on Life and Creating

Rosie Posie

2012-01-31T17:46:00.000-05:00

I recently got a Papertrey Ink order and the Rosie Posie stamp set so I had to play right away (there's something about brand new stamps that beg to be inked up!) and here is the first of 2 cards I created:

I used some of the grid cardstock from PTI as my card base and stamped the small flower and one of the background stamp elements in the grid spaces. Yes, I actually cut one of the stamps apart so I would have a single image to work with. The colors are Smokey Grey (Memento) and Creme Brulee (CTMH). The paper was a strip leftover from another project that I folded and adhered to the card with scor-tape.

The main flower was stamped and highlighted with a colored pencil to add a little shading. I added the focal piece to the card front with foam tape and a band of gray ribbon along the top edge of the pleated paper.

The background is a little busier than I anticipated but I like the overall results. I will be back soon with another Rosie Posie card that has a totally different look. See you soon!

More challenge fun

2012-01-26T23:33:00.000-05:00

I have been on a stamping roll lately so I figured why not join in on a few challenges? This week I am hitting 2 at once - City Crafter and Color Throwdown. City Crafter has a great sketch this week and the colors at Color Throwdown are Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Cake, and Rose Red. I don't have those exact colors but I came up with something pretty darn close. Here's my card for the challenges:

The stamp is from Tina Wenke, paper from Teresa Collins, cardstock from Close To My Heart. I debossed the pink section with the Dotted Swiss Cuttlebug folder, colored my image with Copics and gathered the organza ribbon by running a line of stitching through the center and then pulling the ends. I think this is another card for my Valentine's stash.

Thanks for popping by!

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

2012-01-25T09:40:00.004-05:00

It's blog hop time again at Papertrey Ink and this was a fun one! We were asked to choose one of our favorite cards from 2011 and remake it in some way. So to start, take a look at one of my favorites from last year, created during Papertrey's summer stamping retreat:

I like this card because it came together quickly and as I imagined in my head. Plus, this card reminds me of all the fun we had at the retreat!

I used the same layout for the remake but this one is just a little bit brighter:

I used the Funky Town paper pack and the Banner Builders stamp set for my main components along with the number dies and a variety of birthday themed sentiments. I think this card could easily become my favorite of 2012~

Thanks for stopping by! If you enjoy photography, I hope you'll take a moment to check out Photo Throwdown and play along with our bi-weekly challenge. Have fun hopping!

Runway Inspired Challenge

2012-01-23T23:20:00.000-05:00

I discovered a new challenge blog called Runway Inspired Challenge and decided to play along this week. Here is the inspiration photo:

Ah yes, rainbow. Here's my card based on this photo:

I dug out an old favorite - a rainbow colored Kalidecolor inkpad. Do you still have, and use, those? They were really "hot" a number of years ago and surprisingly, my pad was still plenty inky. The stamp is from the Mehndi Medallion set by Papertrey Ink, the triangle tag is from Tranquility Triangles and the sentiment is from Tiny Tags (all from PTI). Take a closer look -

- and you can see that I impressed the background of the card with the music impression plate, also from Papertrey Ink. Otherwise, I kept the card clean and simple.

Pop on over and check out this great challenge - you have until Friday night to play along!

Inspiration challenge at H2H

2012-01-23T05:06:00.002-05:00

This week at H2H, we're getting our artwork inspiration from the following photo:

Take a look - what inspires you from the photo? The colors? The tags, the crystals, the leaves? I took my cue from the tags and the cork-looking background to create a Valentine's card:

I started with a piece of a kraft cardstock and I sponged a little Brown Bag, Chocolate and White Daisy inks all over it to give the piece some "texture". I then created a couple of simple tags. The ones with the letters I and U were made by first cutting the letters using the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge and then cutting the cardstock around the letters into strips that could be turned into a banner type tag. The tag in the center with the heart was a purchased tag that I simply added the heart to (also cut with Cricut - once sized at 2 1/4 in Cranberry cardstock for the mat and again at 2" in cream, which was then stamped with the heart image in Cranberry).

I added some baker's twine to the center tag and a few red sparkles finishes up my card. Easy but effective and now I have one card ready for Feb. 14th!

I hope you'll join us at Heart 2 Heart and play along with our inspiration photo. Just be sure to have Close To My Heart products on hand!

Have a good week! I'll be back again soon!

Make it Monday - Papertrey Ink

2012-01-19T22:59:00.000-05:00

The Make It Monday project from Papertrey Ink this week features a technique called Ghost Masking. I thought it was a pretty cool idea so wanted to try my hand it at. But this was the card that almost wasn't because I just couldn't decide which stamps would work best! I finally settled on this:

I used a few stamp sets including Spots and Dots, Mat Stack 2 and Fruitful. I stamped the frame image from Mat Stack 2 onto my card front and surrounded it with peaches and strawberries as well as the dot border. The peaches were rolled in a second darker ink for that two-tone effect. After I had all of the masking/stamping done, I finished up the stamping with the "made with love" sentiment circle and "Jelly" (from Friendship Jar) stamped in the center of the frame.

Here's a close-up of the technique area:

The bottom border on the card was created from two strips of cardstock die cut with the Simple Circles border die. The circles were then arranged so both the pink and the orange rows could be seen. I'm pretty sure these colors are Raspberry Fizz and Orange Zest.

I am pretty happy with the results and might try this technique again! Thanks Papertrey (and Betsy!) for the great idea!

Winter is for Reading

2012-01-17T16:59:00.000-05:00

I think Winter is the perfect season for curling up with a good book so as part of my daughter's recent Birthday gift, I included an Amazon gift card so she can get some new reading goodies on her Kindle. Here is the card I included with the gift:

I love this image, from Impression Obsession. I think this would be an awesome bookplate stamped onto an adhesive backed paper, although I would keep the image monochromatic because the coloring was a little time consuming. But so much fun! I think coloring can be great, relaxing therapy! This image was colored with pencils and I kept the rest of the card simple as the image has plenty of color and pattern. The yellow mat is impressed with a PTI impression plate for a little added texture.

That's it for me today - I am spending some time in my stamp room this evening so I will have some new things to share with you soon!

Playing with some challenges

2012-01-15T21:56:00.004-05:00

I've been down with the flu all weekend and finally started feeling well enough to sit and stamp for awhile. This card was made for 2 challenges: the Color Throwdown challenge and a sketch challenge at Eat, Sleep, Stamp. Take a look:

All products from Papertrey Ink.

Ok that's all for me. 2 Advil and bed are calling my name.

Die Cut Negatives at Papertrey Playhouse

2012-01-12T00:40:00.000-05:00

I am the hostess this time around for the challenge at Papertrey Playhouse. I'm kicking off the year with a challenge to use a Die Cut Negative on your card front (or, in other words, create an opening on your card front. This is how my creation turned out:

Details are on the Papertrey Playhouse blog. I hope you'll stop by and play along with this challenge!
See you again soon!

NEW H2H challenge

2012-01-09T07:49:00.000-05:00

Heart 2 Heart Challenges is back for a year full of fun challenges and we're kicking off the year with a NEW challenge. We want you to grab one of your CTMH stamps that you haven't used before and get it inky! Here's the card I created using one of the stamp sets from the Cricut Art Philosophy bundle:

I grabbed the Dreamin' paper pack for the bottom section of the card. Love the little dot border edge! On the flip side of this is the CTMH logo and paper information but I love how Close To My Heart utilized every bit of space and gave us a fun border on the reverse to use - no waste with this paper! I also cut three stars using the Cricut AP cartridge, stamped the star image on the cut-outs and then layered them over a stamped label-type image. There is a pattern to cut out the label with the Cricut as well but this worked just perfectly for this clean and simple card.

I hope you will come join in the challenge at H2H this week. Be sure to have Close To My Heart stamps on hand in order to play along!

Cupcakes and mices :)

2012-01-07T12:06:00.000-05:00

Today is my beautiful daughter's 31st birthday (how did you get to 31 already??) and I dropped this card in her mailbox early this morning:

I love the images from Lily of the Valley and this one was the perfect choice for my cupcake's birthday :) I kept the background simple and used the colors from the paper to color the image. The Happy Birthday sentiment is adhered to a piece of pink ribbon and the flower was some die cut flowers I stacked together to make a cute embellishment.

Now to finish my shopping for birthday gifts for my girl....have a good weekend everyone!

What it feels like today

2012-01-03T18:26:00.000-05:00

Today we're getting a blast of frigid air - current temperature - 23 (F). Yeah baby, it's cold! So it's the perfect day to post this card -

Do you blame him? I'd wear mittens on my ears too if I could! This cute bear is from Impression Obsession. I inked him up in gray and only colored his bright earwear to match the papers. A diecut snowflake (CTMH Art Philosophy) dresses up the card.

How's the weather where you are?

New Year's - Ring in the New!

2011-12-31T12:56:00.000-05:00

I can't say I am sad to see 2011 go. It has not been a good year for our family by any means. But I am hopeful that 2012 will bring us - and all of YOU - much joy and peace.

This image is technically a Christmas image but since I haven't shared it yet, we're going to call it a "Ring out the old and ring in the new" New Year card!

This is Jingle Chickadee from Impression Obsession and while I love this image, I had a little trouble coloring it and think I would choose to just leave it alone next time. There is so much shading and detail on the stamp itself that the colors sort of drown out the image a bit. But anyhow, color it I did. I tried going for a rusty look on the bell - not sure I achieved it but it was a good effort. The bow atop the bell was not colored at all - instead I added a piece of ribbon over that area to add some dimension to the image. I added a little machine stitching to the background to finish up the card. The only thing that is missing is a sentiment which I think I will add to the lower left corner of the image panel when I send this one out. Probably next year. Or maybe as a thank you for this year's Christmas goodies.

I hope you all have a wonderful - and safe - New Year's Eve and Day!

After Christmas CTMH SALE!

2011-12-27T21:45:00.000-05:00

Save 15% on your total purchase from the Fall/Winter Close To My Heart Idea Book when your order is placed by Friday Dec. 30th at midnight. OFFER GOOD THROUGH ME ONLY.

In addition to the savings, you could be eligible for the Rock the Block promotion:

Any order of $25 or more qualifies you for the promotion. For just $15, Rock the Block includes an exclusive E-sized stamp set and the My Creations Collage Cubes (seen above).

