Tuesday, January 31, 2012

For Cath (sans CHA) with Love Blog Hop


Welcome to my post in the "For Cath (sans CHA) with Love Blog Hop." We are all wishing Cath from the Moxie Fab World a speedy recovery and sending her hugs. She injured her shoulder and could not go to CHA. Be sure to also stop by the Moxie Fab World today and leave Cath some love.  I made this card for Cath wishing her a speedy recovery so she can get back to normal soon. We miss your CHA reports and we all hope you are feeling better soon.


This card uses Lawn Fawn stamps, Karen Foster decorative paper and Stampin' Up Baha Breeze paper, seam binding and buttons. 

Check out my right side bar and click the picture of my blog candy. You have until February 12 at noon EST to enter. Just leave a comment on that post and become a follower of my blog. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

Monday, January 30, 2012

Play Date Cafe - Thinking of You

I made this card for the current Play Date Cafe Challenge. I used my new Hero Arts Big Eyes stamp and the sentiment is from the Essential Messages set and the background is the new Zig Zag background stamp.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out my right side for a link to my blog candy post.

My First Configurations Box

Yes, I've gone a little "grungy" lately. Today I'm showing a Tim Holtz Configurations box that I decorated.  First I watched the video of Tim decorating his, click here if you want to see that video. Then I gathered some things around my house. The biggest issue I had was finding things that were small enough to fit in the little boxes. I decorated the outside and inside of the boxes with Wisteria paper from Basic Grey and I used Tim's tissue tape on the edges and to hold the boxes together. I colored the tape with Dusty Concord Distress Stain to get a more lavender hue since that's my favorite color. I used Tim's corners and feet and put the clear sheet back in so there is a little glare on some of the pictures.

Here's a breakdown of the items I put in there. I only wanted to use items that meant something to me. The bottom left is rounded and very smooth rock given to me by my grandfather about 30 years ago. He gave it to me and explained how it had been in the running water so long that it had made it smooth. I have always cherished this rock. He passed away when I was 16 and it always makes me think of him. In the upper left corner I found these little keychain mascots from the Beijing Olympics. My brother is the coach of Michael Phelps, Bob Bowman, and he always brings me back trinkets from all the Olympic games. I just took the key rings off of them. In the upper right box I put a 7 domino for my birthday which is on the 7th and D Scrabble piece for my name of course. I also added some lavender flowers behind them. In the middle box I put a cork from my favorite Chardonnay - Robert Mondavi and of course we all know why there is a Corgi in the bottom right. Dusty is very excited her twin made it in the box.

Thanks for stopping by and click the picture on the right to enter my blog candy giveaway.





Saturday, January 28, 2012

Grungy Monday 34 - 3 Crackle Hearts

Well, I finally felt like making another card this week. This one is for the Grungy Monday 34 - Crackle Resist Technique Challenge. Click here to see Tim's video of how to do the Crackle Resist Technique. I used Tim Holtz Seasonal paper and the hearts are made from grunge board using his Love Struck die heart. For the purple heart I used Dusty Concord Distress Crackle with Picket Fence & Spun Sugar Distress Stains. On the pink heart I used Worn Lipstick Distress Crackle with Dusty Concord Distress Stain. The red heart was made with Fired Brick Distress Crackle and Dusty Concord Distress Stain. To finish off the hearts I covered them in Rock Candy Distress Stickles and used the Gold Dabber on the edges. The sentiment is a fabric sticker from Amy Tangerine that I colored with Spun Sugar Distress Stain. Thanks for stopping by.


I'm also entering this card into the current Cupcake Craft Challenge - All You Need Is Love since that's the theme of this card!!! And I'm also entering in the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge - which is a song title. 


Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Wednesday Gel-a-tins - CAS Happy Cupcake Card

First of all, I just want to thank everyone for your kind words on my post from Monday. It was very comforting to read the comments from great "blogland friends". Going to workout and to work have both helped me think about other things start feeling a little better. 


