Where flowers bloom....

This is a special card I wanted to make. I have a friend whose 15 month old daughter was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. For the longest time I could not figure out what kind of card to make. What was appropriate and fitting. Then I saw this sentiment in a magazine and I hope it is alright for the given situation. Also over at Fantabulous Cricut their challenge was to create a spring themed project so I thought this fit in there as well. Thanks for looking.


This was also my first attempt at an easel card! I think it turned out really nice!! It's 4.5x4.5. I cut the flowers from Stretch Your Imagination, one at 3 inch one at 3.5 inch. The sentiment was computer generated but I cut bloom from Just Because Cards. The word Hope came from Gypsy Wanderings and I layered and added some brads to decorate it up a bit.

Dad's day

Good bright sunny (but cold) day bloggers! I've been working on a manly card for last weeks Wacky Wednesday challenge over at More than Favors. Everyone says man cards are much harder but I didn't really believe them.....that is until I had to try one myself! My problem is trying to keep it plain and simple. I think I finally accomplished it though. Take a look :)



The card is a 5x5 and the base cut is from Gypsy Wanderings. I just welded the 2 shapes together with my gypsy. The nut is from Indie Art and is cut at 4 inches. I did some layering and doodling. I unfortunately have no idea where the dad letters are from. I just found those in my stash I'm sure from years ago.

I didn't realize it but I only used 2 cartridges and they were 2 of the free ones I got when I registered my gypsy. So to everyone out there that thinks you need tons and tons of cartridges, you really don't!

Spring Mothers Day

I am literally on a mission this weekend! I made a list of certain challenges I wanted to do and have been checking them off! I've also really been in a Mother's Day mood lately. So I combined that with the Cricut Cardz Challenge #67, to make a spring project using only the colors pink, green and white!



I first stamped the background using Hero Arts Real Pine stamp in a pink ink. I cut the flowers from Sweethearts, layered them and tied ribbon around them. The sentiment is computer generated. This is a pretty basic card but I think it's so bright and cheery!

Family photo card

I've been meaning to make one of these photo album cards for a while now and just have not gotten around to it. I had some extra time this morning (still on 'vacation'!) and put one together. I decided to incorporate the Peachy Keen Stamps Sketch Challenge as well and I am totally in love with this little project! Totally in love!!!



The tree is from Just Because Cards and is cut at 11 inches. The family sentiment was cut from Gypsy Wanderings at 1 inch. I added the borders from K&C Company. The entire 'card' itself when fully opened is cut at 6.25 x 12 inches. Below is a view of the card opened up.

Homemade Flowers

I'm on 'vacation' this weekend visiting my parents which means I get my moms cartridges to choose from as well as my own! I love taking advantage of that! I was also on a mission to learn to create homemade flowers for Peachy Keen Stamps Let's Face it Friday Flower Power Challenge #12! First, Angelica, thank you for linking your tutorial! I used your demonstration to create some flowers of my own!



I used Paper Doll Dress Up for my bride and cut her at 3.5 inches. I also used the Everyday Character faces Peachy Keen Stamps. I desperately need to get more of these awesome stamps! The sentiment is from Sweethearts and is cut at 2.5 inches. I used a fiskars border punch for the black flower paper and added stickles to the 'i' in congratulations. I used Picturesque for the flower pedals. I cut out the same flower 6 times and layered them, then I added the paper and pearl in the center to cover the void. I just love the look of this card! and love that it can be either a bridal shower or wedding card.

I wanted to add my other flower card that I put together tonight. I just love the colors in this card!



The flowers in this card are also from Picturesque. This paper was a little thicker so it filled in the center of the flower better so I didn't feel like I needed decorations for the middle. The sentiment was from Lyrical Letters and I used the hide contour feature to get the blackout look. I added stickles to the center of the sentiment flower and some bakers twine. I just love how bright the colors are!

A super birthday!

I have yet to make a birthday card, so when I saw the Challenge Me Monday #52 over at Fantabulous Cricut I decided it was about time. Then this past weekend my mom gave me one of her cartridges (Sesame Street Friends). At first I wondered what I'd ever do with it since my kids are grown out of the Sesame Street phase. That's when I saw it. SUPER GROVER! I knew I had to use it! So here is what I came up with!