Don't delay - contact me right away to get your order placed! To see the products in the current Idea Book, visit www.closetomyheart.com

Papertrey December Blog Hop Challenge

2011-12-26T16:59:00.000-05:00

It's time for the monthly Papertrey Blog Hop and luckily I was checking my blogs today or I would have completely missed it! The theme is Holiday Leftovers (no, not food) so I looked through the packages we have piled up around here and found a cute tag to recycle on to a Thank You card:

I love the Shape Up Snowman stamp set and matching dies so I grabbed those to go along with my leftover tag. I die cut the hat and mittens and punched circles for the snowman himself. The star image is from the Banner Builders set and was randomly stamped on a Linen cardstock base. I added some "twig" arms and the hands hold the tag, which says Thank You on the inside. Then I have the inside of the card free to write a personal message.

Thanks for stopping by~

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T00:50:00.000-05:00

Well, it's that time and I guess, ready or not, Christmas is here! Luckily I am ready - there's only a few minor things to finish up and then I can sit back and enjoy. We will be going to Mass this afternoon and then my daughter and son-in-law's for Christmas Eve dinner; tomorrow we will have a relaxing morning at home followed by dinner at my Mom's. And no work on Monday - woohoo!

I have one last Christmas card to share with you - this one was just finished yesterday evening for my beautiful daughter and her hubby.

Is that not the cutest image? (Hero Arts). I've had it for awhile now but this is the 1st time I inked it up - love! I kept the coloring simple to match the paper colors - somehow, the colors look a little "off" in this photo but they really do match up very well. Inside the card says "Warm Winter Wishes" - my phrase of choice this season.

To all of you who stop by and see what I'm up to from time to time, I thank you. I hope to find more time in the coming year to share crafty things, stories and a whole lot more so I hope you'll keep coming back. Merry Christmas and may you and your family have the best New Year ever!

Christmas Snowmen

2011-12-22T00:09:00.000-05:00

This year, I had good intentions to get all of my Christmas cards made early and mailed promptly. Yeah, that didn't happen. I finished the last few tonight that will be mailed tomorrow. Procrastinate much?

Anyways, this is one of the cards I made - these went to my co-workers and a few friends. The others? Well, I never got a photo of them so we'll just pretend they were the most intricate and fabulous cards ever and now you're sorry you didn't see them, right? Actually, they were fairly simple and featured a computer generated image so not a lot of craftiness to share there anyhow. But enough about what you can't see - let me show you what I did think to save -

I used the snowman die cut from Papertrey Ink to cut my snowman and his hat. The scarf is a piece of yarn that I separated so it looked fluffy and warm. Background paper is a chevron design (source unknown) and red PTI cardstock. Of course I colored his carrot nose orange and gave him a couple of twig arms. The inside of the card is simply stamped "Warm winter wishes" from the stocking set, also from PTI.

I will have one more card to share with you before the "big day" so stop back and visit me again soon! You can also check out the story of Jacobmas at Ridiculous Lab and tomorrow I will have a post up on Are You on the Fence about A Klingon Christmas Carol. You won't want to miss it!

Last Creative Vision post

2011-12-13T01:40:00.000-05:00

Today is my last post for Creative Vision as my term is now ending :( I made a quick, fun little gift project and have it posted at the CV blog - here's a sneak peek:

I hope you'll stop by to see the whole project!! It's been fun playing along with the CV team these past months - thanks Laura and team! And Happy Holidays!!

H2H Virtual Holiday Card Exchange

2011-12-12T08:46:00.000-05:00

Today starts the last challenge of the year with Heart 2 Heart as we are all taking a much deserved break for the holidays. The challenge is to create and post a holiday card of any kind wishing everyone who stops at your blog a very Merry __________ (fill in the blank).

Here is my card, with warm wishes for all of my online stamping friends:

I grabbed my Bundled Buddies set and stamped the trees with White Daisy ink on kraft cardstock to create my background. The animals were stamped with brown ink onto kraft, colored with Copics and cut out. I added a couple of lines of machine stitching to the background to ground my trees and then added the cutie patootie animals with some foam tape for dimension. The simple sentiment was stamped in the lower corner and everything was mounted to a Moonstruck (or it might be Outdoor Denim) base.

I hope you will have a chance to play along with us and post a holiday card you've created using Close To My Heart products. This challenge will remain open until the end of the year and we will be back Jan. 9th with a whole new year full of challenges! Be sure to check out our DT call over at the H2H blog too!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas fever

2011-12-05T00:04:00.000-05:00

We are finally starting to get in the Christmas mode around here and even have most of the decorations up. Well, except the tree but it's standing. Naked, but standing - does that count?

I have also been trying to squeeze in a little time to get some Christmas cards mailed. I'm not sure that I won't have to resort to store-bought cards but for now, I'm still giving it the old college try. Here's one I recently made to add to my slowly growing stack:

The stamp is from a Prima set called North Country. I love reindeer and this guy was all dressed up for the holidays and I couldn't resist him. The set also includes a couple of beautiful trees, sentiments and snowflakes. I mounted him to a piece of Blitzen paper (from Bo Bunny) and the piece he is stamped on was sponged with ink to match some of the circles on the paper. A few black rhinestones and some ribbon finishes off this somewhat modern-rustic (I just made that up) card.

Thanks for stopping by. I will be back soon with more Christmas cards to share~

Sketch week at H2H

2011-11-28T01:28:00.000-05:00

It's sketch week at Heart 2 Heart Challenges and it's a simple one to play along with! Here is my take featuring the cutie-patootie owl from the Bundled Buddies set:

I wanted something for the holidays but also wanted to keep the card somewhat rustic to go along with the owl. So I chose some paper from the Daydreamer pack that was just perfect and colored the owl's scarf to match. A little light blue velvet ribbon "fancies" the simple card up and adds that warm touch.

Wanna check out the sketch and play along? Head over to H2H and jump in. Be sure to use CTMH products and leave us your link. Have a good week and be sure to tune in later this week for more holiday cards to share!

Thanks

2011-11-23T23:55:00.000-05:00

This Thanksgiving, I am grateful for many things in my life, not the least of which is YOU! Thank you for stopping by my blog from time to time to see what's new, thank you for all the wonderful comments you leave for me, thanks for sharing your ideas and artwork and stories with me, here and at my other blogs. I am a lucky girl and consider you all friends. Have a blessed Thanksgiving with your family and friends!!

Wreath and sentiment stamps from Papertrey Ink, paper from Simple Stories, ink from Close To My Heart.

Time for a new challenge at H2H!

2011-11-21T07:52:00.000-05:00

Our theme this week at the Heart 2 Heart Challenges blog is to create something with the theme of time. Now this can be clocks, or can be a sentiment that says something about time....think outside the box and see what you can come up with! Here is my take on the theme:

I used a sentiment from a recent CTMH promotion stamp set as my "time" element. The tree is (as you can see) made from all random buttons. The paper is from the Daydreamer pack - love the shimmer of this paper!! I punched a border on the bottom and added everything to a white card base. Quick, easy and ca-ute!

I hope you'll play along with us this week! Think time!

Papertrey Playhouse invitation challenge

2011-11-17T00:21:00.001-05:00

I am the hostess this time around for the Papertrey Playhouse challenge. I thought since the holidays are a great time for parties and gatherings, invitations would be the perfect theme for the challenge. Here is one I made for a holiday party:

I used a few different Papertrey Ink stamp sets - you can see the list of them at the PTPH blog. I also have another invitation I recently created posted at Moments of Your Heart - I hope you'll stop by there and take a look, too. Then join in the fun and create an invitation to share with us! Be sure to use PTI products. I'm looking forward to seeing what you create!!

I'll be back with more artwork to share soon. The craziness that has been my life lately is starting to calm down and that means more time in the stamp room - YAY!! See you soon!

A Peek

2011-11-11T00:08:00.000-05:00

I have a new invitation posted at Moments of Your Heart. I hope you'll pop over there and check it out. Here's a little peek:

Holiday brunch, anyone?

Creative Vision Blog Hop

2011-11-02T08:16:00.002-04:00

Welcome to another Creative Vision Team Themed Blog Hop.
Today we are sharing a themed project, "Tags". With Christmas right
around the corner we hope our creations inspire you to create
some tags of your own!

As you hop hop hop your way around, make sure to become
a Creative Vision Blog follower if you are not already,
(you have to be in order to win) then leave some love for a chance to WIN
a $10.00 Shopping Spree to the Creative Clear Stamp Store!

The winner will be announced on Thursday.http://www.creativeclearstamps.blogspot.com

I combined a few things into my tag and created it for someone who is going through a medical crisis at the holidays - specifically, cancer. I used a non-traditional color scheme and included lavendar/purple - the awareness ribbon color for cancer in general. I thought the sentiment in the Let It Snow set not only conveyed a great Christmas message but it also spoke of the Hope that cancer patients so deperately cling to. I used a variety of Nestability dies to create my layers and let the sentiment and ribbon take center stage, without adding a lot of a additional embellishment.

I hope you've enjoyed this different twist on a traditional holiday tag. Now it's time to hop along - but don't forget to become a follower of Creative Vision's blog
and leave some love, it could make you a winner!

The hop starts here: Laura
Kendra
Stephanie

Christy
You are here: Mary
Next stop: Allison
Lauren

Chelsea

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T17:05:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween to all who celebrate. And Happy Fall to those who don't. Traditionally each year we decorate the house with a few pumpkins, a ghost here and there and a black cat or two but we are not into the real spooky or gross components of the holiday. Cute is the name of the game here. So when I decided to make up some treats for the adults, a.k.a. co-workers, I went all out cute:

Halloween push pop treats! I purchased some of the empty push pop containers through a group buy (4 of us split a case of 100) and then searched the internet for all kinds of ideas! These push pops are filled with two layers of Entemann's mini brownies, frosting, and a sprinkling of M&Ms, topped with a pumpkin shaped Peep. It all fit perfectly! I wrapped a band of printed paper around each pop and tied some twine around each so I could hang my little die cut spiders with their googly eyes.