Also, this is my Wednesday post but it showed up on the Gel-a-tins blog yesterday so if you want to see the details and can't find it go back to Tuesday's post. 


Here is my Wednesday Gel-a-tins card. I made a CAS card using a cupcake and this fun sentiment from the Gel-a-tins Sweet Cakes stamp set. For more details check out the Gel-a-tins blog today. Thanks for stopping by! Check back next week to see my first card with my new Gel-a-tins stamp set for February. 

Monday, January 23, 2012

Map To Your Heart on a sad day

I've been meaning to make a card for this map challenge since it was posted. I had gotten a map in the mail and knew it would be perfect for me to use. It was fun incorporating the map into the card and of course I used the area of Europe where I love to travel the most! Click here to join in all the fun at the Moxie Fab World.


Unfortunately I've had a rough few days. Last Thursday my oldest dog Callie was having issues that continued through the weekend and she passed away early this morning. She was 15 years old and I got her from a shelter 13 years and 2 months ago. She was definitely a family member and I am heart broken. I took the day off work and tried to stay busy cleaning up the house. I got caught up on laundry and finally felt like making this card. I think I'll go try to make another one now. I know this is something I'll just have to get through one day at a time. I added a picture of Callie under the card. 


Thanks for stopping by!




Materials
1. Card stock - Bashful Blue, More Mustard - Stampin' Up
2. Map
3. Stamps - Tack - Just My Type from Lawn Fawn, Sentiment - Essential Messages - Hero Arts
4. Ink - Black - Stampin' Up
5. Pearls - Hero Arts

Sweet Callie

Friday, January 20, 2012

CAS-ual Fridays - A Cut Above

I made this card for the current CAS-ual Fridays Challenge - Penguin Suit. I found some Lawn Fawn stamps I've never used that I thought would work well with Black & White. I also used a die that I haven't used too much and some twine from The Twinery. Thanks for taking a look!

Here's my card.


Materials
1. Card Stock - Whisper White, Basic Black - Stampin' Up
2. Stamps - Just My Type - Lawn Fawn
3. Ink - Black - Stampin' Up
4. Twine - The Twinery
5. Die - Nestabilities

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Wednesday Gel-a-tins - Paper Pieced Cupcake

Here is the card I made for my weekly Gel-a-tins post. I wanted to make a card with the Sweet Cakes stamp set that could be used as a Valentine. For more info check out the Gel-a-tins blog. Thanks for stopping by!


Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Happy Dirtday!!!

For those of you who have read my blog for a while you know I have a special little man in my life named Reece. He's my friends son and my parents and I have basically adopted him. He even calls my parents Grandmommy and Grandaddy - which is great since my brother and I have no children! Reece is turning 3 January 18. I made him this card for his birthday. He is absolutely crazy about construction equipment so I bought him this cute stamp set from Stampin' Up called I Dig You. I got him the wooden stamps so they would be easier to use and he loves to stamp all the construction vehicles. I borrowed the set from my mom to make this card. I hope he likes it. 

Here's the inside.

Here's a picture I took of Reece a couple of weeks ago when we were riding on the Merry Go Round. We were at the zoo to see the Christmas lights.

Monday, January 16, 2012

CAS-ual Fridays - Friends Are Treasures

I made this card for the current CAS-ual Fridays Challenge - to use scallops on your card. I bought this stamp set a long time ago and have never used it, so I thought I would ink it up for this one. Originally, in my mind I wanted the card to be aqua, but I couldn't find a color I liked so I found this piece of Whipped Mousse and thought it would work. Thanks for taking a look!!


Here's my card.