Like I said I used Sesame Street Friends for super Grover and cut him at 4.5 inches. Used George and Basic Shapes for the frame cut out. The sentiment was computer generated, added some eyelets and some bakers twine. For a little added glitter I used red stickles for Grover's 'G'. I am just in love with this card!

Spring is in the air!

Wow did I have fun doing this card!! I have to say that sometimes it's the paper that makes a card fantastic. I'm so happy with how this turned out. It is nothing like I thought it would be but I found this paper and had to use it. I wanted bright glittery colors too. The idea for the card came from Cricut Cardz Challenge. Their recipe was to make a Thank You card with yellow, blue and white, and to also use a border cut. I also put it in the Cards Cupid Blog Challenge and Die Cuttin Divas Challenge #7 which was to create a Spring Inspired Card. Hope you like it!



The background paper I used is from the Doodlin' Around stack. I used Stretch Your Imagination for the sunflowers and Create a Critter for the butterfly (both were cut at 1.25 inch). I used Gypsy Wanderings for my Thank You border cut (it was the only cartridge I have that has border options!). And then added some brown cording to finish it off. I just love it! It's so bright and springy! (too bad we've got sleet and freezing rain outside).

Embossing 101

The title should say it all! I'm fairly new to the world of embossing and learning more each day. I've been trying to add it to my creations here and there to give them a little more flare and dimension. Today's card is no exception. I saw this quote on numerous cards, layouts, and in magazines and couldn't wait until Mother's Day to use it. So here we have an early Mother's Day Card! I absolutely LOVE how it turned out, glittery, sparkly, elegant, really just how I envisioned! So I've decided to enter it in the Paper Sundaes Challenge #61-Embossing and Amber's Crafts and Stuff Challenge #1 Stashbuster/Anything Goes.



I embossed the background with D'vine Swirl and since I'm not completely familiar with embossing powders and inks, I decided to stickle the entire thing! Probably not the most time or cost effective but I think it worked :) The frame is from Sports Mania of all cartridges and I used the Recollections border punch. The quote is computer generated, matted and pop-dotted. I added the bow and some doodling to finish it off.

Happy 40th Anniversary!

I decided to tackle an anniversary card for my parents tonight since their big 40th is coming up on Saturday (mom don't look!). I was really going for a simple yet elegant looking card and here is what I came up with.



I used the Sweethearts cartridge for both the background frame (cut at 3.5 in) and the dove (cut at 1.5 in). The frame was stamped using the Inkadinkado Beauty Stems from Here set, and the sentiment is also from Inkadinkado. The dove and sentiment are pop dotted for dimension.

I've decided to enter this into the Paper Sundaes Challenge #60 'Keep it Simple'!. I gotta admit this was hard for me! I'm usually one to add and add and add until I went one step too far! I'm very happy with how this card turned out. Here's to 40 more years mom and dad! love you! xoxoxo

All a Flutter Challenge

It's another good beautiful morning, and for the 4th day in a row I actually had to wake my kids up for school!  Very unusual in my household!  I'm sure once the weekend gets here they will be back on schedule and waking up early again!

I've decided to participate in Getting Cricky with K Andrew Designs All a Flutter! Challenge and I had an absolute blast!  The challenge was to create any project with a butterfly or any other winged thing theme.  Of course I jumped all over using butterflies!  I have 3 boys so being able to make pretty purple girly themed cards is a special treat!  Here is what I came up with.

Although using a stamp was not required I felt the need to play along there too!  The stamp is from Inkadinkado, Beauty Stems from Here.  I just colored it in with some Prismacolor Pencils.  The butterfly was cut at 2 inches from Create a Critter.  I just glued the body of the top layer to the shadow layer, pop dotted the shadow and folded the wings of the top layer.  I inked the edges of both sheets of background paper and added doodling.  I really struggled with not adding a sentiment but I didn't want to over do it, not to mention I kind of ran out of room!  So I'll just call it an all purpose card!

Tall Thank You Card

Hello fellow bloggers!  Finally the creative juices are flowing again thanks to yet some more inspiration.  Over at Cricut Cardz Challenge I was to create a tall 9x4 card using any cartridges and theme I wanted.  Since I had yet to create a flowery card I thought it was about time.  Here is what I came up with.