I think these turned out super cute and everyone at work loved them! For more Halloween posts, be sure to check out my Pictures Pages and my Halloween review. Yes, I'm reviewing a holiday. I have opinions about ever.y.thing.

Haver a fun and safe Halloween!

Jar full of gratitude

2011-10-28T23:47:00.001-04:00

I had a little stamping time the other day and came up with this:

I cut out a piece of acetate following the lines of the stamped jar and adhered it to the stamped jar with one piece of adhesive under the Thankful for... tag. The slips of paper in the jar were then adhered to the jar base so they wouldn't fall out from the edges where the acetate wasn't attached. Does that make any sense? It sounds easy to explain in my head anyhow :)

I am linking this card up at Papertrey Playhouse for their current Fall themed challenge.

Thanks for visiting~

Supplies:
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, CTMH
Stamps: Papertrey Ink - Friendship Jar, Tranquility Trilogy
Ink: Close To My Heart
DP: Papertrey Ink
Punch: EK Success
Sparkles: Taylored Expressions

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

2011-10-25T09:41:00.001-04:00

It's time once again for the Papertrey Ink blog hop and the photo inspiration is perfect for this time of the year:

I translated the photo somewhat literally by focusing on the pumpkins but I "cuted" it up a little:

The card itself is the white you see above- the black is simply a layer adhered to the back of the white card base. Does that make sense? Anyhow, I used the Damask Designs paper and the adorable pumpkin bucket die to add the images all spruced up to look like a cat, bat and jack-o-lantern. The faces were made with a variety of punched pieces, most from one border punch. The tiny spider adorning the corner as well as the sentiment are from the Friendship Jar Fall Fillers set. A simple band of sparkle was added to the card front to help ground the pumpkin buckets.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll be back to soon to visit again!

Simple Circles

2011-10-20T00:20:00.001-04:00

I'm back! So soon, you say? Yes! And with artwork to share. Yay!
Made this simple but cute (I think) card for a nephews birthday and wanted to share it before I mailed it out:

All products from Papertrey Ink. I used the Boy Basics: Simple Circles to stamp the images on the die cut Simple Circles border and added a piece of Men of Life paper to the bottom half of the card. Ink from Close To My Heart.

Simple but effective, I think. Off in the mail tomorrow!

I'll be back again soon with more artwork to share. In the meantime, take a look at the card I posted at Moments of Your Heart. Thanks for visiting!

Admit One

2011-10-17T08:43:00.000-04:00

Good morning! Sorry I have been absent for awhile - I promise to start posting more often. I just need to find a little more time to get into the stamp room!! Helping my son with school stuff this semester has been almost a second part-time job!!

Anyhow, enough of that - let's get to some artwork!

Our challenge this week at Heart 2 Heart is all about numbers! All projects submitted must include at least one number on it. Here is my party invite:

Can you tell I am hooked on the new Cricut cartridge from Close To My Heart?? Here is how I made this little (3x4) card:

I started with the sentiment It's a Party! stamp from one of the sets that came with the Cricut bundle. I stamped it repeatedly on the diagonal on my card base in Autumn Terracotta. The tag was cut on the Cricut and stamped with one of the images in the September Stamp of the Month (ask me how you can get yours!!) in New England Ivy ink. The "ticket" was cut on the Cricut as well as the number "1". I stamped the "admit one" and hand cut it out. Finally, before assembling everything, I stamped a 2nd generation image of the packages from the set Jingle Borders. Then I layered everything together onto the tag, added a little piece of ribbon and mounted it to the card with foam tape. Lots of fun little layers! (All products from CTMH)

I hope you'll join us and create something with numbers this week. Be sure to use Close To My Heart products!!

2 in 1

2011-10-08T01:16:00.000-04:00

Today I have a two-fer for you! I combined the sketch for this week's Unscripted Sketches challenge with my monthly post for Creative Clear Stamps so let's get to it!

First up is the sketch from US:

And my card:

I used the adorable That Kind of Day Sentiment Single from Creative Clear Stamps. I used felt at the bottom of the card separated by saddle stitched ribbon so it looked similar to sweat pants - soft, a little fuzzy, with a racing stripe down the leg :)

Inside I made a simple pocket with a piece of DP and added a little giftie:

What could be better than curling up with a good Kindle book in your sweats all day? My kind of Saturday!

Come join the fun over at Unscripted Sketches and give our sketch a try - we'd love to see your artwork this week!

Cricut fun!

2011-10-07T00:20:00.000-04:00

As you know, I'm a consultant with Close To My Heart but I haven't been a very active consultant in the past year or so. Unless you count my work with the H2H blog - that keeps me pretty busy. But I haven't been selling a lot lately and have been buying products for myself mostly.

But now I have to tell you about the coolest product EVER from Close To My Heart - the Art Philosophy Cricut bundle!! Oh, you are going to need this, Cricut lovers!! Here's some info from the CTMH website and then I'll show you a little something I made -

"We’re delighted to introduce the exclusive Close To My Heart Cricut^® Art Philosophy collection! We’ve worked with Provo Craft^* to bring you a Cricut^® cartridge filled with 700 shapes hand-selected by company founder and CEO Jeanette Lynton. Simply insert the cartridge into your Cricut^® machine (sold at retail stores) and you’re ready to cut any of the shapes with the touch of a button! Choose from stunning rosettes, unique gift boxes, elegant doilies, crafty banners, and more. The exclusive images are incredibly versatile, and many are designed to be used with specific My Acrylix^® stamps for real eye-popping power!"

And that's not all - many of the shapes you can cut with this cartridge have matching stamp sets as well!! So it's easy to cut, stamp, assemble and voila! Instant creations!! (well not exactly instant but pretty darn quick!)

You can read more about what is included in the bundle pack here (you get chipboard and stamps and the cartridge - oh my!)

Here is what I created this evening:

Everything was cut on the Cricut and the only stamping is the words I stamped on the tag layer. These are 4 separate word stamps I aligned on one block and then stamped repeatedly on the layer for a fun printed panel.

The tree is two Cricut cut layers although I could have opted to stamp the tree as well as one of the stamp sets in the bundle includes a tree stamp that fits this cut shape. LOVE! I added a little bling and all done! Now to use this as a tag, or add to a card front....?

If you want to learn more about the Art Philosophy Cricut bundle from Close To My Heart, drop me an email - you won't be sorry!!

Creative Vision Blog Hop

2011-10-02T01:18:00.001-04:00

Welcome to another Creative Vision Team Themed Blog Hop.

Today we are sharing projects made with "My Favorite Things".

As you hop hop hop your way around, make sure to become a Creative Vision Blog follower if you are not already, then leave some love for a chance to WIN a Shopping Spree to the Creative Clear Stamp Store!

I am using the adorable Lemonade Stand stamp set once again for my card and my favorite things - Nestabilities!!

This time around I focused on one of the sentiments rather than the images. On the inside of the card is the second portion of my chosen sentiment - and it's not what you think!! The entire sentiment reads: "When life gives you lemons.....toss them back!" Perfect for a friend who needs a little pick me up!

I used three different shaped of Nestabilities and layered them to create my focal point. The sentiment on the inside is on a matching Nestie shape. The paper is from the DeLovely paper pack by Cosmo Cricket and the cardstock is from Papertrey Ink.

As a little thank you for hopping with me today, here is a gift for you!
$5.00 off any $15.00 or more purchase at the Creative Clear Stamp Store

Just use this code at the checkout so Laura knows I sent you!
It is not valid towards shipping,
it cannot be combined with any other offer or discount,
and it expires October 4th, 2011 at midnight.
THE CODE IS BH10M

On with the hop.....

but don't forget to become a follower of Creative Vision's blog and leave some love - it could make you a winner!
Next up is:

Allison - http://www.allisonsstampincreations.blogspot.com/

Lauren - http://lem-photography.blogspot.com/

Chelsea - http://scraptasticvoyage.blogspot.com

Laura - http://www.creativeclearstamps.blogspot.com/
Kendra - http://www.luv2scrapnmakecards.blogspot.com/

Stephanie - http://blog.artycarty.com/

Christy- http://www.mycreativejourneys.blogspot.com/

Mary - http://mbryt1.blogspot.com/ ---- YOU ARE HERE

Happy hopping!

Unscripted for Fall

2011-10-01T00:35:00.000-04:00

I have seen very little of my stamping room lately as I have been helping out the college student in the house with typing papers and what not. And there's been a lot of what not this semester! But I did manage to get a little fun time in the other day and created this for Unscripted Sketches:

I was in a Fall mood so chose some nice warm autumny colors. Stamps are from Papertrey Ink, cardstock from Close To My Heart. I hope you will check out the sketch this was based on over at Unscripted Sketches and then play along! We would love to see your interpretation of the sketch!

I'll be back tomorrow with another Creative Vision blog hop for October. And don't forget, there is always something new at Are You on the Fence? to check out - this time, it's a post from Leia, my furbaby. Yes, indeedy.

See you soon - and Happy World Card Making Day!

Unscripted Sketches #124

2011-09-18T08:08:00.000-04:00

A new Unscripted Sketches challenge was posted yesterday and I am just now getting a chance to share my sample...school "things" are keeping me pretty busy here lately! But I promise to start getting more artwork done and posted. My sanity needs it! Here's my card to go along with this week's sketch:

Mmmm those caramel apples look so tasty! I am loving the cooler weather and am looking forward to getting the sweaters out, and the pumpkins - Fall is, I think, my favorite time of year!

I hope you will join us this week at US - we would love to see what you do with this week's sketch! See you again soon! (Oh and check out my new Ridiculous Lab feature - Picture Pages - every Sunday!)

All products from Papertrey Ink

Unscripted with a Piggyback

2011-09-10T23:03:00.000-04:00

It's another Unscripted Sketches post with another awesome sketch! And we have a piggyback challenge if you want to add it - include numbers on your creation. Here's the sketch and my card:

I flipped the sketch sideways and used paper that already had numbers on it - hey, that's not cheating! The only stamping is the ink pen and splotches and the little "Hi" - a simple notecard that can be used in so many ways! All products from Papertrey Ink.

Come join us this week! We announce a top three every week and it could be you!

Layout for Creative Vision

2011-09-08T08:03:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone!