Materials
1. Card stock - Black - Stampin' Up; Whipped Mousse - Bazzill Basics
2. Stamp - Friends are Treasures - Hero Arts
3. Ink - Black - Stampin' Up
4. Scallop Border Punch - Stampin' Up

Grungy Monday - Tim Holtz Valentine Card/Tag

Since I have today off (my last day off for 11 weeks!!) I had some time to do the new Grungy Monday 33 Challenge. The challenge is sponsored by Simon Says Stamp where you can find all these materials. Since I had all my Tim Holtz materials out from the tag I made for last week's challenge it was easy to get going. The challenge was to use Tim's technique of covering a fragment with alcohol ink, stamping on it and rubbing off the black ink. I did it and tried to remember what Tim says "embrace imperfection". Thanks for stopping by!


I covered a card and small tag with Tim Holtz seasonal papers. I made the fragment - it's a little more hot pink than I wanted, but I think the whole thing turned out OK in the end. I stamped some hearts from grunge paper, covered them in Fired Brick Distress ink, then covered them with Fired Brick Distress Stickles. I also die cut some rick rack trim in grunge paper and painted it with Jenny Bowlin Antique Pink chalk ink, then covered it with Rock Candy Distress Stickles. I inked the edges of the card with the Antique Pink and the tag with Old Road chalk ink. Then I added some twine, a mini paper clip and a safety pin. 


Materials
1. Paper - Seasonal - Tim Holtz
2. Alcohol Inks - Adirondack 
3. Fragment, Mini Paper Clip, Vintage Safety Pin - Tim Holtz
4. Stamp - Artful Things - Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous
5. Ink - Versamark Black Archival
6. Chalk Ink - Jenny Bowlin Edgers
7. Twine - Papertrey Ink
8. Tag - Hobby Lobby
9. Grunge Paper - Tim Holtz
10. Heart punch - Stampin' Up
11. Rick Rack Die - Stampin' Up
12. Stickles - Distress - Rock Candy, Fired Brick

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Grungy Monday - Tim Holtz Valentine Tag

I made this card for the Grungy Monday Challenge. The challenge is to use a Tim Holtz technique from the 12 Tag of Christmas on a non-Christmas item. So I chose to use several of the techniques I used on the tags on this Valentine's Tag - the main technique I used on the heart is the way he treated the snowman on this tag. The sponsor of Grungy Monday is Simon Says Stamp a great place to get Tim Holtz items. Thanks for taking a look!



For this tag I used Valentine paper from the Tim Holtz seasonal paper pack. I inked the edges with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink and sprayed it with Interference Red Pearl Mist For the bottom I punched grunge paper with a scallop border, covered it with Fired Brick Distress Stain and then put Fired Brick Distress Stickles on it (you can't really see the sparkles in the photo). Then I put 7 Gypsies buttons on the scallop trim. 

I die cut the Valentine on grunge paper and covered it with Worn Lipstick Crackle Paint. When it dried I covered the heart with Fired Brick Distress Stain. For the numbers I covered chipboard numbers with Spun Sugar Distress Stickles and adhered them to the heart. I adhered the heart to the tag with foam tape. I cut out the XO from paper pack, inked the edges with Work Lipstick Distress Ink and attached it to the tag with foam tape and added a Tim Holtz paper clip. I added ribbon and tulle to the top of the tag. Thanks for taking a look!!

Materials
1. Tag - #8 - Ranger
2. Paper - Seasonal - Tim Holtz
3. Distress Ink - Worn Lipstick - Tim Holtz
4. Distress Stain - Fired Brick - Tim Holtz
5. Crackle Paint - Worn Lipstick - Tim Holtz
6. Distress Stickles - Fired Brick, Worn Lipstick - Tim Holtz
7. Ribbon - Riding Hood Red - Stampin' Up
8. Perfect Pearls Mist - Interference Red

Play Date Cafe - Three Hearts

I made this card for the current Play Date Cafe Challenge #114 to use the colors Gold, Burgundy, & Plum. I made these hearts with a Sizzix die and the sentiment is from Hero Arts. The "hangers" of the heart ornaments are actually from some die cut grunge board pieces I was playing with. They're from the Tim Holtz Gingerbread Man die. I colored them with distress stains and rock candy glitter but it's kind of hard to tell they are glittery. I just thought they matched the colors and were kind of fun. I popped up the middle heart and hanger with foam tape. Thanks for taking a look!




