Cherished (MME#27, PDCC #100)

Hello everyone!  Hope you all had a great summer and are having a super weekend so far!  Thanks for all the great supportive comments I've been getting.  I really appreciate them!  They really make my day. :)  I am really going to try and put this blog up higher on my priority list.  It's always the first thing to go when I'm busy or I don't feel well and I'm going to try and change that.  You all deserve better from me when you take the time to check in and especially when you are a follower, which I totally appreciate.  I always get super excited when I have a new follower so I need to do better for you, but I do appreciate your understanding about my health.  Now for the details about the card...

I used almost all products solely from My Mind's Eye.  The exceptions to this were: buttons from my stash, cardstock from PTI, and the scallop border punch from Fiskars.  I used MME Lime Twist and Lost and Found Two patterned paper collections.  The sticker was from the Stella and Rose collection.  I am in love with all three of these collections.  They happen to be my faves that MME has ever put out!  I think that Lost and Found Two is currently my fave.  It seems that I love each collection more and more, if that's possible?!

MME #27

My card is based on the sketch this week at the My Mind's Eye blog.  I followed the sketch to the letter this time.  If you decide to play along over at their blog the only rule is that your project needs to use 80% MME product.  This was easy for me because did I mention I have a lot of MME patterned paper?  This was a fun sketch that I really enjoyed.

The colors in my card are based on this week's color story at The Play Date Cafe.  I have trouble when there are more than three or four colors in a color story, so this one was really fun! :)  I have more ideas for this color story so don't be surprised if you see another card for the PDCC this week.  I hope you enjoyed my card for today!  Have a great rest of your weekend! 

Happy Crafting!
Rachael

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!

Bursting Blooms (Card Patterns #125, ColourQ #95)

I hope you all are having a wonderful week so far, I am!  My niece was born yesterday!!  Caylee Leigh weighed 7lbs. 2 oz. and was 18 1/2 inches long.  She's super mellow and such a cutie pie! Caylee is my second niece, but the first grandchild for my mom and she's over the moon.  My brother and his girlfriend are the proud parents.  I'll show you pictures sometime soon, I promise.  Now for the card...

I used PTI's background basics: text style stamp for the background and an old A Muse Artstamps stamp, bursting blooms, for the main image.  I inked the blooms with A|S bermuda ink and then "rolled" the outside of the blooms with Clearsnap turquoise pigment ink.  The stems are inked with Clearsnap lime pastel chalk ink.  The ribbon is from American Crafts and the cardstock from PTI.  I had never tried to stamp an image right over a background before and I really liked the way this turned out.  I also had always wanted to try the "rolling" technique I explained before.  I think I used too  much turquoise ink on the right bloom because you can't really see the lighter bermuda ink in the middle.  Oh well, practice makes perfect.

My card is based on this week's sketch from Card Patterns.  I stayed pretty true to the sketch this week.  Instead of making scallops with cardstock and a punch I used the scalloped ribbon to represent the scallops.  I then tied the white satin ribbon below to represent the ribbon in the sketch.  I made my image panel larger than the sketch in order to accomodate the blooms and background text, but I think it still looks almost identical to the original sketch.

The colors for my card were inspired by this week's color story from ColourQ.  I really enjoyed this week's colors.  They are pretty and seem to go together really well.  They were also fairly easy to work with, which was really nice.  I felt like they made my ideas just flow, which doesn't always happen.  What do you think of the colors?  There is plenty of time for you to play if you like what you see.  I hope you liked my card.  Have a great rest of your week!  Happy Crafting! :)

Happy 50th! (ColourQ #92, CASFTL #148)

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July!  I know it's been a little while since I've posted, we've been busy shopping for a mattress.  We could not seem to agree on one because I sleep on my side and my hubby is an all over sleeper, meaning he tosses and turns all night long.  We currently have a pillowtop and we both hate it.  Every mattress I liked he thought was too soft and hated and every one he liked I thought was too firm and I hated.  I found out that I couldn't get a spring mattress because I've been having hip issues, but he didn't like the feel of memory foam and I wasn't crazy about latex.  We had laid on about 30 mattresses and I was about to give up when we finally laid on one and both said at the same time, "I think I like this".  It was a miracle at this point.  Now the only thing in our way was the price.  It was almost double our budget!  We slept on it, not literally, and realized that there was no price too high to pay for a good night sleep so we took the plunge.  Our Simmons ComforPedic will be here in 4-6 weeks and we couldn't be more excited!  I just had to share what has been occupying my life for the past 2 weeks, and if you're still here we'll get on with the card....