Today I am excited to share a scrapbook layout with you featuring some embellishments I stamped with the Lemonade Stand set from Creative Vision. When I first saw this set, I just knew I had to have it as I had the perfect photos to use on a scrapbook page. Take a look:

Click the photo to see a larger image

Earlier this summer, during a brief but strong storm, a large section of a tree in our backyard came down and damaged our roof. The good news is that insurance covered the cost to repair more than half of our existing roof and we paid the difference to have the whole roof redone - we it desperately needed!!! So the sentiment of these stamps are a perfect fit for the occasion - When Life Gives Your Lemons...Make Lemonade! The result is a beautiful new roof that will last the next 20 years!

Here is a sketch that I designed for this layout - I hope it will inspire you to get creative this week!

I hope you will stop by Creative Vision and see what they have to offer. Such sweet stamps! I know you're gonna love them!

Unscripted #122

2011-09-03T12:51:00.000-04:00

Last week I missed playing along with Unscripted Sketches but this week, I couldn't pass up the chance to work with a really cool sketch - take a look:

I think this would work great for a scrapbook page or a card. I chose to create another summery card -

Now I changed up the panels a bit but there's nothing wrong with exercising a little creative license! This card is just so summery - nothing better than enjoying an ice cold watermelon on Labor Day weekend!

I hope you find a little crafting time this weekend to come play along with us at US! See you again soon -

Supplies:
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink
Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Close To My Heart
DP: unknown
Ribbon: unknown

Creative Vision Design Team 6 Hop TODAY

2011-09-02T06:00:00.001-04:00

Good Morning Stampers!

Today is the official kickoff for Creative Vision's brand new Design Team and I am proud to be a member! Together we will hop our way around the blogs and meet the very special and talented members of Design Team 6. There will be random prizes awarded to visitors who post comments. Be sure to become a Creative Vision blog follower, if you are not already, in order to be eligible for those prizes. Following the hop, Laura will give away a few SHOPPING SPREES! YIPPEE!

Our first hop as a team has a theme of SHOW OFF YOUR STYLE! Well my style is pretty eclectic - I like a little bit of everything! But generally speaking, I enjoy clean, well balanced projects that include some fabulous papers and embellishments. I'm a simple girl at heart but once in awhile I like to get "wild" and throw in some distressing and/or sewing as I did with today's card - take a look:

This card just looks like summer - the bright colors, the kids, and the yummy lemonade! Oooo I could go for a glass of that today! I used a few of the stamps from the Lemonade Stand stamp set and a little cutting and reassembling to get just the look I wanted. Oh to be a young lemonade entrepreneur again! I did add some stiching to this card as well as some white ink distressing and a green ribbon for embellishment.

Let's continue to hop our way to each team member's blog as we showcase our collective talent with this hop theme - SHOW OFF YOUR STYLE!

On with the hop.....but don't forget to become a follower of Creative Vision's blog and leave me some love - it could make you a winner!

Your next stop is Allison's blog!

Here's the complete hop list so you don't miss a thing!

START the Hop HERE (if you didn't already): Creative Vision Blog

Kendra - http://www.luv2scrapnmakecards.blogspot.com/

Stephanie - http://blog.artycarty.com/

Christy- http://www.mycreativejourneys.blogspot.com/

Mary - http://mbryt1.blogspot.com/ - YOU ARE HERE

Allison - http://www.allisonsstampincreations.blogspot.com/

Lauren - http://lem-photography.blogspot.com/

Chelsea - http://scraptasticvoyage.blogspot.com

Thanks for hopping with us and be sure to keep an eye out for more fun posts with Design Team 6....have a great day!

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

2011-08-25T09:40:00.001-04:00

It's the 25th of the month - one of my favorite days - because it is Papertrey Ink Blog Hop day! Here is the inspiration photo we are working with:

What "spoke" to me was the basket, the colors of red and pink and the motif inside the basket. Here is the card I created from the inspiration:

I used the Giga Guidelines 1 Impression plate on Smokey Gray cardstock and then lightly distressed with some gray ink. My basket was stamped with gray on Smokey Gray and I added a Damask Designs paper liner in the basket to match the band of DP on the card. Such a fun photo to work with and I am happy with the results :) All products from Papertrey Ink.

Have fun hopping!

Cosmo Cricket Contest

2011-08-23T23:42:00.002-04:00

I saw over at Debbie Olson's blog that Cosmo Cricket is hosting a sketch challenge. And as I LOVE Debbie, Cosmo Cricket AND sketches, I had to play along. First off, let me show you the sketch:

Oh, so many possibilities! I decided to "go masculine" as I never have enough cards for the guys. Here is my take on the sketch:

I used a die (Papertrey Ink) to create the bottom border of circles which I filled in with punched circles from the Cosmo Cricket patterned paper. The smaller circles were filled with buttons. The plane itself was partially paper pieced, again with Cosmo Cricket paper. A little ribbon finishes the card off and I actually stuck pretty close to the sketch - and love the results!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink
Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Close To My Heart
DP: Cosmo Cricket
Ribbon and Buttons: Papertrey Ink

Heading back to class

2011-08-22T01:32:00.000-04:00

Today my son starts his 4th year of college and I know many kids are either already back in school or heading there soon, so this week at Heart 2 Heart Challenges we are creating Back to School artwork.

I went a little non-traditional and created a card for a young lady just heading into college....

I used the Sophie papers because I simply loved all the words of wisdom printed on this paper. I also stamped the arrow from Fill in the Blank, cut it out and used it to point to a great saying : The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams". That's what higher education is all about! Dreaming of the future....and working toward higher goals. Anyhow, I stamped the girl from an older set, Be Yourself, and finished everything off with a clip tied with a pink ribbon.

I hope you will play along with us this week at H2H and show us your Back to School project. Be sure to use Close To My Heart products - we love CTMH at Heart 2 Heart!

Until next time - happy creating!

Button piggyback at US

2011-08-20T18:59:00.001-04:00

Once a month, the sketch challenge at Unscripted Sketches includes a piggyback challenge. This means that along with the sketch, we challenge you to an additional item - this week it's adding buttons! I love buttons so it was pretty easy to add to my card and still stay in the sketch. Here is the card I created:

I love how all of the dots work together - from the paper, to the spots on the dog (colored with Copics) to the button "dots" as the embellishment.

I hope you play along with our challenge this week and add some buttons to your artwork!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink
Stamps: Stampendous
Ink: Memento
DP: Unknown

Yeehaw!

2011-08-17T22:58:00.000-04:00

Another birthday in our family today - this time, my brother-in-law who lives in Texas. Thought this would be the perfect card for him, as he and his brood of boys (plus a wife...lol) love all things Texas, cowboy and western:

I have been all about some "white" space lately and this card is no exception! A couple of strips of DP, a matted image and some distressing and another card off to the mail!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink
Stamps: Impression Obsession
Ink: Memento
DP: Unknown

Unscripted Sketches #119

2011-08-13T11:26:00.001-04:00

It's time for another new sketch at Unscripted Sketches and a new card for me:

I am not used to having so much white space on a card but I think this works! Papers are from Papertrey Ink and the image is from Impression Obsession. If you look closely, you will see I added a little paper piercing along the horizontal chevron printed strip for added visual interest.

That's it for me today - short and sweet. I think I might have to get a DQ cone - that ice cream is looking good!
Have a great day!

Sketch For You to Try

2011-08-11T23:39:00.000-04:00

This week I had a little spare time to play along with a couple of challenges including a Sketch For You to Try at I {heart} 2 stamp. I grabbed some new Basic Grey paper and the cameo image from the Iconic Images set (Papertrey Ink) and got to work and here is the results:

I also used the Background Basics Text stamps to stamp around the cameo image, tying the text on the papers into the image. The cotton trim was colored along the top edge with a Copic marker and then flipped over so the less colorful side is what you are seeing. I like the way the color shows but isn't over-powering on the trim. A few pearls were also added to the top edge of the focal piece to finish it off.

I am also entering this into PTI's Make It Mondays challenge - coloring ribbon with Copics. In this case, it isn't exactly ribbon but I think it still counts.

There is still time to play along with SFYTT so check it out! Have a good Friday and I will see you soon!

Hot!

2011-08-08T01:27:00.001-04:00

Our theme this week at Heart 2 Heart Challenges is HOT. Anything that makes you think of hot - this can be shown in colors, images, words - it's all up to you but we want to feel the heat!

Here is my sample:

I first thought of color when I considered the word "hot" so picked out red, orange and yellow to work with. I wanted to keep the images simple and let the colors take center stage so I stamped the lanterns with black and left it at that. A little hand-drawn borders around the image pieces added a little more detail. I then layered by punched borders toward the bottom of the card, added the sentiment piece so it overhangs the side a little and finished everything off with a few black rhinestones for some sparkle.

I do think if I did this card over again the only thing I would change is to emboss the lanterns in black so they are more bold on the strong colored cardstock. Do you do that? Rethink a card after it's done? I try not to but sometimes it just seems sort of obvious how it could be improved. Anyhow, I hope you will drop by the H2H blog and see what the rest of the team created for our HOT theme - and then play along!

Don't forget - if you need to get your hands on a new CTMH Idea Book, drop me an email and I will get one out to you!
Also don't forget to drop by other blogs and see what's new: Ridiculous Lab and Are You on the Fence? Have a creative week!

Have a fabulous day!

2011-08-06T06:40:00.000-04:00

I have a quick post for you today for Unscripted Sketches #118 - take a look:

Paper is from Basic Grey, sentiment from PTI and flower from not sure who but I bought it at Michael's. Pop over to US to check out the sketch and then play along - we 'd love to have you join US~

Have a good weekend - I will be working on some bloggy things including a new venture coming your way - stay tuned! Oh and don't forget - the new Close To My Heart catalog is now available - contact me for your copy today!! You can also find my CTMH page on Facebook - stop by and "like" me~

Masculine Birthday card

2011-08-04T19:44:00.000-04:00

My son shares his birthdate with one of his uncles so it's not a Birthday I usually forget. And I didn't forget it this year but I was a little late in getting the card actually in the mail. Here is the card I made - and finally sent:

All products from Papertrey Ink. I used paper from the Damask Designs paper pack and from First Fruits paper pack. I stamped the small star on the "grid-like" paper and mounted the paper onto a black base. The Half and Half image was stamped with Terracotta Tile and then cut out and mounted on the card front, trimmed with black saddle stitch ribbon and a button. Simple but perfect for a guy (I think).