Here's my card.

Materials
1. Card stock - Whisper White, Perfect Plum, Bravo Burgundy - Stampin' Up; Gold - Bazzill Basics
2. Stamp - Celebrate Everyday - Hero Arts
3. Ink - Bravo Burgundy - Stampin' Up
4. Die - Heart Ornament - Sizzix
5. Grunge board - Tim Holtz
6. Distress Stain - Fired Brick
7. Distress Stickles - Rock Candy

Warmest Wishes & Good News

After reading my friend Rachel's blog (which is awesome - you should pay her a visit) about how she made some crafty goals for the new year, I decided to make some of my own Paper Crafting goals for 2012. To my total surprise in the first two weeks of 2012 I can already strike 2 off the list. One was to be a Tuesday Trigger winner which I was last week with Stripe-tastic and another was to finally place at CAS-ual Fridays - which I can't believe I did last week with my Home Sweet Home card! 


Another goal I have is to make Christmas cards year round so I have plenty to send out next year without having to stress out and make lots of cards in November/December. I found this new fun challenge blog called 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown. I couldn't quite make the deadline last week, but I'm in this week. I'm excited to get more use out all the Christmas stamps I bought last year and I hope to play in this challenge every chance I get. This week the challenge is a color one - black & white with a splash of red. I used this sweet girl from the Artistic Outpost stamp set called Frosty Friends. Thanks for taking a look!!


Here's my card.


Materials
1. Card stock - Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red - Stampin' Up
2. Stamps - Frosty Friends, Holiday Saying - Hero Arts
3. Ink - Tuxedo Black - Memento
4. Rhinestones - Bling on a Roll - Michaels
5. Die - Label - Sizzix

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Wednesday Gel-a-tins - Fancy Favor Bag

It's Wednesday again and time for my weekly Gel-a-tins post. This week I created my own patterned paper using the Gel-a-tins stamp set called Sweet Cakes. I made this cute Fancy Favor bag with my patterned paper. For more info check out the Gel-a-tins Blog


I also wanted to share a fun blog that has been sending me lots of hits this week. I don't speak Spanish so I'm not sure what it says, but she has a fun colorful blog header and she's been featuring that rainbow card you might have read about last week. So check out this fun blog if you get a chance http://minimarta.blogspot.com/2012/01/alguna-vez-has-pintado-con-arena.html 


Thanks for stopping by and have a great Wednesday!!


Patterned paper:


Finished Favor Bag.



Sunday, January 8, 2012

Tuesday Trigger - By the Numbers

I made this for the current Tuesday Trigger in the Moxie Fab World. Click here to join in on all the fun. I was mostly inspired by the numbers. Then, yesterday I got my Studio Calico Kit of the Month and it had this awesome Hero Arts/Studio Calico number stamp in it. I thought it would be perfect to use for this challenge. I used the Stampin' Up new In Colors. Thanks for taking a look!

Here's my card. 

Materials
1. Card Stock - Whisper White, Island Indigo - Stampin' Up
2. Ink - Island Indigo, Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade - Stampin' Up
3. Ribbon - Calypso Coral - Stampin' Up
4. Die - Sizzix
5. Stamps - Numbers - Hero Arts/Studio Calico, Sentiment - So Happy For You - Stampin' Up

SPARKS Challenge

I'm entering this card into the current Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge. I decided to concentrate on the technique of coloring in letters - as hard as I tried to think of something - I just could not get my rainbow on this week! Below is the fun inspiration photo. Thanks for taking a look!

Here's my card. 


