that keep piling up, so I dug through everything to find papers that worked together but weren't too bold.  I think the blue spots with the purple tie dye look fabulous together :)

Part of Alicia's challenge is to use your favorite crafting item.  I would have to say that my favorite crafty item is glitter!  Can't live without the stuff.  It seriously goes on almost every card I make :)  I have a hard time not putting it on the more manly cards...they just seem empty without it!

Also, my scallop scissors.  I've had them forever, and I forgot about them for quite awhile until my computer became inaccessible and I had to start hand cutting everything.  They came in so handy then, and I haven't stop using them since :)

Oh!  and Glossy Accents!  That stuff is amazing!  I love covering things with it to give them a shine!  I covered the hearts with my glossy accents and then sprinkled them with glitter!  The perfect combination :)

The stamp is from Stampin Up.  I bought a set of them at a yard sale last year and have hardly used any of them.  I thought this one fit well with the image.

I hope your week is going well!  Thanks for stopping by my little blog for a visit :)

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:
    Alicia's Challenge #2-Use Your Favorite Crafty Item
    Deconstructed Sketch #86

Good day my crafty friends!
I'm back with a new challenge this week at Tuesday Throwdown!  This week our challenge is Bling it On!  Blind us with all that glam!

We have 2 fabulous sponsors this week-Sherrod Studio and Lily Patch Stamps!  Both owned by our very own Kim Sherrod!  She provided a few images for the design team to use on their projects this week, and when I saw this image, I knew I had to use it...I just wasn't sure what for :)

Until my hubby saw it, God bless him!  Being the "nerd" that he is, his first thought was of course, video games :)  But it helped, and his continued stream of nerdy suggestions brought me to a pretty darn good card!

Now, it's not typically my theme of card.  He has been trying and trying to get me to do game and movie themed cards, but I just can't seem to channel my inner nerd enough to go that route.  Maybe some day :)

The suggestion he had with this image was Smaug from The Hobbit and talking about treasure or wisdom or something....it all sounded great, but the picture wasn't forming in my head.  I searched and searched for something that would grab on..and then I found some quotes from the movie.
More specifically this quote, "Never laugh at live dragons, Bilbo you fool!"  Not sure why, but that stuck.

So I set to work putting together my card that would look a little rustic and manly (which is really hard with my mass collection of pink papers).  I attempted to color up the dragon to resemble Smaug and I think I did alright.  Not familiar with how to color dragons, so I may need more practice :)

I didn't have enough gold bling to add to my card, so instead I mimicked bling by using some 3D gold paint around the image frame and on his spots (since Smaug has gold pieces embedded in him).

Overall the card came together quickly.  It was actually figuring out what I wanted to do that took forever :)

I hope you will join us this week!  Be sure to check out the rest of the design teams cards!

Happy Monday!!
Sorry it's been so quiet around here.  While I did get a lot of cards made last week, overall it wasn't all that great.  The temps here in Montreal have been ridiculously cold, well below 0F...we woke up Wednesday morning to the radio talking about a water main pipe burst on a street about 2 blocks from our apartment.  Didn't really think much of it, until we got up and realized we had no hot water.  Awesome...hubby came home a little early that day to really try and figure out what happened but came up empty handed.
So long story short...by Thursday we had no running water at all.  Called the plumbers in that showed up around noon on Thursday to finally figure out that our entire water pipe network from the main line coming into the apartment all the way up to the third floor was frozen solid.  7 hours, 1 pipe replacement, and a lot of mud later, we finally had running water!  It was a crazy stressful week with all that...and now we are all paranoid about it happening again.  Not fun at all!

So onto this week!
It's a new challenge at Digi Makeover this week!  I'm sure it will fit right in with most of the crafts you're making up right now :)  It's Hearts Galore!!  Pretty easy one :)  Doesn't have to be Valentine's Day related, but make sure it has lots of hearts!

I had a great idea in my head for this card and was super excited to complete it, only to be not so happy with the end result.

I'm not sure what it is about this card that I don't like.  It probably needed a sentiment someplace, but there didn't seem to be a good spot for one.  I thought the papers looked really good together, until I actually constructed the card...and then not so much.  I love the banner!  That's probably my favorite part of this card :)

The image I used is Lauren in Love from Paper Makeup. (she's actually a rubber stamp, but was made available as a digi for the design team members)
I colored her up with my colored pencils and added stickles to her wings.  Then cut out the scallop circle and the banner with my Silhouette.  I embossed the inside of the circle with my D'vine Swirls folder, though it's hard to see.
The hearts are punched out of the banner with a little punch that I've had forever.  Probably the first punch I ever owned :)  Then I took a gel pen and added the stitching, and glued some gems to the top.