Thanks for stopping by - come back for a visit again soon!

Birthdays!

2011-08-01T23:06:00.000-04:00

This week at Heart 2 Heart Challenges we are focusing on Birthdays. But not just any Birthdays - one for kids!! We want to see what you can create for a young person's Birthday - card, layout, or other project.

Today is my son's 23rd Birthday (you can read more at Ridiculous Lab) and I did make him a Birthday card but not a CTMH one so instead, I am sharing the card I made for my teenage nephew who is celebrating a birthday this month - take a look:

Now since this is for a teenage boy I kept it pretty simple. I used the striped paper from Mayberry and covered the pink stripes with gold stripes that were cut from another paper in the Mayberry pack. The top edge of the striped paper was then border punched and added to the card front. I also stamped three stars (Fill in the Blank stamp set), cut them out and added to the card front, pop dotting the one in the center. I added a little baker's twine along the top so the stars look like their hanging and a couple of buttons to add a little extra dimension.

I hope you will join us at H2H and show us what you can create for a kid's Birthday. Have a great week and I'll be back soon!

A Jar of Berries

2011-07-30T13:06:00.002-04:00

One of the newest stamp sets I purchased from PTI's Stamp-A-Faire event is the Friendship Jar, Summer Fillers set. And as part of the freebies I received at the event, I decided to combine the Men of Life paper with the stamps to create this week's Unscripted Sketches card:

The colors and, of course the image, remind me of summer in all it's glory! Not the hot, sweaty part but the fun, tasty, red, white and blue part! The image was colored with Copics, the sentiment was circle punched an pop-dotted onto the card (with a little baker's twine behind it) and the bracket is a sticker that I colored black and added to the card.

Be sure to check out the sketch at US and see what the rest of the DT created - and then play along!

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

2011-07-25T07:29:00.000-04:00

It's one of my favorite days of the month - the 25th - Papertrey Ink's blog hop day! And I am especially excited to be participating using a new stamp set I received from this weekend's PTI event Stamp-A-Faire! Goodness, what fun! I didn't have a chance to meet a lot of people but I did meet a few from the PTI forums, one from my PTI blog group, Papertrey Playhouse, and of course, the awesome PTI Design Team members!! Stick around after my card for a few photos from the weekend.

So now on to my card:

First let me tell you that the backdrop for the card is a placemat/poster we received at SAF also - I used mine to stamp on so the pretty green tablecloth didn't get all dirty - some people collected autographs on it to take home as a souvenir. We also had passports that we collected stickers and autographs in - very fun idea!

So my card was created using the new Iconic Images stamp set. I stamped the bird and sentiment in Memento brown ink onto Vanilla Cream cs and punched the bottom edge.After wrapping some twine around this piece, I added it to a mat of patterned paper (sorry, don't remember the source). A strip of Auqa Mist cs was stamped with Woodgrain and added to the card front behind the focal piece. The polka dot paper is from Library Ledger paper pack (PTI).

Now on to some Stamp-A-Faire photos - if you want to see more, send me a request to join Facebook (you can find a Facebook link to me over in the left sidebar) and I will add you as a friend. The album of all the photos can be found there.

Nichole visiting our table

Gorgeous artwork from a new set we recieved with $100 purchase - Sunflowers!

Getting Mish's autograph

Evening dessert reception

It was a really fun day and one I would recommend for all PTI fans! This week, my pal Kathy and I, will be reviewing our entire trip (restaurants, hotel and the event) over at Are You on the Fence....I hope you will check it out as we will have a PTI prize to give-away!!

Thanks for stopping and have a fun time hop, hop, hopping!

Sketch time!

2011-07-23T01:03:00.000-04:00

Oh how I love sketches and this week's Unscripted Sketches sketch has loads of possibilities! (I know...that sentence has too many 'sketch' words in it but whatcha gonna do?)

Here's what we're working with:

And here's my card:

I used a soon to be released digi image from the "head" of US - Arielle - who has her own line of digi images called Wax Fruit Company. This holiday image, Deck the Birdhouse, fit the layout perfectly for me as did the sentiment from JustRite Stamps. The only change to the sketch was leaving off the very bottom section that shows a daisy in the sketch - I just ran out of room!

I printed the image and colored it with colored pencils and then added some Prisma Glitter for the snow. It's hard to tell from the photo but I also used a red glitter pen to color the bow - it's nice and shiny in person.

The paper is from Cosmo Cricket and the image and sentiment were popped up on pop dots for dimension.

That's it for me for today - I am actually spending the day at the PTI Stamp-A-Faire event in Cincinnati, OH today and I can't wait to share with you all my creations when I return home! Have a great weekend and stay in where it's cool and stamp. You know you want to!

US Designer Spotlight on ME

2011-07-22T01:46:00.000-04:00

Throughout the month of July, Unscripted Sketches is celebrating Christmas and bringing you something new every.single.day! A couple of times a week, this includes spotlighting one of the Design Team members and today it's my turn! So if you want to know more about me, check out my interview over at Unscripted Sketches.

But before you go there, I have a project to share with you!

Dies are all the rage and there are a wealth of shapes that you can choose from! But dies can be used for more than paper! In this project, I used two different dies from Papertrey Ink to create felt pins. Take a look:

Since we're celebrating Christmas in July, my first pin is for the holidays. I die cut the white felt with a stocking die and added a little stitching to the center. This accomplishes 2 things - it dresses up the stocking and also anchors the pin to the backside of the stocking. I used embroidery floss and simply stitched three intersecting lines like this:

Nothing fancy. Then I added a bead to the center of the "star" and one at each end of the center vertical line of stitching. Then a couple extra stitches at the ends of the "arms" like so:

I know - those are the worst Photoshop graphics ever but hopefully you get the point! To finish up the pin and have it ready to present as a little gift, I created a small "card" - this one features two layers - a back and a frame that was stamped in White Daisy ink (CTMH). The frame was cut using another PTI die and then stamped with an image from the Garden Variety stamp set. To attach the pin to the base, I simply punched 2 holes in the base and slid the pin out one hole and back through the other, locking the pin in place.

Here's another felt pin I also created using PTI dies:

I die cut 2 flowers from different colors of felt and adhered them together with Scor-Tape. The pin is then anchored to the flower back by way of the stitched on button. To add a little more detail, I added a few French knots to the petals on the larger flower. There's a great video tutorial on how to make French knots here...they're really not as hard as they look! This card was then created featuring a flower pot that was stamped with border stamps (look closely - that flower pot is the section that was cut out of the frame in the 1st pin's card!! No waste here!!) The pin was attached to the card in the same way and there you go - another little gift for someone special.

I hope you enjoyed these projects and give it a try yourself! And thanks for joining me on my Unscripted Sketches spotlight day! I'll be back with the weekly US sketch tomorrow! See you then!

Doilies and Lace

2011-07-18T09:00:00.000-04:00

This week at Heart 2 Heart Challenges we are getting frilly with doilies and lace! Before we get to my sample, I want to announce the winner of my 100+ Followers drawing! It is Shelley Valentin-Filpo!! Congratulations - please contact me so I can send out your prize!

Now on to the card:

I started with the gorgeous Bliss paper pack and Fill in the Blank stamp set. I stamped the bird on to a couple different papers, cut out and paper pieced, using a pop dot to give some dimension to the wing. For the doily, I have multiple layers in order to get rows of ruffles and cover the plain center on the doily. The sentiment was die cut and added to the card front and embellished with a couple of pearls.

I hope you'll join us at H2H this week - we would love to see your artwork! I will be back soon with more goodies to share including a special post this Friday for Unscripted Sketches!! See you then!

Unscripted 75th Bday Card

2011-07-09T14:12:00.001-04:00

It's Saturday and that means it's time for another Unscripted Sketches challenge! I took a couple of liberties with the sketch (again) and came up with my Mom's 75th Birthday card:

Paper, stamps and number dies are all from Papertrey Ink.

Here is the sketch we are working with this week:

I sort of flipped a couple of elements upside down but I think you can still see the sketch there, right?

Are you checking in at US through the week to see what is new every day during our Christmas in July celebration? All sorts of fun to be had so be sure to check it out!

I'll be back soon with another artwork post but in the meantime, don't forget to pop over to Are You on the Fence and see what's being reviewed today!

Floral Tags

2011-07-07T19:17:00.000-04:00

NOTE: There is still time to become a follower and win a prize to be drawn on July 10th!!

This past weekend, we celebrated the Birthdays of two of my favorite gals - my Mom and my Aunt. We enjoyed brunch out and then continued celebrating at my Mom's with presents and dessert. It was a very pleasant day that marked two milestones - my Aunt turned 70 and my Mom turned 75.

On their gifts, I tied a tag that also held a gift card (just part of their present). They are both very garden and floral-type gals so these were perfect for them:

I combined Garden Variety (and die) with the Year of Flowers sets from Papertrey Ink. The window was cut using the die and the flowers were stamped on the envelope below the matted frame. I used Copics for coloring and finished the tags off with a To: and From: on the reverse and a ribbon to tie to their other gift. The envelope bases are small white coin envelopes - perfect for holding a gift card.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a creative day!

Christmas in July

2011-07-02T11:08:00.000-04:00

This month at Unscripted Sketches we are celebrating Christmas in July and offering something new each and every day during the month including tutorials, a fun Bingo game, our sketches (of course), Designer spotlights and prizes! Here is my card for this week, based on sketch # 113:

Stamps are from My Time Made Easy, paper from various sources.

I am off to get ready for tonight's cook-out! Have a great holiday weekend, everyone!

Post 2 for today!

2011-06-29T09:15:00.000-04:00

This is the 2nd post for today - be sure to scroll down for the artwork post.

TWO announcements:

1. I just reached 100 Followers - YAY - so to celebrate, I will be randomly drawing one lucky Follower and sending them a little prize package. If you are not already a Follower, you can still join in the fun. Follow me on this blog or over at Are You on the Fence and I will draw a winner on July 10th.

2. Unscripted Sketches will be starting Christmas in July this Friday and you won't want to miss it! Something new every day all month long!