Materials
1. Card stock - Whisper White - Stampin' Up
2. Stamps - Chubby Chums, Word Up - Paper Smooches
3. Ink - Tuxedo Black - Memento
4. Markers - Copic
5. Twine - The Twinery
6. Puffy Fabric Heart Sticker- KI Memories

CAS-ual Fridays - Chipboard

I made this card for the current CAS-uals Fridays Challenge - to use Chipboard on your card. I decided to go very CAS this week. The sentiment is from a Hero Arts/Studio Calico stamp set called Home Sweet Home. The chipboard house is from Studio Calico. I colored it with a Copic Marker and added a little red glittery heart. Thanks for taking a look!


Here's my card. 


Materials
1. Card stock - Whisper White - Stampin' Up
2. Stamp - Home Sweet Home - Hero Arts/Studio Calico
3. Ink - Basic Black - Stampin' Up
4. Marker - Nile Blue - Copic
5. Sticker - Heart - K & Company

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Hero Arts Flickr Group Saturday 90 Min Scramble - Stamp on Patterned Paper

I made this card for the current Hero Arts Flickr Group Saturday 90 Min Scramble. The challenge was to stamp on patterned paper. Here's what I came up with using a Hero Arts/Studio Calico stamp set called Home Sweet Home that I haven't used before. Thanks for taking a look!


Materials
1. Card stock - Whisper White - Stampin' Up
2. Patterned Paper - Amy Tangerine - American Crafts, Random - Crate Paper
3. Stamp Set - Home Sweet Home - Hero Arts/Studio Calico
4. Border Sticker - Studio Calico
5. Ink - Soft Suede, Basic Black - Stampin' Up
6. Markers - Assorted colors - Copic
7. Chalk Ink Edger - Olive - Jenny Bowlin

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Play Date Cafe - Newsprint Bird

I made this card for the current Play Date Cafe Challenge to use Juniper, Mint and Vanilla. I just got my preordered Newspaper Bird stamp in the mail today and I was dying to use it. I think it's my favorite stamp from the new Hero Arts Catalog. Thanks for stopping by!


Here's my card.


Materials
1. Card stock - Baha Breeze, Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up), Mint (Bazzill Basics)
2. Decorative Paper - Pixilicious (Cosmo Cricket)
3. Stamps - Newsprint Bird, Everyday Sayings (Hero Arts), Triple Treat Flower (Stampin' Up)
4. Ink - Iced Spruce (Tim Holtz Distress Ink)
5. Punches - Scallop Border, Flowers (Stampin' Up)
6. Die - Banner (PTI)
7. Button - Baha Breeze (Stampin' Up)


Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Gel-a-tins Wednesday - "Wishing You A Sweet Day" & Exciting News

I made this card with a Gel-a-tins Stamp set called Sweet Cakes. I wanted it to be girly and glittery! Check out the Gel-a-tins blog today for more info. Thanks for stopping by!


Here's the stamp set I used for this card. 


For the exciting news part, I found out yesterday that I was Tuesday Trigger winner on the Moxie Fab World Blog with my Stripe-tastic card. This was fun and exciting news and a great way to start off my paper crafting year!

Monday, January 2, 2012

Think Happy Thoughts - Part 2

I spent most of the weekend working on cards for magazine submissions so I don't have anything new to show today. But, I remembered that I forgot to include in my Top 10 post one of my most favorite cards of 2011. I got the idea for this card one night last June and woke up the next morning and made it in about 30 minutes which is pretty quick for me. I wasn't going to put a sentiment on it, but I looked in my stash of stamps and found this one that fit perfectly in the rainbow so I decided to use it. It's a great sentiment and it's from one of my Unity Kits of the Month. 

What shocks me about this card is the attention it has gotten and continues to get. It was featured on Facebook by Splitcoast the day I posted it and right now it has received 3954 views on my Splitcoast Page, been favorited by 79 people and has 24 comments. That's way more than any of my other cards has ever gotten! Plus, when I check my blog stats it gets viewed almost every day and has been posted on blogs around the world in languages I don't even know. I guess there is some type of universal appeal for buttons and rainbows!!


Since I have to go back to work today after a 2 week break, I thought I would send myself this card and do my best to Think Happy Thoughts!! Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!