Be sure to check out the rest of the makeup artists creations!  They are adorable, and we have a sweet little girl as our guest designer this week!  Have to check out her card :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Monday!
Man is it cold here today!  Woke up to -25C temps!  I'm not sure I've ever experienced weather this cold!  Just wish it had snow attached to it :)

We're starting a new challenge this week at Digi Makeover, and it's a good one to enjoy at this moment!  It's Warm Thoughts!  I struggled a little with this one...I guess I wasn't entirely sure on what I was supposed to make...I kept thinking of warm beaches in the sun...lol :)
But as I was scanning through our Paper Makeup images, I came across this sentiment that really stuck out to me.  So I used that on my card this week.

The sentiment is Happy Get Well Note from Paper Makeup.  The part that stood out to me to help confirm it would be good for this challenge is the last line: "You're thought of in a warm and special way!"  Perfect!  Warm thoughts!  lol :)

I've been trying and trying (and trying) to use up some of my scraps.  I have piles of them and they really need to go away.  I'm running out of ways to store them all.  So I grabbed some of those that matched up pretty well and went to work.  Sticking with my goal of making uniquer cards this year, I made a twisted easel card.  It turned out so fabulous!  I'm super happy with it!

The bottom border is punched out with my MS Doily Lace Edge punch.  I wrapped some purple twine around that panel and then made up a button for some added embellishment.  The frame that the sentiment is cut out of is actually the Paper Makeup Framed set.  I cropped it down to just one frame and then made it into a cut file with my Silhouette!  I love how elegant it looks on this card!

I hope you will join us this week for our fun Warm Thoughts challenge!  Be sure to swing by the rest of the Makeup Artists to see what warm things they have made :)
Thanks for stopping by!

Hello!  Happy Thursday!
Hoping your week has been fabulous so far.  It's almost the weekend!! Yay!

Today I wanted to share an altered project with you! (long post here...sorry)  I don't do these very often, but this one was so much fun, I just might have to try more!
Matthew and I have been trying to adjust our lives to live a more healthy lifestyle.  It hasn't been easy, but we are trying.  He will be participating in a Tough Mudder at the end of June with our best friends, so once we got back from Christmas vacation, the real work began.  We have been trying to run a lot more (our poor treadmill...it's so old, sounds like it's going to fall apart every time we get on it :) ), and we have been doing a lot of cardio/lifting.  I have started the BodyRock 30 day challenge, and I love it!

We bought a new set of hand-weights that we both can use.  They were pretty pricey, but we got a refund on our home loan, so we were able to purchase them.  I love them!  They are adjustable from 5 to 50 pounds and perfect for our lifting workouts where our weight tolerance varies from each move.

So with our attempts to better our lives, I decided I needed a workout journal.  I received a few for Christmas this year and figured one of them would work perfect!
Here she is in all her glory!

It took me the better part of the day yesterday to get everything put together.  All of the flowers are handmade.  So of course time is spent cutting, coloring, let each layer dry, assembling more, letting them dry...it was a long process.  But once everything was dry and ready for assembly, it came together perfectly!

I'm not used to coloring images this large.  I've used the image Jamie Workout from Saturated Canary.  She's printed out at about 4 inches, which is huge for what I normally put on a card.  But I loved that I could really get into the details of the image.  Normally when they are so small, the little stuff get's missed.  I tried to give her more of a tan coloring, but it didn't turn out quite the way I wanted.  Colored pencils can only do so much :)

I chose this image because (even as a drawing) I draw inspiration from it.  I loved coloring the hair!  She's fit and holding 15 pound weights like their nothin...and she's confident.  The perfect image for inspiration.
And she has a leopard print sports bra...um yeah.  I wish I had a leopard print sports bra...
The leopard background paper was a purchase I made about 3 years ago.  Before we moved to Montreal, I had repainted our bedroom in our Seattle house brown with a leopard spotted border.  So I was going to use this paper for the scrapbook.  I've been hanging on to it because I absolutely love it, and finally decided that this was a great project to use it on. 