Hope you'll join us!!

Garden Birthday Greeting

2011-06-29T09:06:00.000-04:00

Good morning and happy Wednesday! I love Wednesdays = my day off! Althouhgh I have a list a mile long of things to do today but at least I have time to do them!!

This card was made for my favorite aunt who recently celebrated her 70th birthday!! She is a wiz in the garden (you shoul see her tomato plants!!) so this set from PTI, Garden Variety, was the perfect choice for her card:

I used the sketch for this week at Unscripted Sketches but I rotated it to fit all the pieces together. I love how this turned out and will certainly be using this stamp set often!

Come join us at US this week - we have this great sketch you can play along with PLUS on Friday we will be starting our Christmas in July extravaganza! It's gonna be fun - see you then!!

Stars and Swirls

2011-06-27T07:49:00.000-04:00

Popping in for a quick H2H post today. My computer died yesterday so I am running behind but I did get a little time to put together a simple card for this week's H2H challenge which is all about color! Barn Red, Bamboo and your choice of Blue (or similar colors) are the palette we are working with - take a look:

I embossed the swirls onto the Bamboo panel with a Cuttlebug folder then added a strip of ribbon across the center of the card. On top of the ribbon are my cut out stars, stamped with images from the Wishing Star set. A couple of rhinestones finish it off! I chose not to add a sentiment as I am not sure yet what I might use this card for - might be for the 4th and it might be a graduation party coming up. Either way, I can pop on a sentiment at the last minute and I'm good to go!

Hope you'll join us at H2H this week where our current DT are wrapping up their time with us and we will be introducing new team members through out the week!

Papertrey Ink June Blog Hop

2011-06-25T09:53:00.000-04:00

It's time once again for the always enjoyable Papertrey Ink Blog Hop! This month, we were provided the following photo for creative inspiration:

I picked up on the colors and the three cubes at the bottom and inked up Gracious Vases to create this:

I cut the three windows using the Take Three die on both my card base and a piece of Spring Moss cardstock. I embossed the Spring Moss with the Vineyard Impression plate and added by sentiment, from the Gracious Vases set, on to the card front. I then stamped the three flower and vase combos on the inside of the card so they would peek out of the windows. The vases were stamped in black, the flowers in Spring Moss (the center bunch was stamped with CTMH ink Honey) and I added some Copic coloring to bring in some of the pinks and blues from the photo.

I am also posting this at Papertrey Playhouse for the current Thank You card challenge.

I hope you like it and am looking forward to hopping to everyon'e blog through out the day!

Crazy 4 Challenges

2011-06-20T22:33:00.000-04:00

I haven't had much of a chance to play along with challenges lately but I am trying to make it a priority and at least squeeze in a couple each week.

Today's card was created for Crazy 4 Challenges. The challenge was simple - use twine, floss, string, etc... to your project. And just in time, I received my new Papertrey Ink order so I had to get the Happy Trails set inky!

The paper is also from PTI. The challenge item is the hand stitched trail. I love this set and can see myself using it often!

Thanks for stopping by - I'll be back again soon. Meanwhile, be sure to check out my other blogs: Ridiculous Lab and Are You on the Fence.

Kick back and relax

2011-06-19T13:47:00.000-04:00

Happy Father's Day to all the Fathers out there. My Dad and my hubby's Dad both passed away 20+ years ago so today we take time to remember the awesome men they were. They are both very much missed. We do celebrate with my hubby as he is also a terrific Dad and deserves a special day. My daughter and son-in-law (also a Dad, although his girls are not with us any more) are coming for dinner and we will have a nice day relaxing and being together.

Here is one of the Father's Day cards I made this year - this one for my son-in-law:

Image from My Favorite Things. I love the bunny images and this one is just too cute, all reclined in his chair eating a box of candy. A great way to celebrate Father's Day or any day! Paper is from Papertrey Ink.

However you spend the day, I hope it is special. Be sure to send some love to all the Dads in your life. And take a moment to remember the Dads who are no longer with us. Love you, Dad, and miss you bunches!

Patriotic Porch

2011-06-18T12:39:00.000-04:00

Have to make this post brief as my to-do list is a mile long today!

Here is the sketch for the week at Unscripted Sketches:

And my card - with the sketch flipped sideways:

Image from Impression Obsession and paper from Lily Bee Designs.

Be sure to check out the rest of the US team and join in the fun! And be sure to check out Unscripted Sketches every day in July as we celebrate Christmas in July!

See you again tomorrow with another card to share!

75th Birthday

2011-06-16T22:11:00.000-04:00

My Mother and Mother-in-law both turn 75 in just a couple of weeks - 10 days apart from one another. Unfortunately, we can't travel to Texas to celebrate with my MIL - not after the unexpected expense of a new roof! (See Ridiculous Lab for that story). But we will be celebrating with my Mom by taking her out to brunch and then having the family get together for presents and cake. No big party. Not really Mom's thing.

But anyhow, I digress. I wanted to make a couple of special cards for these 2 special ladies and the first I completed is for my MIL -

Papers are from Lily Bee Designs, stamps from Papertrey Ink, number die from PTI also.

I hope she likes it and the gift certificate tucked into it :)

Have a good Friday and I will be back Saturday with another Unscripted Sketches post!

US sketch

2011-06-11T06:57:00.002-04:00

It's time for another great sketch challenge at Unscripted Sketches!

I rotated the sketch to fit this funny quote (stamp from Impression Obsession) and the added the little dog's face for added detail. I kept everything clean and simple and tried to incorporate elements that reminded me of books - for instance, the bottom half of the card has the strips of cardstock that remind me of book spines all lined up on a shelf, the border punches I used are the notebook paper edge and the bracket - things again that remind me of paper and writing and books. Maybe that's all in my mind but it works for me!!

I hope you'll join in the challenge this week at US - and be sure to check out the fabulous artwork from the rest of the team!!

Dusting off some old stamps

2011-06-09T21:41:00.000-04:00

Quick announcement before artwork - I am now blogging with my friend Kathy (and other opinionated gals) over at Are You on the Fence? where we review anything and everything! I hope you'll stop by and check us out (and become a follower while you're there!)

The current challenge at Papertrey Playhouse is to get out your 1st set of PTI stamps, dust them off and put them to use! Well, a few of my first sets are no longer with me but one of my earliest sets are the Guidelines sets. So I decided to create a simple little 4th of July greeting using one of these sets and the Guidelines cardstock:

Really simple but I like the way it turned out. Two stamped images, in Tulip and Pacifica (ink from Close To My Heart). The button was tied with a little black twine and added between the images and then a stamped sentiment. Doesn't get much easier!

Come check out our challenges at Papertrey Playhouse and play along! A new challenge is posted every other Wednesday.

Wedding season

2011-06-06T07:46:00.000-04:00

June seems to be the optimal wedding time of the year so to get you prepared for any upcoming weddings, Heart 2 Heart Challenges wants to see what you can create with a wedding theme.

One of my favorite color combos for weddings is white and off white together. Add a splash of color and you have a card ready to go! I love this particular card because you can easily substitute any pop of color, any floral stamps and any sentiment to customize it for the couple. I wanted to stay in a rather neutral color mode with this one so my third color is Creme Brulee which enhances the warmer tone of the cream. I embossed the background with an impression plate from Papertrey Ink and used Nestability dies on the focal image and bottom edge.

I hope you will join us this week and show us what wedding creations you are inspired to make. And check out the challenge blog for more fabulous artwork from the rest of the H2H Design team!

Love Blooms

2011-06-02T00:58:00.002-04:00

Today is my daughter and son-in-law's 4th anniversary - where does the time go? It seems like we were just planning a wedding and now it's 4 years later. These two have been through so much in those 4 years but the one thing have a lot of is love for each other. Here's wishing them continued love and blessings together for many years to come!

Sorry for the photo quality....not my best! I thought a floral anniversary card was perfect this year as they have been really rocking the yard work this summer! Transforming a yard is never an easy chore and they have put in lots of time and energy and it's looking great!

These stamps are from the anniversary set from Papertrey Ink (how appropriate for an anniversary card!) The background was impressed with the PTI leafy prints impression plate. A little colored pencil added some highlights to the flowers on the card and I kept everything in my daughter's wedding colors - black, white and red.

Congratulations Aimee and Kyle - may you have many years of happiness to share!!

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

2011-05-25T09:45:00.001-04:00

I look forward to playing along with the Papertrey Ink blog hop each month but I haven't had an opportunity to play along much lately. But this month's theme - combined with some new PTI stamps that just arrived on my doorstep a couple of days ago - inspired me to get creative and play along!

I used the new Year of Flowers Collection stamps and Background Basics Retro for this card, choosing to color and highlight the center flower. It was stamped on the card and colored as well as stamped on a second piece of cs, colored, cut out and adhered with foam tape over the image on the card base. From the angle of the photo, you can see a little bit of the double edge - image above and image below. The leaves were also colored and cut out but since they were adhered flat to the card, you don;t see the image under the pieces.

The border was stamped in white ink, sentiment in black and then die cut using one of the Mat Stack dies trimmed to fit the space perfectly! I love being able to use the dies this way as well as using them in their entirety, creating more use for them. Not that they're not useful as is but a few more fun ways to use them is great too! Oh and the black piece on the front of the card was also die cut with the three window die from PTI as well.

That's it for me - enjoy your hopping and thanks for stopping by!

Anything But a Card

2011-05-23T06:38:00.000-04:00

Our challenge this week at Heart 2 Heart Challenges is to create anything but a card. This was the perfect opportunity for me to share an 8x10 photo frame that I created for a photo that is very special to me.

This is one of the last photos I have of my granddaughter and this is both happy and sad for me. Happy in that I am so grateful to have been able to know this beautiful little girl for 20 precious days and sad that those days were so terribly short. It is also only one of a few photos with her eyes open, which she did for the first and last time on April 19th. I will treasure this photo and my memories of her always.

All products from CTMH (except the flower - created with a die from Papertrey Ink - and the ribbon- source unknown). I hope you will try a non-card project and enter our challenge this week. Have a good one - and watch for something new from me later this week~

Unscripted Sketches

2011-05-21T13:43:00.001-04:00

Another unique sketch has been posted today at Unscripted Sketches and here is my take on it:

The stamps are from Kaiser Craft, ink from CTMH and sparkles from Basic Grey. It's hard to tell but the front is also impressed with an Impression plate from Papertrey Ink.