I made this card for a friend of ours that's turning 50 today.  Happy birthday John!  The patterned paper is from the Lime Twist collection by My Mind's Eye.  I am in love with this collection!  It has become my go to patterned paper.  It's what I turn to first to choose paper.  I think I've said this before, but the last few collections by MME have been so great and have made me a true fan!  The bingo card is from Jenni Bowlin's calendar bingo cards.  I am loving them for bday cards!  The "happy" is from PTI's Inside & Out: Birthday set and the 50th is from A|S's birthday builder set.  I used a star and circle punch from Marvy Uchida as well as a circle die from Nestabilities to get the shapes on the card.  Everything but the sentiment circle is inked with A|S wheat pigment ink and the green ink is Clearsnap moss green.

My card was inspired by this week's sketch from Clean and Simple Stamping.  I chose to have the stars represent the circles on the top and bottom of the sentiment circle and decided to leave off the "line" that ran through and under all three circles.  This is the first time that I have drifted so far from the original sketch.  I still feel like it's represented and you can see what I've done without me having to explain it.  I wanted to try something different and I also wanted to make sure the recipient of this card would like it. 

The colors for my card came from this week's color story at ColourQ.  At first I thought these colors would be fairly easy, but they turned out to be harder than I thought, especially when I was trying to use them along with making a card for a 50th bday.  They seem more like kid bday colors to me.  Anyway, I figured it out and am happy with the results.  Now let's just hope John is. :)

If you're still with me I hope you enjoyed my card and are having a great weekend!  Happy Crafting!

Bee Thankful (ESS #135, CR84FN35, PTI: MIM)

I hope you all had  a great day today!  It was finally hot and sunny here in the Pacific Northwest.  I think we actually hit above 80 degrees!  It's ironic that it happened on the first day of summer.  Hopefully it's a sign of good things to come. :)

My card this evening is based on a several challenges.  The first is the PTI Make IT Monday Challenge on Nichole Heady's blog.  It begins every Monday morning and ends the next Monday morning.  This week's challenge was reverse masking.  I punched a scallop circle from my Eclipse art masking tape and temporarily adhered the negative (what was left over) to the circle I die cut with my Nestabilities circle die.  I used the small flower stamp from the Snail & Co. stamp set from A Muse Studio and stamped the flower all over within the mask.  When I lifted it up there was a "flower ball".  I had seen this technique with the "flower ball" before on Julie Ebersole's blog, but I couldn't find the specific post for you.  I used bermuda ink from A Muse Studio for my flower.  I drew the stem with a Copic marker.  The patterned paper is from Basic Grey's Urban Prairie paper pad.  The beautiful green ribbon is American Crafts.  The sentiment stamp is one I picked up a couple of years ago from the Stamp Convention and it's from Eccentric Images Rubberstamps.  I bought a couple other ones from them and they are super cute!  I had always wanted to try this "flower ball" technique when I saw it on Julie's blog and I'm really glad I got the chance.

The layout for my card was inspired by this week's sketch at Eat Sleep Stamp.  I pretty much followed the sketch almost to the letter.  I chose to use ribbon where the vertical line on the left is, but decided not to put my image circle over it.  Other than that my card looks like the sketch.  The colors for my card came from the color challenge this week at CR84FN.  The color board is just below.  These three colors were very easy to work with and the first thing I thought of was a flower or something summery.  It could be because the sun is shining outside my window and I have the a/c on for the first time all year. :)  I hope you all enjoy this card.  Once again I tried something new and I really like the results.  Happy Crafting!