This journal cover has all my favorites on it:  Leopard Print, Blue, Roses/Flowers, Glitter, Beads, Saturated Canary, Gems in her hair!!
So what's not to love :)
The rest of the papers are from my scraps stash that I have accumulated over the last 2 years.  I hang on to everything!  I figured, using some of them as little flag strips would work perfect, and they look great!  So good choice on my part :)

The last thing I did to the cover once I was done was spray the whole thing with some Pearl Ex glimmer mist. 
You know I love glitter and the glimmer mist just completes the whole gorgeousness of the cover!

I know this journal will definitely help me out!  Every time I look at it, I'll be driven to work out just so I have something to write in it!  Lol :)
Anyhow, have a fabulous day!!

I'd like to enter this project into the following challenges:
    A Gem of a Challenge #62-New Beginnings
    By the Cute and Girly-Cute and Girly
    The Corrosive Challenge #165-Out with the Old
    Cupcake Crafts #225-Anything but a Card
    Deep Ocean #43-Anything but Square
    Designed to Color #8-Metallics
    Digital Tuesday #193-Flower Power
    Fab n Funky #154-Get Moving
    Incy Wincy Designs-Tic Tac Toe (Alter Something, 3 Different Papers, Embossing)
    Nutcrafters #34-Lots of Flowers
    Ruby's Rainbow #45-Smile
    Sassy Studio #160-Ribbon, Roses, Rhinestones
    Totally Gorjuss #166-Spotty (leopard spots right?? :) )
    Word Art Wednesday #63-Anything Goes

Hello crafty friends!
Hope your Tuesday has started off wonderfully!
We have a new challenge starting today at Tuesday Throwdown and this week we are challenging you to use a frame on your project!!  Frames can add so much to a card.  They can be simple with added decorations, or elaborate in their own way.  So much fun to use a frame on cards.
Here is what I came up with today:

I wasn't really sure how I was going to make this card at first.  I knew I wanted to use this image from our sponsor-MyGrafico, but didn't want to just put a frame around it and call it good.  Of course, this was the day my hubby was full of good ideas :)  He suggested making it part of the frame, and almost immediately I had my design!
It turned out exactly as I pictured it!  I went with purples and creams for my card.  Trying to use up some of the older papers I have been hoarding in my stash.  I think I hoard them because they are my favorites and I don't remember where I got them, so once I run out...there gone...but there are so many yummy new papers available that I need to update my stock...and that means making room!  Lol :)

I used my MS Doily Lace Edge punch for the center border and covered the purple center with a piece of lace I was able to get from my grandma's house when we were there visiting at Christmas.  It's so gorgeous, perfect for this card, and makes me smile knowing that a piece of my grandma's craft stock is on my card!

The frame is embossed with my Swiss Dots folder, and then I added 4 large pearls along the edge.  There are small amounts of glossy accents and glitter around the flowers in the image as well :)

Be sure to stop by the rest of the design teams blogs and see what they have created!!  Then come back and join in the fun!

I would like to enter this card in the following challenge:
   Sweet Sunday Sketch #175

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Monday!!
How was your weekend?  Pretty calm here for us.  Warm...rainy...not very wintery at all.  We still have snow but it isn't very pretty anymore...hopefully more will come this week :)

We start a new challenge today at Digi Makeover and it's Winter Wonderland!!  With it being so warm, it was kind of hard to find the spirit to make a snow card...but my hubby was quite helpful in that area today.  He was full of suggestions and inspiration :)  Love that man <3

For my card I used the cute image Cosette from Paper Makeup.  My imagination roamed once I saw her.  I imagine she's holding a steaming cup of hot chocolate, which helps to warm her hands, and is enjoying a gorgeous walk through the new freshly fallen snow drifts in her backyard.  Reminds me of when I was younger and would try to write out messages in the snow for my mom to read from the kitchen window :)

I colored her in with my colored pencils and added stickles to her wings.
The edges are inked with some Copic markers and then distressed with my scissors.  I tore the edges of the snowflake paper behind the image to give a little different texture to the card.

The layered "drifts" of snow are edged with stickles.  For Christmas I got a variety pack of Pearl Ex so I have been playing around with making shimmer mists.  I used one of them to spray the background paper and the snow drifts so that they shimmered.  It's really hard to see in the pictures but looks fabulous in person :)

Thank you so much for checking out my card!  Be sure to visit the rest of the Makeup Artists as they have made some gorgeous creations this week!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenge:
    Deconstructed Sketch #84

Absolutely no one that knows me better
No one that can make me feel sooo goooood
How did we stay so long together?
When everybody, everybody said we never would
And just when I, I start to think they're right
That love has died...

