Staying Connected

Christmas tree - shaped card

I used the Christmas Cheer cartridge, and the Christmas cartridge to make this, the paper is from Basic Grey and the bling... well those tiny things are so slippery, the rest of them fell all over my craft room floor and I'm thinkin' that maybe they were meant for someone with more graceful fingers than mine.

Challenges

 Fantabulous Cricut - Shaped Card

Celebrate the Occasion - Christmas Anything Goes

Die Cuttin' Divas - More Holiday Spirit

Joy

Christmas cards are probably one of my very favorite things to make, and I only have a few more to go :).  I used black embossing powder on the stamp (I am pretty sure it's Stampin' Up) and colored in the leaves and berries with markers, the tree has been with me so long I am not really sure where it came from, but I sure do like it!  The challenges that I am entering with this card are  

Anything Goes - Delightful Challenges      

Red and Green - By LORI Designs Challenge 

Christmas with Old/Forgotten Embellishments - Belli Challenge

Merry Christmas!

I made this easel card following following the sketch challenge at Christmas Challenges, I picked sketch #40. I used the Figgy Pudding paper pack from Basic Grey and some stamps from my stash that I suspect are Stampin' Up.  I am giving this to a special friend of mine, she's kind of like a second mom, I can always call with strange questions and emergency babysitting requests and she never says no :).  I am also entering the Christmas challenge at Hanna and Friends, andPaper Crafting Journeys Anything Goes challenge.

Oh the weather outside...

I am not a fan of snow, nice to look at but I am not going out in it.  So instead I watched from my window and got inspired instead, this stamp is part of a set from an estate sale, so I don't actually know who makes it, I dry embossed the paper with my cuttlebug snow folder, and added snowflakes from the dollar store, with some good old generic bling to make it exciting, then since it was still missing something I went to my ribbon stash to see what looked snowy and interesting.

I am entering this fabulous little guy into a few challenges today

Shopping Our Stash - Winter, No Holidays

Raise the Bar - Let it Snow

The House That Stamps Built - 2 or more shades of blue

Christmas!

I made this card for another one of my many sisters, I had this stamp from an estate sale that I went to last year and I've been waiting for a chance to use it.  I heat embossed it, and added glitter before I dried it.  

Challenges 

Make My Monday - Christmas Bingo

The Shabby Tea Room - Shabby Chic Holiday

Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes

Christmas card for my sister

 So glad I have so many sisters, who would I make all of these cards for? I've wanted to try my hand at doing a Christmas card with non-traditional colors for the longest time, but I just couldn't seem to get my mojo going, so it was off to the challenge blogs to get me going :)

The challenges that caught my attention:

The Shabby Tea Room - Pink, Aqua, and white with glitter

Perfect Sentiments - Anything goes, with Christmas

Lil' Red Wagon - Pink Themed Card

Posted by Tanya Boyle at 9:11 PM 0 comments 

More and more Christmas!

I just love Christmas, and I have missed blogging, so I might just be a little blog happy right now :).  I made this to give to my sister... I have 7 sisters, so I have lots to make, I cut up a pair of jingle bell earrings and tied them with some rafia, got my new DCWV Christmas stack, and embossed my Merry Christmas stamp... then I went in to my back yard to search for the perfect little twig to tie my jingle bells to, and a happy little card was created.  I am entering the December Celebrations challenge at Card Crafters Circle, and the All about Christmas/Hannukah challenge atUse it Tuesday, and finally the Sentimentally Yours challenge at Shopping Our Stash.

The First Noel...

I have had this stamp for quite a while but just hadn't really decided what I wanted to use it for, but then I saw my handy dandy heat embosser and knew just what I wanted to make.  This is actually a card that I made for a friend to give to someone, but I liked it so much I think I might make another one to give out myself.  The paper is DCWV and I used bronze embossing powder from  .

I am entering this card into a couple of challenges, so here goes.

Twist of Faith - Inspired by a carol
Anything Goes - Traditional Christmas colors
Cute Card Thursday - Red and Green

Sympathy Card

I had a relative pass away this month, sympathy cards are always my biggest challenge, so I did my best and here it is.  I did a 6X6 Easel card, the branch is from the Pagoda cartidge, the Bird is from Animal Kingdom, and the sentiment came from Wild Card.

 Links to this post

SUNDAY, MARCH 18, 2012

Thank You card

I made this card for my neighbor, she is always doing wonderful things and pretending she doesn't know who did them... So I decided to send an anonymous thank you card, because I am sure that I am not the only person she does wonderful things for.

Recipe

Plain white cardstock

Tim Holtz embossing folder

Stamp from Stampin' Up

Color Box ink

Bling and Ribbon from my stash

Challenges: Paper Pretties - Thank You & Party Time Tuesdays - Monochromatic

SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2012

My favorite leprechaun

 I just got my Peachy Keen stamps in the mail yesterday, I have wanted these FOREVER... WOO HOO!  So, on to my card. This is for a friend who happens to be both Irish, and African American, so I thought, who says leprechauns are white with red hair anyway? :) Hopefully my bloggy friends will appreciate it as much as he did.  

I used a Kraft cardstock base, the background paper is from the Lemon Flower Stack and the leprechaun is from the Dress Up Paper Dolls cart. Theface is from Peachy Keen Retro Stamps, and the sentiment inside is from 2 different stamps, I taped off 1/2 and stamped the first part, then did the same to the other stamp.  They are both Stampabilities.  The hinges were snuck out of my husbands garage late last night (I was like a ninja, only older).

I used several challenges for inspiration so here goes...

