Leafy Thank You (Moxie: Fabulous Felt Challenge, CAS FTL#155, PTI:MIM#31)

Sorry it's been a while since my last post, my health hasn't been doing very well.  If any of you have had a full historectomy and are willing to talk about it please email me.  I am in the process of considering one and doing some research.  I am only thirty five and have never had any children, so I am struggling with the emotional part of it as well.  Thanks for your support, as always.  Now for the card...

The sentiment stamp is from the retired collection of A Muse Artstamps.  The patterned paper is from the Lime Twist collection from MME, which is so adorable!  I love that collection!  The last 3 collections from MME have been so cute and I have been completely addicted!  The rest of the supplies for the card are all from PTI.  I made the felt flower for the Fabulous Felt Challenge in the Moxie Fab World.  The Turning a New Leaf stamp set from PTI is what I used to stamp the background for PTI's Make It Monday challenge on Nichole's blog.  The challenge was to create a background with non-background stamps.  How do you think I did? 

My card is based on this week's sketch from Clean and Simple Stamping.  Along with the sketch we were supposed to use a color panel from ColourQ because it is ColourQ's 100th sketch and they teamed up. 

This is the color panel I chose for my card to go along with the sketch.  I really love the colors in this panel and will probably use it again.  The neat thing about the ColourQ blog is that you can use the previous week's color panels to make projects and then link them back to the blog for fun.  The panels have so many color combos to choose from.  I hope you all have a great week!  Happy Crafting!!

Odds & Ends (PTI: MIM: freestyle copic coloring, Cosmo Cricket sketch)

Well hello there!  I know it's been a while.  I had a pretty bad migraine and then was having tons of problems with my internet.  My router actually broke and I had to get a new one and install it.  We only had our old one for a year so it was ridiculous that it broke!  I was really frustrated, but it's fixed now.  On with the details of the card...

For today's card I used the Friends 'til the End stamp set for the flower and the Autumn Abundance set for the sentiment, both from PTI.  I "freestyle" copic colored the flower for PTI's Make it Monday challenge on Nichole's blog.  The baker's twine is from MME.  All of the patterned paper is from Cosmo Cricket's Odds & Ends mini deck.  That little pad is soo cute!  I'm in love with some of those patterns!  I don't know what I'm going to do when I run out.  The punched edge is a border punch from EK Success.

The colors of my card were inspired by the PTI blog hop photo above.  I used blue background patterned paper to represent the girl's blue dress.  The gerber daisy and the flower patterned paper represent the pink daisies in the suitcase.  I wanted to use red as a prominant color because red was the first color that popped out at me when I looked at the photo.  The green patterned paper behind the image and the green ink for the sentiment represent the green leaves and the green grass in the photo.  If you would like to play along in the blog hop you have until 9pm EST Aug. 25th and you can find all the info on Nichole's blog.   

 The design of the card was inspired by the sketch this week at the Cosmo Cricket blog.  If you link your take on this sketch to the blog by Aug 27th you have a chance to be published in CARDS magazine.  You can read all the details by clicking on the link above. 

I hope you enjoyed my card.  I hope you're all having a great week!  Happy Crafting!

J'Dore Anniversary Card (PTI: MIM: decreasing apetures)

Hello everyone!  I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!  Summer has finally arrived here in Oregon!  We've had 3 straight weekends with 80 degreee weather, can you believe it?!  I thought I'd share a couple pics of my cute as a button niece, Caylee, since a few of you were asking....

This one is her sleeping on her momma's chest.  Isn't she just the cutest thing EVER?!  Maybe I'm a little biased, but I really don't think so. :)

This is one with her eyes open and she's even trying to smile for you.  It's at a weird angle cause I'm holding her cradled in my arms and my hubby is taking the pic above us.  She's got the perfect amount of hair and is so skinny and long.  She's super mellow and likes to smile A LOT!  The perfect baby in my opinion. :)

And here's one of the proud parents.  That's my little bro and his girlfriend.  They are doing pretty great for not knowing what do at all.  My brother wants to do everything, which I think is so cute.  He'll change his mind soon enough. :)  Hope you like the pics, now on to the card...

I made today's card for this week's challenge for PTI on Nichole's blog.  The challenge was to make a project using decreasing apetures, or windows, and add a glittered one for your last one if you so desired.  I wasn't feeling the glitter this time.  I needed an anniversary card for my in-laws so that's where this card is headed.  The patterned paper is from the new Lost and Found 2 paper pads from MME and I am in love!!  The flowers are Prima and aren't they beautiful?  I just love that color!  I used the tag trio and labels 9 Nestabilties dies.  I didn't have a heart die for the last window so I had to settle for a Marvy heart punch.  All other supplies are PTI:  limitless layers dies 1 3/4", cardstock, sweet blush ribbon, damask designs stamp set, and mixed messages stamp set.  Hope you all enjoy this card!  I gotta dash...Happy Crafting!

