A sympathy card

The card I made today was a sympathy card for my In-Laws, they lost their sweet dog Dusty last week. Any pet parent can tell you how difficult it is to lose your pet, even when you know it's coming.  So I wanted to make them a card to let them know I'm thinking about them and that they will always have the memories of that sweet little girl.

For this card I used the colors from the challenge over at the CR84FN Color Challenge.

This was a CAS card to put together.  The heart stamp set is from Close to My Heart, it's called Hope and it's the set they sold after the earthquake in Japan to help with relief efforts.  

For the inside I used Photoshop and my laser printer.  The flowers are a Photoshop brush. That quote I have always felt explains it all.  I know that is how I feel about my pup.

This is Halloween

Is everyone getting in the Halloween spirit?  I am! I'm getting the decorations up and I've got a bunch of candy for the Treat-or-treaters.  So for today's post I wanted to participate in CAS-ual Friday's challenge this week which is to create a CAS Halloween project with absolutely no orange! So here is what I came up with:

I took some creme cardstock and used distress ink on it for that dirty look. The letters I cut out with my Silhouette.  I cut out the blood drips freehand and then used glossy accents over them to really give it a wet blood look.  The next picture I took at an angle so you could get a better view of the effect.

 So after I finished the card, I figured my nails needed to be done in the spirit of Halloween too!

That's it for today! Have fun with all those Halloween projects!

A Steampunk Card

Okay, so this card is supposed to be for CAS-ual Fridays challenge this week.  The challenge was to make a project with a ribbon tab or loop.  This card ended up more shabby chic than clean and simple, but I went where the mojo took me!  So I hope you guys still enjoy it!  Here it is:

So since this was a ribbon challenge, I started with this beautiful shear teal ribbon from May Arts.  And looking at that I thought it went perfectly with Graphic 45's Steampunk Debutante line. I took a piece of gray Bazzil embossed cardstock and I sanded it down a bit then went to work on the edges with my distressing tool. I added a gray felt flower from Prima and a little metal key from 7gypsies. It's not my typical CAS design, but I really love it.

I also added a matching piece of teal cardstock inside the card and I had picked up this cool stamp of a penny-farthing (yep, that's what those bikes are called) at Michael's in the dollar bin! Don't you just love it when you find a deal like that?


That's it for me today.  I've also been putting things in my Smash book for a while and I know I haven't done an update on that, so I'll try to put that into a post this week. Until then, Happy Scrappin'!

A Fun Monochromatic Card

Hi Everyone!  Today I wanted to play along with the challenge over at CAS-ual Fridays. The challenge this week was to create a clean and simple project using at least 3 shades of a monochromatic color of your choice plus Brown. So here's the card I came up with:

The cardstock I used for the base provided my brown background color. Then I took a simple little flower stamp and stamped it on white cardstock with three shades of green.  I added the "a little note" sentiment in there and the just a touch of Diamond Stickles in the center of each flower. Cute!

I decorated the inside of the card as well, this was kinda hard to photograph.  My camera just did not want to focus in on this.  Just a simple scroll stamp and another flower (also with Stickles) complete the inside.  Now someone just needs to write a sweet message in there!

So that's it for today!  Two of my best friends are coming up to visit me tomorrow and I'm so thrilled to see them!  So I will go ahead and wish you all a happy weekend and happy scrappin'!

I'm Back! And with a Fall Card!

Hi Everyone!  I have been away for about a month! Wow!  It's been a busy few weeks for me.  First we evacuated for Hurricane Irene, then we had to come home and clean up.  Then it was just getting back into routine.  Most recently, this week I got a job!  I'm very excited about it and I am able to work from home! Hope everyone else has been doing well!

Anyway, today I have a card inspired by the Fall weather that's starting to show itself.  I love Fall.  I love the colors, the cool breeze, the nice warm hoodies I get to wear...this list just goes on and on. So over at The Play Date Cafe, they happen to have Fall colors for their challenge this week so I went with that.  Here's the color scheme:

And here is the card I created:



Those beautiful sparkly leaves I found at Target in the dollar bins they have up front!  Amazing deal - they are foam stickers and there's 22 of them on the sheet.  The patterned paper is from Cosmo Cricket's Social Club line and the ribbon is from Ki Memories.  The stamp sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Up, Up and Away line (which I love, by the way). 

Also, another thing I wanted to mention today - if you're don't like May Arts on Facebook, you really should!  Not only do they share some wonderful projects and ideas, but they are constantly giving away free ribbon!  I won two contests were you name the ribbon and they pick a winner and send them a huge spool of that ribbon!  Here's what I got:

So this is a great reason to like them. That's all I have for today.  I'm planning on starting to work on a paper bag album over the weekend and maybe some more fall cards.  I have so many projects stacked up to work on!  What are you working on this weekend?  Whatever your projects are - happy scrappin!