The card itself is just a basic rectangle and I just used some scraps that I had lying around.  I used the Recollections border punch on the sunflower paper.  The tall flower is from Stretch Your Imagination and I got the flower tag from Tags, Bags, Boxes & More.  I stamped the flower tag with my Stampendous block stamp.  It's hard to tell but I embossed the it with Swiss Dots and hung it with some bakers twine.  Really easy and basic but I think it totally fits my personality!  I just love it!

It's a girl baby love!

What a busy weekend!  I'm so glad I had some ambition to get another card together, and this challenge was just what I was looking for.  Over at Die Cuttin Divas their challenge was baby love, to create a baby card with a baby animal cut.  I've been meaning to make a new baby card since a good friend of mine had a baby girl last week.  So here is what I created!

The monkey came from Create a Critter but I also used Paper Doll Dress to get her sleeping face.  The bows vine were also from Create a Critter, the vine was welded together with my gypsy.  I added some brads for earrings and some it's a girl ribbon.  You can't really tell in the picture (poor quality sorry!), but the background paper is embossed using D'vine Swirl.

Thanks!

Vet Day Layout

As I'm chugging away with card designs I realize that I need to finish up some of my other priorities that had gotten buried under piles of paper!  I volunteer at my 4 year olds preschool to take pictures when needed and create a layout for their scrapbook.  Each child at the end of the year will receive a copy of the compiled scrapbook pages, so I can't wait to see the end product.  There are quite a few talented scrapper volunteers!

Anyway, back in February *blush* I took pictures on "Vet Day".  The school brought in a veterinarian who brought in her beautiful Rottweiler!  The vet taught the kids that you must always ask the dogs owner before you pet it, to 'stand like a stump' if you're being chased, and they also got to listen to the dogs heartbeat through the vets stethoscope.  Being an animal lover myself I had a great time during discussion as well!

So to check another item off of my list, here is the layout for 'Vet Day'.  The stump is cut at 2 inches from Create a Critter, and the lettering is from Plantin Schoolbook and welded together with my gypsy.  The rest are just stickers from my collection and some the school supplied.  Since the pages are just photocopied it's not necessary to use any kind of dimension (as hard as that is for me!)  Of course the little guy peaking out of the Critter Cottage is my adorable 4 year old :)

Good friends are like stars

Good morning!  I'm really hoping I can keep up with this blog and really concentrate on making some good, fun, creative things.  I'm loving all of these challenges I'm finding and subscribing to.  I've been having trouble just making cards out of thin air, without purpose.  And today was no exception, until I found the Peachy Keen Stamps Sketch Challenge: Think Bling!  The sketch was really no problem but with having 3 boys I have very little bling!  I actually rummaged through the kids craft bins and came up on some jewels and this is the card I came up with.

I've seen this sentiment on cards before and knew at some point I wanted to make my own.  So when I saw the sketch I thought it'd be a cute idea to make the circle, stars.  I gotta say I'm THRILLED with how this card turned out.

I took the stars from George and Basic Shapes and welded them together with my gypsy.  Then I embossed them with the Swiss Dots Folder.  The inside circle was from Just Because Cards.  I printed the sentiment on vellum and cut it with a star from George and Basic Shapes.  I added the ribbon per the sketch requirement and couldn't resist adding some faces to more stars with my Peachy Keen Everyday Character Stamps.  Finally I used my Recollections petite daisy border punch on the star paper and added the jewels for my bling.

All-Star Bookmark

I am so excited to be writing my first blog post, and participate in my first challenge!  Over at Cricut Cardz Challenge we were to create a bookmark.  Since all 3 of my boys love to read I thought this would be a blast to do!  My oldest said he wanted a sports bookmark, "one with a lot of balls on it".  So this is what I came up with!  I'm thrilled with how it came out!

 I used preserves for the tag itself and sports mania for the rest of the cuts.  The tag is cut 6.5 x 3.25, the balls are cut at 1 inch each, the trophy at 2.25 and all-star at 3 inches.  I added some light doodling around the tag and found some crazy ribbon to top it off.  Now to make an army one for my middle guy!