Cute as a Button!

Originally I was making this card for last week's sketch challenge over at Eat Sleep Stamp, but I didn't make it in time to enter.  I thought I'd show you anyway since I put in the effort and it turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself. :)  The sentiment is from the Button Boutique set and the onesie is from the Bitty Baby Blessings set from PTI.  I am really growing to absolutely love their stamps and most of their other products as well.  I think I'm becoming an addict.  Shhh, don't tell my hubby. 

The polka dot patterned paper is My Mind's Eye's newest collection Lime Twist.  It's from the Fly a Kite paper pad.  I have all four paper pads and they are so adorable!  I love them so much that I think I might go out and buy a second helping of some of the pads.  For a long time I didn't care for their paper, but lately they just make the cutest collections.  And this one even came with a ton of matching twine, which I bought of course.

The sky gingham patterned paper, cardstock, tiny star stamp, bermuda buttons, and bermuda pigment ink are from A Muse (both A Muse Artstamps and A Muse Studio).  I used Momento rich cocoa dye ink for the first part of the sentiment and the A Muse Studio bermuda ink for the word button.  I really love how crisp Momento's ink turns out on paper and it smells really good to boot!  I also think highlighting one word in a sentiment is a cute way to set it off, especially if you have different fonts in your sentiment.  Lastly, I wanted to leave the onesie white so I outlined it with my BG10 Copic marker to make the white look whiter and to make leaving it white look deliberate.  I think outlining images is a nice way to highlight them and call attention to them without you hardly noticing.  I hope you all enjoy the card I have for you today and have a great rest of your day!  Happy Crafting!

p.s. Last year I won Paper Crafts Stamping Royalty 2010 and recently they asked to do a follow up article on their blog, a "where are they now?" kind of thing.  It came out yesterday and if you want to read it you can find it here.

Happy Birthday Balloons (PDCC #76, Moxie Fab: In My Beautiful Balloons Challenge in the Moxie Fab World)

I have another card for you today.  I know, I don't post for a while and then two in one day.  What can I say?

The cardstock, gingham paper, and sentiment stamp are from A Muse Studio.  The balloons are from PTI from the Everyday Button Bits set.  The wonderful cloud paper is from American Crafts and the gems are from Hero Arts.  The buttons are from Doodlebug Design, Crate Paper, and Cosmo Cricket.  I have become addicted to buttons.  They have become my new go to embellishment.  I used Spellbinders dies, lacey circles and big scalloped circles large, and the punch is the apron border punch from Fiskars.  I used DMC floss in the buttons. 

My card was inspired by this week's color story from The Play Date Cafe and the In My Beautiful Balloons Challenge in the Moxie Fab World.

Tea for a Special Friend (GS #79)

I have a great card to share with you today!  I'm so excited because this card is exactly what I pictured in my head and it actually came out perfectly!  I have a secret to tell you...that doesn't always happen to me, more often than not my design doesn't look like what I pictured.  I think this is actually one of my top five favorite cards ever!  The card is based on the sketch below from Get Sketchy and uses my favorite colors.  The patterned paper and white cardstock is from A Muse.  The stamps are two of my favorite PTI sets, tea for two and the additions set, and the tea cup die goes with them.  The little flower gem is from Heidi Swapp.  Last but not least, the blue pen is BG000 by Copic.  Did I tell you I love this card?!  I hope you like this card at least half as much as I do.  Have a great week!  Happy Crafting!

To Me You Are The World (GS #78)

Sorry it's been a little while since I've posted anything.  I hope you've all been well.  I hope you're having a great week and that you have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day tomorrow!  The card I have to share with you today is based on the sketch below from Get Sketchy.  The patterned paper is from the Stella and Rose paper pad collection from My Mind's Eye.  I LOVE that paper collection!!!  I have all four paper pads and I am so excited to use them!  You will be seeing lots of projects with these patterned papers in the future, so I hope you like them too. :)  The stamp is from the Inside and Out Birthday set from PTI and the beautiful buttons are from Cosmo Cricket.  The twine is from May Arts.  I usually leave my buttons naked, but this time I threaded them with twine, tied a knot underneath, and then adhered them with glue dots.  This left them a little bulky, so if anyone has a better way or a hint for me I'd appreciate it.  Thanks!!  I hope you enjoy this card because I really like it! :)  Once again, have a Happy St. Patrick's Day tomorrow and don't forget to wear green or you might get pinched. :)  Happy Crafting!