Birthday Mini Cards

Mini cards! That was my project for today.  I decided to do this set of three cute birthday mini cards.  I love this 3x3 size because they are so perfect to just tape to a package and you don't feel like you have to write a whole story inside the card!

The patterned paper I used is Basic Grey Blush collection, this one is called Admire.  It's really pretty and I thought perfect for these little cards.  I inked the edges with Vintage Photo distress ink.

Aren't those puffy little cupcakes adorable! I found these at Michael's and had to get them. They are by KI Memories  and they're called Puffies.  They have several different designs and really aren't that expensive.  I think I'll be going back for more of these in different themes.  They really just make the card.

The sentiments are stamps onto vellum and then attached to the cards.  I attached one with spray adhesive but honestly I hate working with that stuff.  It smells and it's messy and I just don't like dealing with it.  So the other two cards I just used some glue dots and put some bling over top of where they were on the card so you don't even know they are there! Ha!  The card with the little bow on the edge is the one I used the spray adhesive on.

So that's it for today.  I'm working on a few other card projects that I should have ready to post soon.  I'm thinking about trying to sell some things on Etsy but I'm not sure how I would do.  Have any of you sold on Etsy?  I'd love to hear your experiences with it!

Scrappin the Past

Hi folks!  Today I decided to play with some very pretty papers I had for Bo Bunny and participate in their layout challenge over on the Bo Bunny blog!  The pictures I decided to scrap today are from my Senior Prom!  Wow!  Interesting fact - I went with my now husband.  That's right - we are high school sweethearts!  Ha ha.  Anyway here's the sketch that was given to work with:


And here is the page I created using the sketch and some BoBunny papers:



I used BoBunny Gabrielle Flight for the background, the cutouts are from Gabrielle Cutouts, and the accent strip of paper is Abbey Road Truffle. I also used some bling and ribbon to finish off the page.  I love how these colors work together!  This was a lot of fun to do!

Close up of the ribbon detail, two different types here.

Here's the bling, looks like a flight trail from the butterfly.

Beautiful quote from the cutout page!

I think it's always fun to pull out some old photos to scrap.  On my long list of things to do is a heritage album.  I need to do some more research on the family tree before I start that one though!  Thanks for stopping by and Happy Scrappin!

I'm on a Boat!

I've been working on finishing up a scrapbook for the vacation we took to Maine in 2009.  So today I have a two-page layout that I did for that.  I used the DCWV Stack-A-Holic Template Challenge for this.  I also used the City Crafter challenge to add some sunshine to it!  So here's my layout:

This was so much fun!

For the cardstock I used paper from the Mariposa cardstock stack and then all the other patterned paper is from the Green Stack.  I used an EK Success border punch to create the little bubbles border. Then I added the sun and the little shell to the pages, these are K&Company.  The letters are Thickers. Here are a couple close up shots of the pages.

Close up of the first page

Close up of the second page

These challenges were great because they gave me the motivation I needed to continue to work on this album!  I am one step closer to finishing it!  So happy Friday everyone and happy scrappin!

I'm off to see the wizard!

That's right - I have completed my Magic of Oz tray!  And I must say, it is stunning.  These Graphic 45 papers were a dream to work with! So without further ado, here it is (click on it to view a larger image):

 

Oh I am so happy with this project!  The papers are gorgeous and a few little touches of Stickles here and there really made it pop. That's a bit hard to see in the image but I have some close ups to share too.

The shoes glitter with red Stickles and Dorothy's name is popped up.

These three panels were cut from the same background - I love the effect it has!

Some more Stickles on the Heart word. Road to Oz is popped up.

This is my favorite panel. Glinda's dress, crown, and wand sparkle with Diamond Stickles.  The munchkin and Oz logo are popped up for dimension. The pearl accent is perfect for Glinda!

The group on their way to see the wizard! Dorothy and Toto have both been overlayed and popped up for added dimension. Hey, watch out for those flying monkeys!

You can almost see the sparkle on those shoes! It really shows in person. Here's the Cowardly Lion and his good friend Toto.

Dorothy had it right - there is no place like home. Her shoes are glitterly here as well.

Here's that Wicked Witch! On the popped up version, her dress and hat are all sparkle. I figure even a wicked witch likes some glitter now and then.

The Tin Man just wanted a heart, which are popped up and Stickled. In the next box, Glinda's name is all sparkly too, like any good witch's name would be.

Here's the wizard, surrounded by green. Magic of Oz logo is popped up. Added stickles to the big gem and a few gems above the wizard.

Here's the Scarecrow with a few friends. Also looks like a munchkin asleep in the poppies! And of course, the magic slippers.