I'm Sew Excited!

I hope you all had a wonderful Father's Day yesterday with your dads or sons.  I had a wonderful afternoon with my FIL.  He came over and my hubby and I bbq'ed for him.  My MIL and the rest of the fam is in Mexico right now, so he was alone.  It was all the better for us because we got to have him all to ourselves.  :)  That never happens, especially on a holiday. 

The card I have for you today is for the I'm So Excited! challenge in the Moxie Fab World.  This card took me out of my comfort zone a bit. 

I used burlap for the first time, which is something I've wanted to do for a long time, but it didn't really feel like me at first.  I also used fabric for the first time and I even frayed the edges.  I also frayed the edges of the burlap.  Burlap and fabric are not things you would normally see on my cards, but I've wanted to try some new things.  I used PTI's parisian lace die, which I'm totally in love with by the way, to make the doily.  I wanted to make it seem more like a fabric doily so I crumbled it and used a sponge to add some versamagic wheat ink.  I think it makes it look more realistic and more antique.

I don't have a dress form die, so I used a stamp from my Hero Arts Sew Artsy set.  I stamped it on white cardstock, cut it out, and paper pieced it with kraft cardstock.  Before I adhered it to the card I added the fabric and tied a small piece of A Muse Studio sheer polka dot sugar ribbon.  I love the swirliness of the sentiment by Lawn Fawn.  It's perfect for this card.  I thought the card needed just a little something else, so I added the PTI buttons in the lower right corner.  I am really happy with the way this card turned out, especially since it was so out of the box for me. 

Because of challenges like this, I have tried new things and stepped out of my comfort zone more times than I can count.  I'd like to thank all of the owners of the blogs/challenges that I play along with because you have expanded my creativity and made me realize I can do more than I ever thought I could.  Thank you so much for all that you have done for me!  Happy Crafting!

Cosmopolitan Neopolitan Tuesday Trigger

I hope you all are having a great weekend!  It's finally sunny and even a little warm here!  We had no spring at all and it looks like we're finally starting to ease into summer very slowly.  I am in such a better mood and feel a lot better when it's sunny outside.  I don't like it when it's really hot, but in the 70's is perfect for me. 

Anyhoo, on to the card.  I've been waiting for the perfect time to use this adorable sticker from the 5 and Dime collection from October Afternoon.  I pop dotted it on top of a Martha Stewart doily and a lacey circle Nestabilities die cut and embossed from PTI's aqua mist cardstock.  The sentiment stamp, an old one from A Muse Artstamps, was stamped on October Afternoon patterned paper from the Farm Fresh collection.  The pink polka dot patterned paper is from the 5 and Dime collection from October Afternoon, again.  If you haven't seen that collection yet it's the cutest thing ever!  It reminds me of an old fashioned soda shop.  I love everything from October Afternoon!  The cream paper is from Basic Grey's Nook and Pantry collection, and the french roast polka dot patterned paper is from A Muse Studio. 

Tuesday Trigger: Cosmopolitan Neopolitan

I chose to use brown, cream, and pink patterned paper and in the order I assembled them to resemble the neopolitan ice cream pops in the Trigger picture.  When I saw the Trigger picture I knew I wanted to use the colors and I wanted the card to be about ice cream, so I picked the October Afternoon sticker I had been saving.  This Tuesday Trigger: Cosmopolitan Neopolitan from Moxie Fab World is one of my faves!  Not just for the picture, but for how my card turned out.  How do you think it turned out? 

My layout was inspired by last week's sketch challenge at Card Positioning Systems.  I didn't finish my card in time to enter it, but I still wanted to show it to you.  This sketch was a great one!

CPS #221

I hope you all enjoyed my card for you today.  Have a great week and try to sneak in some creative time for yourself.  Happy Crafting!