I hope you'll play along with us this week - not only is this a cool sketch that could be used for scrapbook layouts as well, but we also have a piggyback challenge this week and want to see you add some metal to your project. The piggyback portion is optional (as evidenced by my non-metal embellished card) but if you want to go "whole hog" (get it? piggyback?) then go for it!
See you again soon - I am off to plant some more flowers.

College Bound

2011-05-20T08:16:00.000-04:00

I recently finished an order for two masculine graduation cards. This one was to be close to the graduate's school colors, which are green and dark gold. I went with a green and brownish scheme and a little fun, rather than traditional, look. You can see the second, more classic card, on my business blog Moments of Your Heart.

Love this car! And the fact that there are small license plate sentiments make this a very versatile set from Papertrey Ink. I paper pieced the body of the car and colored the rest with Copics. Three prints from the Argyle paper (also PTI) and one graduation card, ready to roll!

I'll be back tomorrow with another Unscripted Sketches post - see you then!

Papertrey Playhouse challenge

2011-05-17T23:32:00.000-04:00

I am hosting the next challenge at Papertrey Playhouse and I hope you will join us!

I am calling this the Multi-Mats challenge - add your focal image to a stack of at least 2 mats (use PTI dies or any other die cut mats). Here is my sample:

I used PTI Mat Stack dies 2, 1 and 5 as well as the Mat Stack 2 stamps for the focal image. The paper is from Pacific Vineyard, also from PTI.

If you want to join in the fun, head over to the group blog at http://papertreyplayhouse.blogspot.com/ and while you're there, become a follower.

I have been updating my other blog, Ridiculous Lab, the past week or so and would love to have you stop by for a visit! Until next time -

My favorite technique - times 3

2011-05-16T07:25:00.000-04:00

This week at H2H Challenges we want to see your favorite technique. I got a little carried away with my sample and added in three techniques:

First up, I love to paper piece. A lot of stamps are solid images so that doesn't lend itself to this technique but find me a good open line image and it's perfect for paper piecing! If you are not familiar with this technique, it's super easy. Just stamp your image on patterned paper, cut out and adhere to your focal area. I have another paper pieced card I will be showing later in the week but it doesn't have CTMH products so I'll save it for another day. You'll just have to come back and see me again later this week :)

The other two techniques are machine stitching (which isn't really a technique, is it?) and pleated ribbon which is so fun! To create my pleated ribbon, I add a length of Scor-Tape to the back of the ribbon, pleating and sticking it together from the back side, then add small anchor pieces of tape to the front side just under each pleat to keep them in place. Love!

Ok so now it's your turn to share. Create something using a technique and describe it on your blog than link up at CTMH. Be sure you use Close To My Heart products in some way in your project!

See you again soon -

Late posting for US

2011-05-14T22:27:00.000-04:00

Wow the day got away from me! We spent most of it shopping for our annual flowers and then having dinner with the whole family and before I knew it, it was 10 pm. But I did get a card ready for the Unscripted Sketches challenge this week and I want to share it with you -

I kept it very simple and classy and made a few minor changes ot the sketch (see the US blog for the sketch). The background was impressed with an Impression plate from Papertrey Ink and the sentiment is from the PTI set Through the Trees. I added a nice wide black satin ribbon, topped with the sentiment piece (nestie diecut) and then the finishing touch is the Basic Grey rub-ons with sparkles.

I hope you will play along with us at Unscripted Sketches this week where there is always great new inspiration every Saturday!

Moments of Your Heart

2011-05-13T14:56:00.000-04:00

I posted a thank you card I created over at Moments of Your Heart - her's a little preview:

I hope you will stop by to see the entire card. Moments of Your Heart.

Sweet Cherries

2011-05-09T07:46:00.000-04:00

It's a new challenge at Heart 2 Heart this week where it's all about buttons!

I used a retired set, Fruitful Delight, and Cherry-O papers to create my card. Seems I can't keep up with what's new and what's retired these days! I hope you enjoy it anyhow:

This was a quick and fun card to make, substituting buttons for the cherries. The image was inked in Chocolate ink and the stem and leaves are Copic colored. A little sentiment on the front and it's ready to be mailed out.

Come join us at H2H this week and show us what you can create with buttons!

To Moms everywhere

2011-05-08T00:50:00.000-04:00

While we are spending Mother's Day quietly remembering our angels who made us "Mom" and "Grandma", I want to send out best wishes to all those blessed to be called Mom this day and every day. Enjoy being surrounded by those who love you ~ you deserve it!

Stamps from My Time Made Easy, paper from My Mind's Eye.

Unscripted Sketches this week

2011-05-07T13:33:00.000-04:00

It's a new Saturday and that means another new Unscripted Sketches challenge for you - take a look:

Now if you're a card maker, this would be perfect as a 7 x 3.5 size card - just right for a legal sized envelope. But I was more interested in the four elements on the card front and just got some new Fancy Pants paper that I thought would work great! Here's the results:

Like I said, I let the paper be the guide to this card, using 4 of the tickets to be the four elements on the sketch. Below is a strip of paper, also from the same line of Fancy Pants papers, that I edge punched and dressed up with a band of ric rac. The tiny bird and saying at the top again came from the paper. I know - very little stamping huh? The only stamping I added was Your Birthday and I hand wrote "it's". Easy and fun to put together!

Now it's your turn to try out this week's sketch. Stretch your imagination and let us see what you create!

For Mom

2011-05-02T07:30:00.000-04:00

I am back to challenges after a much needed break last week and this next H2H challenge is perfectly timed for Mother's Day (this coming Sunday, in case you forgot!)

I started with the Find Your Style stamp set and Bliss paper. I stamped the butterfly image once onto white cs that was die cut with a Nestabilities die, and once on vellum, which I then cut out and added over the 1st image to soften it and add dimension. The bottom edge of the card was border punched and some ribbon and rhinestones were added for Mom-ified bling!

I hope you will join us this week at Heart 2 Heart Challenges - we would love to have you play along!
See you again soon -

Back with a little sketchy artwork for you

2011-04-30T11:25:00.000-04:00

Thank you to everyone who left words of comfort and support this past week - it is truly appreciated. We are hanging in there and every day the pain fades just a teensy bit more.

I finally felt a little like getting back into creating this week so I grabbed the Unscripted Sketches sketch for today and created a simple, masculine card:

Paper and stamps from Papertrey Ink. Having a gamer for a son, I knew this set would be perfect for my masculine card needs. And at only $5 for the set, it's a great bargain too!

Here's the sketch I based the card on:

I hope you'll play along with us this week - pop by Unscripted Sketches for all the details!

With a Heavy Heart

2011-04-20T23:18:00.000-04:00

It is with an incredibly heavy heart that I am posting to say that our sweet grandbaby, Liberty Ann, passed away yesterday. I am so very heartbroken and cannot believe that we were so blessed to have her enter our lives and then so quickly leave it again. I will not be blogging for awhile as I spend time healing with my family. Hug those you love a little tighter tonight .....

With many tears -

Unscripted

2011-04-16T22:07:00.000-04:00

Sorry I am a late in posting my artwork for the Unscripted Sketches challenge today but I have good reason! I spent the night at the hospital watching over my granddaughter who gave us all a scare yesterday but I am happy to say is doing better today. One more day blessed by Baby Libby! You can see her photo a few posts below...taken right after birth and here we are, 2 1/2 weeks later.

So on to my card for this week - 1st the sketch:

Also, this week is a piggyback week which means, if you want to amp up your project with an extra challenge, we want to see you use the sketch and use something recycled on your project. Here is my card:

Paper from My Mind's Eye, Stamps and buttons from Papertrey Ink. I added some beaded branch sections from a fall arrangement I made and these were some of the leftovers. So fun to see what can be recycled into artwork! So join in the fun and follow the sketch for the week - and if you choose, add in a recycled item to meet our piggyback challenge.

See you again soon!

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

2011-04-11T07:18:00.000-04:00

The challenge this week at Heart 2 Heart Challenges is to recycle something into your artwork. There are lots of ways to do this - look for an old piece of ribbon from a gift, or maybe a page from an old book....anything you can repurpose for your artwork this week is what we're looking for. Oh, and be sure you incorporate CTMH products too! Here's my card:

The sentiment is from the new Paper Lantern set. Cardstock is from CTMH (the green piece is an older color: Kiwi). I recycled a fabric package that a set of pillowcases came in (Target) by first pulling out the drawstring from the bag and using it as "ribbon" through my sentiment piece, and then cutting apart the rest of the packaging and die-cutting the three layer flower (die from Papertrey Ink). To add some additional texture, the green layer was impressed with a plate from Papertrey Ink as well and I added a couple of buttons to finish up the card.

I hope you will give this challenge a try and see what you can reuse in your artwork. And be on the lookout for news regarding our 1st Bunny Hop at H2H next Monday!

Have a creative week!

Unscripted Sketches #101

2011-04-09T07:00:00.001-04:00

I am very excited to be posting my 1st artwork as part of the Unscripted Sketches Design Team. As you know, I love sketches as they are such a great starting point to any artwork. Having a sketch to work with really helps me get the creativity going because part of the work (the layout) is already done for me! And every Saturday, Unscripted Sketches brings a new sketch to create with so let's get to this week's sketch - #101:

Now one of the great thing about the US challenges is that you can use the sketch to create anything - card, layout, altered item - whatever your heart desires (and the sketch inspires you to create)!

I have had a special baby on my mind this past week - my new granddaughter, born 15 weeks early. And to track some of her "firsts" I decided to put together a little mini book and this sketch was used to create the cover - take a look:

I was suprised as I was making this how many "ones" she has in her stats! And yes, you are seeing that right - she weighed just 1 lb., 1 oz. at birth - she's a peanut! The paper I used is from Cosmo Cricket, the die cut "one" from a Papertrey Ink die and the number one stamp from Close To My Heart. I also stamped the 3 butterflies (from Unity), cut them out and then stitched them together to add a dimensional element to the page.