There you go making my heart beat again,
Heart beat again,
Heart beat again
There you go making me feel like a kid
Won't you do it and do it one time?
There you go pulling me right back in,
Right back in,
Right back in
And I know-oo I'm never letting this go-ooo

I'm stuck on you
Whutooo whutooo
Stuck like glue
You and me baby we're stuck like glue
Whutooo whutooo
Stuck like glue
You and me baby we're stuck like glue

Hello everyone!!  Today's post and card I want to dedicate to my wonderful husband!  The one that makes me smile even when I feel I can't, the one that still gives me butterflies, who drops everything in a heartbeat to help me with the smallest things.  The man that takes time away from his games to help me with my girlie projects, and still walks away a complete man.  

He has been such a rock for me over the last several months while I have been teetering on the edge of breakdown.  He pushes me to do better, to be better.  And when I'm having a rough day, he never hesitates to just sit on the couch and hold me while I cry.  I love him.  More than anything.  And I pray that someday I can be that perfect wife for him.  The one he can lean on when he needs a shoulder.  The one that makes his heart soar because of the joy visible on her face.  The perfect wife!

When we lived in Seattle, my ringtone for Matthew was Sugarlands "Stuck on You."  I love this song and every time I think of it or hear it on the radio, I instantly think of Matthew, because it's true.  I am so stuck on him!

And while browsing different blogs and challenges, I found a sketch at Deconstructed Sketch that really stood out to me.  I was searching for inspiration and it hit me instantly when I saw Jen's sketch.

I used Washi Girl from Saturated Canary!  I know the song is "stuck like glue" but tape is sticky too!  This card is so perfect!  And I know it's really pink and girlie, not really a mans card...but every time I look at it I will smile, sing the song and dream of my wonderful husband :)

If you haven't seen the music video for this song...you must!  I never watched it until yesterday when I started this card.  Such an awesome video!  Could not stop laughing!

Over the next few days I will be making several changes to this blog.  It's time to revamp it!  I want it to flow together better and look professionally fun.  Of course, most of my help came from Matthew :)  We've been doing a lot of coding together (which is what he does..every day...he's perfect at it), so I owe him a huge gigantic Thank You!  More to come on that later!  Check back soon!

Much love!
<3 Emily

Entering this card in the following challenges:
    Deconstructed Sketch #83
    Saturated Canary #34-Song Inspiration
    Inky Chicks #1

Happy New Year!!!
Ok a few days behind...I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and a wonderful New Year's celebration!  We are getting back into the swing of things after our trip to MI to see family.  Of course, we were greeted so wonderfully by 3 feet of snow once we returned to Montreal on Monday at 9:30 pm :)  Burned off a few of those holiday calories shoveling out our parking space!

Now it's time to head back to work and calm down from the holiday craziness.  We start that off with a new challenge at Digi Makeover and it's perfect as it matches the scene outside my windows!  We are challenging you to a white on white project!

I've seen some absolutely gorgeous white on white projects while browsing the blog world, but I can never seem to make one that stuns me as well...but I tried anyways and I must say that this card, I Love!

There is a small amount of color in the images...I used the cute little monster Baby Horatio and cut him out with one of my new spellbinders dies!  I thought the shape fit him perfectly!  Before I removed the cut out from the template, I used a little bit of light blue chalk around the edges.  Can't really see it in the pic.  I also colored some light blue detailing on the cloud, his spots and horns.

I embossed the background with my Swiss Dots folder and cut out the corners with another new MS punch :)  I love those hearts!

Of course, this is a new card style for me.  I don't think I've ever really made an easel card.  I've been trying to think of different styles I could start doing to make my cards a little more unique and decided to give the easel a try this time, and I love it!  Of course, there isn't very much weight on the top of the card so it just sort of floats there instead of being pushed down...but it's still awesome!

I trimmed out a few flags to put under the image and used my Lacy Edge Punch on the bottom of the top panel.  There are a few liquid pearls around the sentiment and down the sides.  And then of course the glitter!  Again...hard to see in the pic, but there is a lot of it!  Around the image frame, the cloud, the flags, the sentiment, the hearts, and the inside panel!  Love my glitter and on a white card, it looks fabulous!!

After I finished the card, my dear hubby suggested making the sentiment say Sweet Little Monster :)  I'll have to remember that next time!

Be sure to join us this week!  And don't forget to check out the rest of the Makeup Artists creations, they are fabulous!