Sorry For Your Loss (Colour Q #88, CAS FTL #143)

I hope you all had a great week!  I made this card for a dear friend of the family and her husband who lost their dog while on vacation.  They were on a European trip of a lifetime and got word that their Pomeranian had passed away.  They don't have children of their own, so Rainy was like their baby and they were/are devastated.  Those of you who have dogs or pets know exactly what I'm talking about.  I only hope this card will ease a tiny bit of their pain by knowing that I'm there for them. 

Now let's get down to the details of the card.  The layout was inspired by this week's sketch at Clean and Simple Stamping.  I turned the sketch upside down because it worked better for me and for the card. 

CAS FTL #143

The bone patterned paper is from Doodlebug Design and the brown polka dot patterned paper is from the Lime Twist collection from My Mind's Eye.  The Lime Twist collection is one of my very favorite collections!  I am just in love with it!  Lately My Mind's Eye has put out the best collections of paper.  They are just soo cute!  The dog house stamp is an old stamp from A Muse Artstamps.  The sentiment stamp is from Hero Arts.  I used the Fiskars apron lace border punch on the brown cardstock that edges the bone patterned paper.  I broke out my Nestabilities classic rectangles large to die cut and emboss the cream cardstock rectangle panel.  I tried to keep the card rather embellishment free and toned down because it's a sympathy card.  I chose the colors because of this week's challenge at ColourQ and because I didn't want any loud colors or bright colors on this sympathy card. 

I really hope this card helps ease my friends' grief in some small way.  I also hope maybe it helps you with some ideas for your sympathy cards.  If you're hurting at all today, I send you hugs.  I hope you all have a great evening!  Happy Crafting!

CPS #220 Expecting Joy

Can you believe it?  I have another card for you today!  I think I'm just making up for the fact that I didn't post for a couple weeks.

The stamps for this card are old A Muse Artstamps rubber stamps, but they are some of my faves that I turn to over and over for baby shower cards and cards for friends when they first find out they are expecting.  I colored the image with Copic markers and did my best to shade the dress around the belly where it naturally would be shaded.  That's still something I am learning and practicing.  All the paper is from A Muse Studio, along with the beautiful ribbon.  I can't tell you how beautiful the heather purple ribbon is in person.  The photo doesn't do it justice.  The purple gems are from Hero Arts. 

I was inspired for the layout of the card by this week's sketch at Card Positioning Systems, but I decided to turn the sketch on it's side. 

CPS #220

I really like how the card turned out.  I used purple and green because my brother's girlfriend is having a girl and she decided to do her room in purple and green because she hates pink.  I also did the baby shower invites and did them in purple and green and wanted the card for the shower to somewhat match.  Here's what the shower invites look like:

I needed them to be very simple because I had to make 22 of them.  Luckily my brother and his girfriend loved them!  I hope you thought they were cute too!  Have a great night!  Happy Crafting!

Just For You Violets (WMSC #49, Moxie Fab: Tuesday Trigger Classically Modern)

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!  Today's card was made "just for you"!  The sentiment stamp is from the Essential Sentiments set from A Muse Studio, the flower is from the Year of Flowers: Violet set from PTI, and the label stamp is from the Vintage Labels set from Waltzingmouse Stamps.  This was the first time I used my Vintage Labels set and I really like how it sets off the sentiment.  I don't have any other stamp sets like it and I might have to get some more.  The label dies are Nestabilities labels four and labels four small.  I border punched the bottom of the card with my Fiskars scallop border punch.  The beautiful green satin ribbon is from American Crafts.  They have some of the best ribbon!  The blue cardstock is blueberry sky from PTI.  The white cardstock is sugar and the pink is bubblegum, both from A Muse Studio.  I really love A Muse Studio cardstock because it has a white core so it makes turning it into cards super easy.  I also love PTI cardstock because it's super thick and when you make a card base from it it actually stands up, plus it comes in some really great colors.  They are both super affordable and really great to work with. 