I hope you will give Unscripted Sketches a try this week - I would love to see what you create! Thanks US for allowing me to be a part of the team!!

Back with some artwork

2011-04-04T23:18:00.000-04:00

I haven't had much stamping time lately but a couple of weeks ago I did create some cards that I packaged up for a friend as a little Birthday gift. Here are two of the cards in the set -

These are the 2 more feminine cards in the set. All products from Papertrey Ink (except printed paper in the first card).

I'll be back later in the week with the other 2 cards in the set - this time on the masculine side. Have a wonderful day!

Unscripted Sketches

2011-04-04T06:49:00.000-04:00

A lot has been happening in my neck of the woods lately so hopefully I can play a little catch-up this week! To read about the biggest news - the birth of our grandbaby Liberty Ann - check out my other blog Ridiculous Lab.

As for Heart 2 Heart Challenges, a new challenge has been posted today so you want to check that out. I was unable to get any artwork created for the challenge as I have been a little busy (see info above)...lol.

I do have a little news to announce however - I have stepped down from the Corrosive Challenge blog DT and will be starting on the Unscripted Sketches DT this Saturday! I love sketches so this is a perfect fit for me. I hop you will join me every Saturday and play along!

That's it for now - back to work for me today - but I promise to bring some new artwork soon!

Unscripted Sketches 2 year Blog-iversary!

2011-04-02T06:58:00.000-04:00

Join Unscripted Sketches TODAY, Saturday, April 2nd, for our blog-iversary party to celebrate our 100th sketch and 2 years on the web! Not only will we have our usual array of fabulous projects from our design team, there will be games and several prizes, including two super cute rubber stamps from our sponsor, Sparkle Creations! The fun starts at 8AM EST!

Sketch in the round

2011-03-28T06:57:00.000-04:00

It's my favorite week at H2H - sketch week! And this time around we have 2 sketches to choose from -

You can make a circle shaped card or have the sketch appear as a layer on a card - make sense? It will if you check out all the goodies the DT created over at the blog! And here is my card:

Now, did I follow my own sketch correctly? No. I switched the 2 strips behind the image and put the longer one on the bottom rather than the top. And those 3 little circles on the sketch? Did away with them and added a flower. But that's ok - sketches are just a starting point and can be interpreted with your own style. As long as you can tell there was a sketch you were working with in the first place, no problem! That's my answer and I'm sticking to it!

Hope you'll play along this week for a chance to win a mystery prize from ME! Have a creative week!

You're a Star!

2011-03-27T07:03:00.000-04:00

I have had such a great time being a member of the Corrosive Challenge Design Team but have decided to step down so this will be my last challenge on the team. But never fear, I will still be creating and will have an announcement to make soon!

For now, I would love to have you join me in this week's challenge which is to use stars in your artwork. Here's mine:

I got very "Nichole Heady" with this one (PTI fans will understand....LOL). I sed the new Tiny Tags stamps and dies from PTI to create my rainbow band of stars. The orange and blue stars are die cut from coasters and added to the card for dimension. Two strips of Scor-tape and Prisma glitter bling up this card. If you look closely, you will also see that there are two layers to the front - white on white. Just another way to add some dimension. The sentiment is from Just the Ticket stamp set. Clean and simple = love!!

So come join me at Corrosive this week - and be sure to check out what the rest of the talented DT created with stars!

Until next time -

Sweet Baby

2011-03-21T07:32:00.000-04:00

The challenge this week at Heart 2 Heart Challenges is to create something with a new baby in mind. It can be a card or a gift item or whatever you can think of! Just focus on baby (and Close To My Heart products) and you're good to go!

I got a little punchy with my card and punched a number of border strips to adhere to the card front so it looked like eyelet. Then I stamped a small frame image (sorry - not from CTMH) and then the argyle image and letters from the older Felicity kit stamp set. Of course, any alphabet set would do! I cut these out, added a band of ribbon to the card front and adhered my letter blocks over the ribbon.

I hope you will join us this week and show us what you create for baby. Keep in mind that this is the last week to play along with the March challenges and be eligible to win one of two great prizes! See the challenge blog for more details. Have a great week!

Just Ducky

2011-03-20T10:08:00.000-04:00

This week at Corrosive Challenges we have a recipe for you - not one to create in the kitchen, but one to create with your artwork! The recipe is this - take 3 different papers, add in 2 ribbons and top off with one image. Mix it all together to create a card and then link it up at Corrosive. Here's mine:

Oh this ducky fella makes me smile! Papers from My Mind's Eye - ribbon from PTI - image from Stamping Bella.

Off for some breakfast and chores. Enjoy your Sunday!

Home Decor - From Your Heart to Ours

2011-03-14T07:27:00.000-04:00

One of the things I love about papercrafting and stamping is that there are so many things you can create and are not just limited to cards and scrapbook layouts. So this week at Heart 2 Heart Challenges we are hosting our bi-monthly challenge called From Your Heart to Ours and we want you to share your created home decor items with us.

As yesterday was all about changing the time ahead, I decided to highlight a clock that I made using Close To My Heart products.

I started with a blank clock kit that was one of the items included in a goody box from Virtual Convention a couple of years ago. You can purchase blank do-it-yourself clock kits from a variety of places.

I started by cutting my B&T paper to fit the face of the clock and then die cut numbers to go around the face. I decided to use just the 4 "main" numbers so the clock wouldn't look too crowded. I also added a scalloped circle to the center of the clock for added interest and to break up some of the pattern.

The only embellishments I added were a clear acrylic flower with a button center. If you look carefully, you can see this near the second hand on the left side of the clock. It's important when creating this project to keep the embellishments to a minimum so the hands can move around the clock with ease.

This clock hangs in my stamp room, right over my desk, and is a reminder of all the great Virtual Conventions that I hosted over the years and all the wonderful products that can be used for so many projects!

I hope you will play along with us this week and show us what decor items you have made (or make this week) and tell us why it is special to you. Stop by the H2H blog for more inspiration from the DT and happy creating!

Create a Scene for H2H

2011-03-07T06:21:00.000-05:00

The challenge at H2H this week is just that - a challenge! We want to see you use three separate stamps that together create a scene on your card. Remember that Heart 2 Heart Challenges is all about Close To My Heart products so be sure to incorporate stamps and papers from CTMH. Here is the card I created -

I used three different stamp sets (although that isn't required - just three different stamps) which include Treetops, Paper Lantern (brand new!) and um, well, I can't find the name of it right now but it's a set that includes the little tiny flies image. I popped the tops of the trees up on foam tape as well as the center lantern. Otherwise, the card is pretty straight forward.

That's all for me today - I am off to work and hopefully will get my "broken" car back later today. I hate not having a car! Have a good week!

Going Green!

2011-03-06T06:20:00.000-05:00

This week at Corrosive Challenges, we are going green! That's right -we want to see GREEN in your artwork~ maybe even a little St. Patty's Day artwork!

We have a new sponsor for March - Digis with Attitude. I chose Tabatha and Tony the tigers to work with but you'll notice, Tony is missing - take a look:

This is one of the great things about digi images - you can alter them! So in Photoshop, I simply "erased" Tony and I had this adorable gal left. And the card itself is completely digital!! That's right - no paper used here. Perfect for an email greeting (in this case, for a forgotten birthday - yep, my bad~ lol).

If you haven't tried to create a digital card, it is so much fun! I started with a piece of digi paper (which had no green in it, by the way - I recolored part so I had my green). To it I added a pink mat layer and my image which I also colored in Photoshop. Just pick the colors you like and then use the paint bucket tool to fill in. Easy peasy. The scrolly frame and the buttons are digital elements I found around the web at digi sites and were free! My kind of price! A little text and my card is all ready to be attached to an email and sent on its way.

I hope you enjoyed today's post and would like to play along with our Green theme this week at Corrosive. If you have any questions on creating a digital card, leave me a comment with your email address and I will try to answer as best I can. I'm still a little new to the process but learning! Have a good Sunday~

Distressed Newsprint

2011-02-27T07:30:00.000-05:00

Our challenge at Corrosive Challenges by Janet this week is to add some kind of distressing to your card. That's easy - who doesn't enjoy a little distressing?

All products from Papertrey Ink except DP, which is from Close To My Heart. I stamped the newsprint background with gray ink on cream cardstock and then lightly swiped a light staining ink pad around the edges to "age" the newspaper a bit. The DP was scissor distressed around the edges before being added to the card. The die cut dress form was added and sparkled up a bit with a few rhinestones and the sentiment was added with foam tape (and was also inked around the edges). Fairly simple but effective, no?

There are prizes up for grabs at Corrosive so I hope you will play along and add some distressing to your card this week. Have a great day!

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop - Sensational Scallops

2011-02-25T09:51:00.003-05:00

Time once again for the monthly PTI blog hop - here are the details:

Sensational Scallops!

This month we decided to dedicate the Blog Hop to scallops! We want to see your best use of scallops, of any sort, on a project! This can include scalloped borders, offset-scallops, stamped scallops, scalloped mats, scalloped frames, layered scallops, scalloped tags or anything else you can dream up! You can use dies, patterned scissors or even circle punches in a row to achieve your special look.

Just in time for the blog hop, my recent order arrived yesterday so I made time to play and here are the results:

* A little side story - when I saw this set of stamps featuring buttons, it practically called my name! Growing up, my Grandmother worked for Singer -- the sewing machine and supplies place -- and she amassed a LARGE quantity of buttons which she sorted by color into small jars. As a little girl, I would get those jars out and sift through the buttons, looking for the prettiest, or matching the designs, or making color combos with groups of buttons. So I have always had a love of buttons and couldn't resist when Papertrey released this set!

Ok, on to card details. I stamped the button card image from Button Boutique with Versamark on a kraft top-fold card base. Along the left side, I added a scalloped border with the new Pacific Vineyard paper. I stamped the jar from Friendship Jar on cream cardstock, cut it out and stamped a variety of buttons inside the jar. The jar topper is paper pieced from the DP and the tag was pieced as well. To add some dimension, I included a couple of scallop-edged die cut buttons in the jar and a simple knotted ribbon (new Royal Velvet) on the tag. The jar is sitting on a portion of a die cut doily, also from the Pacific Vineyard paper.

Thanks for stopping by and watch for more new PTI goodness soon!