Elegantly Thinking of You (CAS FTL #130, Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger: An Idea in Yellow)

I hope you all are enjoying the last part of what I hope was a wonderful weekend for you.  Mine was productive, but not much fun.  You know how that goes.  Today's card is inspired by the Tuesday Trigger Challenge, An Idea in Yellow, in the Moxie Fab World found in the picture below and is also based on the sketch from Clean and Simple Stamping below.  I used mostly yellow and white because those were the main colors in the picture and they inspired me.  I used a pink flower, by Prima, because it reminded me of the pink flower on the table in front of the door and it was a great accent for my card.  The background stamp is by Hero Arts and I've fallen in love with it!  The sentiment stamp is from the Autumn Abundance set from PTI.  I used the Nestabilities labels four to hold the sentiment, but trimmed it and attached it under the cardstock panel.  After I was done with the card I thought it needed a little something so I added some irridescent gold shimmer mist and then it was perfect!  I love the way this card turned out and I hope you do too.  I hope you all have a great week!  Happy Crafting!

Tuesday Trigger: An Idea in Yellow

CAS FTL#130

Shabby Thank You (ESS #118, Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger: Comfy Cozy)

Tonight's card is based on the sketch below from Eat Sleep Stamp and inspired by the picture below from the  Comfy Cozy Tuesday Trigger in the Moxie Fab World.  The stamps are from PTI, the patterned paper is from the October Afternoon Thrift Shop collection, the die is Nestabilities, and the border punch is Martha Stewart.  The metal thank you is from Making Memories and is inspired by the iron bed frame.  I chose a kraft card and sponged white ink on the edges to resemble the tan walls and the distressed mantle.  The blue flower paper matches the rug and the red paper reminds me of the toile in some of the pillows.  I chose to replicate the rose pillow and the french blue pillows on my stamped white couch.  I attempted a shabby chic card.  I think it still needs a little work to really be shabby chic, but I like it anyway.  I hope you do too!  Happy Crafting!

Tuesday Trigger: Comfy Cozy

stamps: On my couch (PTI)
ink: black dye ink (A Muse Artstamps), frost white pigment ink (Clearsnap)
cardstock: white (A Muse Artstamps), kraft (PTI)
patterned paper: Thrift Shop paper pad (October Afternoon)
markers: E57, BG10 (Copic)
dies: Nestabilites classic scalloped circles large
punch: doily lace border punch (Martha Stewart)
accent: adhesive metal saying (Making Memories)

Lullaby Bassinet (Card Patterns #99)

Hi everyone!  I hope you had a wonderful weekend!  Those of you in the eastern part of the U.S., I hope the weather wasn't too bad for you.  Here in the west it's actually been pretty mild, kind of weird for January. 

Anyway, on to the fun stuff..the card for today!  Today's card is based on the sketch below from Card Patterns.  I just flipped it upside down.  If I'm being totally honest, I made this card for a submission request and it was rejected and it happened to fit this sketch challenge.  I just added the ribbon.  I know I could have kept that to myself, but I felt like I was being dishonest and so I came clean. :)  I used purple on this card because we weren't allowed to use pink or blue at all and I still wanted it to be feminine.  Also, I don't use purple very often and I wanted to use some of my purple supplies.  I think it came out fairly cute, but I guess the judges didn't think so.  I must say, I do like it better with the addition of the ribbon.  It softens it a bit and adds just the right touch.  I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!  Happy Crafting!

stamps: bassinet, tiny yawns(A Muse Artstamps)
ink: black dye ink (A Muse Artstamps)
cardstock: white (A Muse Artstamps), kraft, plum pudding (PTI)
patterned paper: 2008 bitty dot basics (PTI)
fibers: white satin ribbon (American Crafts)
dies: Nestabilities standard circles large, lacey circles (Spellbinders)
punch: apron lace border punch (Fiskars)

If Friends Were Flowers (GS #59, 2S4Y Kazan #63)

Good Afternoon on this beautifully sunny day, at least where I live here in Oregon.  The card I have to share with you today is based on this sketch from Get Sketchy and also this sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You.  I grass border punched a strip of the green gingham paper and adhered it to the bottom of the card.  I stamped the stems (Everyday Button Bits by Papertrey Ink) on cardstock, die cut it with my circle Nestabilities, and adhered it to the card.  I grass border punched another strip of green gingham paper and adhered it over the first with pop dots.  I glued flower buttons to the tops of the stems.  I stamped the clouds on a scrap of blue gingham patterned paper, cut them out and adhered them to the card with pop dots.  I stamped the sentiment and tied a ribbon around the top of the card.  I'm really happy with the way this card turned out.  I hope you are able to get some crafting time in this week or at least some time to enjoy yourself.  Happy crafting! 

all paper, sentiment, clouds stamp, black dye ink: A Muse Artstamps
Everyday Button Bits: Papertrey Ink
pear tart dye ink: Momento
grass border punch: Martha Stewart
circle die: Spellbinders
ribbon: American Crafts