The layout for my card was inspired by this week's sketch from Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge and this week's Tuesday Trigger:  Classically Modern in the Moxie Fab World.  The Trigger inspired my card in several ways.  The pattern on the back wall in the photo was so prominent I felt it needed to dominate my card and be in the same colors.  I put in a splash of pink like the tulips.  They are the only other splash of color besides blue and white in the picture.  The pink label represents the tulips and the green ribbon represents the leaves and stems.  I hope you enjoy the card I made "just for you" and have a great rest of your week!  Happy Crafting!

Tuesday Trigger:  Classically Modern

Elegant With Sympathy (PDCC #83, CAS FTL #141, PTI Make It Monday)

I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend so far!  The sun is just starting to come out here after a day of rain.  Here's hoping tomorrow is a day full of sun, fun, and much crafting! :) 

Today's card is a sympathy card per this week's Make It Monday challenge over on Nichole Heady's blog from PTI.  The sentiment stamp is from the PTI Mixed Messages stamp set.  I love this stamp set!  Its sentiments are perfectly worded and wonderful when you need something smaller in size.  They have the same set sized a little bigger in Mega Mixed Messages.  I love PTI stamps!  Their sentiments are always perfectly worded and are in the cutest fonts and their images are just as adorable!  I am a complete addict!  I just started using their other products too.  The black cardstock on this card is from PTI.  Their cardstock is thick and wonderful to use and your card will stand up easily. 

The patterned paper is from October Afternoon's Cherry Hill paper pad collection.  October Afternoon has to be one of my favorite manufacturers!  They make the cutest papers in the world!  I actually can't wait for their next collection to come out.   I get so excited when I get the email that their latest collection has come out that I rush to my computer and order the paper pad and embellishments to go with it.  The problem is that then I have to wait for them to arrive in my mailbox.  What are you gonna do?  The ribbon flower is from Jolee's.  I used a Fiskar's scalloped border punch on the striped paper and tied a sheer black ribbon from my craft supply around it.  The colors for the card were inspired by this week's color story from The Play Date Cafe.  The layout for the card was inspired by this week's sketch from Clean and Simple Stamping.  I hope you enjoy this card.  If you need ideas for making sympathy cards, again, check out this week's Make It Monday challenge on Nichole Heady's blog.  Have a great rest of your week!  Happy Crafting!

CAS FTL #141

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.

Rolled Tissue Paper Flower (Moxie Fab: Tissue Paper Magic Challenge in The Moxie Fab World)

Hello again!  Sorry I've been away.  It seems that when I'm super busy or not feeling well that it's my blog that suffers, and in turn you.  So I apologize.  I will be super busy again for the next week, but plan to be busy blogging again after that.  I do have a card for you today though.

This was my first attempt at making a tissue paper flower.  I tried it in honor of the Tissue Paper Magic Challenge in the Moxie Fab World.  I will tell you that you need super strong adhesive when attempting to make one of these.  I used Cosmo Cricket's gruber adhesive made for making these kinds of flowers and it was not strong enough, so I had to add extra adhesive.  I'm sure it would be fine for fabric, but the tissue actually gets a little heavy when it's wound like that. 

The cardstock is from A Muse Studio and the stamp is an old one from A Muse Artstamps.  The patterned paper is from the Lemonade paper pad from Basic Grey.  I drew the frame with a black pigment ink pen from Copic.  The pearl is from Making Memories.  The card is super simple and took me no time at all to make, and I'm a person who takes hours to make one card, but I think it came out really nice.  What do you think?  Again, thanks for sticking with me through the lean posting times.  I promise I'll be back very soon. :)  Oh, and Happy belated Mother's Day to all you Moms out there!!  I hope you had a great one!  Happy Crafting!

Button Flowers (PDCC #78, WMSC #44)

I hope you all had a great Easter weekend!  The card I have for you this evening incorporates the Spring Basket stamp set from Waltzingmouse Stamps.  I use this stamp set all the time and love it!  The blue satin ribbon is from American Crafts, one of my very favorite ribbon companies.  I have too much ribbon from them to count.  I'm a little addicted, shhh don't tell.  The cardstock is from A Muse Studio.  To make the "polka dots" I used the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder and then sanded the cardstock.  I love that look!  I used the Nestabilities classic circles large and classic scalloped circles large dies to surround the image.  Of course I used Copic markers to color the image and then also to outline it to make it pop. 