So that is my Magic of Oz tray! I hope you love it as much as I do.  It was a lot of fun to make, and I think I would love to make something like this for friends.  Themed paper is so great to work with for these kinds of things.  Oh and I have some Magic of Oz paper left over, so I might have another project up my sleeve.

I am entering this in the Anything Goes challenge over on Lollipop Crafts.

Until next time, Happy Scrappin!

A Lovely Card!

Hi all!  Aren't you glad it's finally Friday?  I am ready for the weekend!  Today I have a card for you that is for two challenges.  It is for the color challenge over at CR84FN Color Challenge and the layout challenge at The Sweet Stop.

Here are the colors:

And here is the Sweet Stop layout:

So using those, this is the card I came up with.  I used DCWV Mariposa papers on a cream cardstock.  The stamp is by Inkadinkado. I framed the stamped image on red cardstock and used pop dots to make it stand out on the card.  I added a Prima rose and some red bling and pearls to brighten up the card.  I also used some diamond and xmas red Stickles on the stamped image for sparkle.

That's all I have today.  Oh, by they way, if you've been to my blog before, you may have noticed that I updated my header and background.  I am really loving the new look of my blog!  What do you think?

A New Graphic 45 Collection

With CHA right around the corner, Graphic 45 is introducing another beautiful collection.  This one is called the ABC Primer collection and it is beautiful!  I can't wait to get my hands on it!  I totally heart Graphic 45 paper and this one is no exception! Here is a sneak peak:

So what do you think? Do you love it?  Are you planning your projects already?  I know I am!

A CAS-ual Friday challenge card

Well I hope everyone had a good Fourth of July holiday weekend!  Mine was okay.  Our fireworks got rained out so that was kinda sad.  Oh well.  I'm back to crafting today and I have a card for you that's for the CAS-ual Friday card challenge! The challenge this week was to create a simple card that is masculine and uses Kraft paper.  So here's my card:

The patterned paper and the chipboard embellies are from Cosmo Cricket's Social Club line.  I love the retro mod feel of this line.  And It's so masculine, I mean look at that little chipboard guy with his spiffy suit!  Love it. :D  The stamp sentiment is from Hampton Art.

That's all I have for today.  Until next time, Happy Scrappin!

Play Date Cafe Challenge 88

So this was a fun color scheme to work with this week!  At first I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it and then I found some gorgeous Cosmo Cricket paper I had.  This card is for the challenge over at The Play Date Cafe and here are this week's colors:

And here is my card! I used patterned paper by Cosmo Cricket - very mod 50's feeling!  On the tag I used a ditto sentiment stamp (I love these stamps! I found the sets at Michael's for $1.99 each and you get about 5 sentiments per set!  Wonderful deal!)  The cardstock on the edge is punched with an EK Success border punch and then I just added some flowers and bling to complete the card.

I am pretty happy with this one, it's just cute!  Hope everyone is getting some good scrapping in over the long weekend!  And Happy 4th everyone!

Hooray!

I am SO excited today!  I actually got picked for the top 3 at the Case Study challenge blog!  I am very, very happy about this!  If you'd like to see the card it's actually the next post down.  :D  So I'm just excited about that today.  I haven't gotten a lot of scrapping done this week, I've had one of those summer colds - yuck.

I did start working in my Smash book a little bit.  I added some quotes that I wanted to remember to the first page, I put a pocket right at the beginning to hold cards and bigger items, and then on the next page I actually started "smashing" in some various things.  I think this is such a neat catch-all concept.  Granted if you have a bind-it-all or a cinch, you could easily make one yourself, but I don't have those tools and I think $12 is worth it for the shear convienence of it already made up.

I love the little pockets.

This is a favorite Mark Twain quote and I think it works great in this book.

Various things - I can't wait to dig through my drawers for more stuff that I know I've stashed away.

So that's it for today.  I hope to have a new card for you guys tomorrow.  Thanks to all my new followers!  It really makes my deal to read all of your wonderful comments!  As always, Happy Scrappin!

Play Date Cafe Challenge 87

Today I have a card for the challenge over at The Play Date Cafe. These were fun colors to work with and I love how the card turned out. Here are the colors:


Here is the card I created. I used this great stamp from Hampton Art for the focus of the card. I heat embossed it in white for emphasis on the red background. Then I trimmed the edges with some decorative scissors. The blue behind it is embossed with my cuttlebug. Then I used some metal trinkets on the edges that I found at a little vintage shop I like.

I love how it turned out! The colors really seem to pop on the grey cardstock. And of course, that stamp is just stunning.

I also thought I would show what I do to the backs of my cards. I had two custom stamps made and this is one of them. Sometimes I will write the date on there as well. But I love how this stamp completes the card and people always know it was handmade, which is great. I got these made by a person on ebay who has all sort of designs.

So that's it for now. Hope you enjoyed it and as always, happy scrappin!