The layout and colors for this card were inspired by this week's challenges at The Play Date Cafe and Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge.  There's still plenty of time to play along with the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge.  It's loads of fun and they choose a random winner to win a stamp set!  One week I even won!  Give it a try.  Have a great week!  Happy Crafting! 

Happy Easter Eggs (Card Patterns #111, Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger: Crepe Bouquet, CQC #81, PTI: Make It Monday #11)

I went with an Easter card this time since we're so close to Easter.  I love this stamp set by Waltzingmouse Stamps!  It's got so many Easter stamp options and others for spring and Mother's Day.  The background patterned paper is a new paper pad that I broke out from Melissa Frances called 5th Avenue.  It's not generally my style, but I bought it for the times when I want something soft or when I want to try the shabby chic thing.  The yellow polka dot patterned paper is by PTI from their 2008 Bitty Dot Basics paper pad.  I just love that paper pad and pretty much anything from that company! 

Speaking of Papertrey Ink, they have a Make it Monday challenge every week over on Nichole's blog and this week's challenge was to use your dies to emboss paper but not in the usual way.  You can see in my photo that I used one of the Nestabilities large square dies and embossed a square into my patterned paper to frame my card.  There is a video of exactly what to do every week for the challenge on the blog, which is very helpful, and sometimes I even learn a few new tricks.  I also stamped my image on cardstock that was die cut and embossed with the scalloped circle Nestabilities.

The layout was inspired by this week's challenge over at Card Patterns.  I used the buttons, by Buttons Galore, to represent the three dots in the sketch.  I tried to use the cardstock, patterned paper, and the embossed frame to represent the inner line in the sketch with the rounded corners.  I hope I did the sketch justice. 

Tuesday Trigger: Crepe Bouquet

The colors in the card were inspired by this week's Tuesday Trigger: Crepe Bouquet and this week's ColourQ Challenge.  The white dress was the background for the flowers in the Trigger story and white is the background for my image, as well as the basket the eggs are in.  The pink jumped out at me and it's my favorite color right now, so I had to use it.  In Cath's explanation she mentioned Easter, so that's the direction I went in rather than a card full of flowers.  The picture is just a little blurry so I chose a patterned paper that reminded me of that, plus I also wanted something soft that would easily work in the color scheme.  I was really glad that the colors for the Trigger and CQC were so close so I could blend the challenges together, but at first it was difficult to think of something to do.  I hope you like the card, and that you have a wonderful Easter weekend!  I'm trying some new layouts for posting to spice it up, let me know what you think.  Have a great rest of your week!  Happy Crafting!

Porch Play Mother's Day (Card Patterns #110, Moxie Fab: Tuesday Trigger Porch Play)

Tonight's card is inspired by this week's Tuesday Trigger: Porch Play and this week's sketch from Card Patterns.  I was inspired by the Trigger in many ways.  The yellow paint on the house was the reason for the yellow card base, the red oval beaded Nestabilities die was for the red frame on the mirror, the rocking chair stamp that I left white is for the white rocking chair, the blue in the patterned paper is for the pillows, and the red flowers in the patterned paper are for the red daisies on the dresser.  The rocking chair stamp is from A Muse Artstamps and the sentiment stamp is from A Muse Studio.  The spinach polka dot satin ribbon is from American Crafts and I love it!  The scallop border punch is from Fiskars.  The super cute patterned paper is from The Thrift Shop paper pad from October Afternoon.  It's one of my favorite collections of patterned paper.  October Afternoon is absolutely one of my favorite manufacturers of paper and fun matching embellishments.  They make the cutest collections ever!!  I like how this card turned out and it gave me a head start on my Mom's Day cards also. :)  I hope you like it too!  Have a great rest of your week!  Happy Crafting!

Tuesday Trigger: Porch Play