Peachy Keen - Anything Goes

Paper Pretties - Masculine Card

Cards for Men - Sketch

Card Crafters Circle - Orange and Green

Clear it Out - You make me smile & Use something not normally found in your craftroom.

TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2012

Birthday card for my sister.

Front  

Inside

My "baby" sister just turned 30, so I think I must be growing up...

I used the Lemon Flower Stack from DCWV, I embossed with the Polka Dots cuttlebug folder. The cupcake is from my Sweet Treats cart,and I used purple glitter glue to fill in the dots. Happy Birthday came from a cartridge which shall remain a mystery until I remember which one it was (Arghh) and I covered it with glimmer mist before I put it on.  The ribbon is BUY-THE-SPOOL, and the sentiment inside was from the dollar stamp bin at Micheal's, but I used my cool new ink brush markers. I stitched the inside with purple gel pen.



Challenges:
Fantabulous Cricut Blog - The color green
Allways something creative - Birthday
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
Pile It On - Spots or Stripes or Both
Polka Doodles - Polkadots, Stripes or Both

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2012

Card, Psalm 119:105

I haven't been in my craft room for days, so I decided that I'd better get in here and do something creative before my brain caught fire from all of the reality going on around me. :)

Front

Inside

I used DCWV and Basic Grey
paper, the lamp came from the
Heritage cartridge, and I used
gold glitter glue to light it up, the
stamp inside was TPC,
I embossed the front with a Tim
Holtz folder and used Basic
Grey ribbon on the inside. The
scripture/sentiment was printed
from my computer, I loved the
way the image at Word Art
Wednesday looked, but I
decided to go with the KJV of
the verse this time. I finished off
by inking everything with dark
brown ink from Color Box.

Challenges:

Word Art Wednesday - Psalm 119:105

Totally Paper Crafts - Ribbon

Hiding in My Craft Room - Glitter

Allsorts - Anything Goes

The Pretty Little Ribbon Shop - Anything Goes

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2012

Valentine for my mom

 This is for my mother, her favorite color in the world is purple, so of course her valentine had to be purple too. I just happen to have the best mother on the planet, so I really hope she likes this, fortunately, she's a mom... so even if I had used a box of crayons she would love it :)

Front

I just picked up The Chateau Lavender stack from DCWV and I thought it would work perfectly for the card that I wanted to make.  I kept it pretty simple, the paper was so beautiful I just added the stamp on the front, the little metal heart used to be a locket, but I broke it in half and took the loop off, I love how it turned out.

Inside

For the inside I used pale yellow cardstock and lined the bottom and the left with sheer yellow ribbon, then I cut out part of the same paper I had used on the front, I inked it and put it on top of the ribbon, then I added the bow, using the same ribbon I had put under the flowers.

I am entering this card into these challenges

Lil' Red Wagon - Cupid's Arrow

Cooking it up with Katie - A Spooled Metal Sentiment

Scrap-Creations - Valentines

Lexie's Creations - LOVE

Valentine

 I made this card to send to one of my sisters, I have 7 of them (sisters I mean) so I am trying to do something different for each of them, so my creative mojo is being tested this week.

Front

I used my Love Struck 2010 cartridge, and my gypsy to weld it,
The paper is basic grey, the embossing is Tim Holtz andthe sentiment came from a stamp that I borrowed from a friend.
The ribbon, bling, and flourish rub-on are all from my stash, and the stamp inside is from TPC Studio.

Inside

The challenges that I am entering with this card are:
Fantabulous Cricut - Use hearts
Truly Madly Crafty - Ribbon and Bling
Colour Create - Light and Dark Browns with White and/or Cream

Party Time Tuesdays - Valentines

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2012

Tranquility

I have resolved to use my embellishments that have been sitting in my stash being ignored, so this card was the result of a need to use this fabulous little fan.

 The sketch came from the Mojo Monday sketch challenge, the idea of using a different color scheme than I would normally use for this stamp set came from the Non-traditional Colors challenge at Ribbon Carousel, and the matching challenge at Paper and Such, last but certainly not least the challenge at Shopping Our Stash was to use blue as the main color for your project.

Recipe: 

Paper: Making Memories

Stamps: Stampin' Up

Everything else was just hiding around my craftroom just waiting to be used :)

TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2012

Be Strong

I am entering this card into several challenges 

Word Art Wednesday had the wonderful scripture for their challenge

 Shabby Tea Room (Sparkly and Bright)

Die Cuttin Diva's (Buttons, Bows, or Bling)

I have to give a special Thanks to the ladies at  Word Art Wednesday , although I made this card for someone else, this scripture was something that I needed very much this week.  Thank you for the wonderful challenges that you have.

Recipe:

Paper: Basic Grey, Sugared collection

Embossing: Tim Holtz

Flowers: Making Memories

SUNDAY, JANUARY 22, 2012

Delightful Valentine!

This fabulous sketch came from the Sketch Saturday Challenge.  The "mood" or style of the card was inspired bySugarcreekhollow and their "go girly" challenge.  The Paper Loving Gals, also inspired me with their beautiful yellow flowers, reminding me so much of a long awaited spring... with even longer yet to wait.

Recipe:

Tim Holtz Embossing

Stampin' Up flower stamp

Ribbon & Flowers from my stash

Basic Grey paper

 Stampabilities Sentiment stamp

Missing You

I am entering this card in 2 Challenges today

Whimsical Wednesdays "Anything goes"

&

CPS Sketches

 The digi stamp came from Heart Song Inspirations, and the sentiment came from a stamp that I snuck out of my mom's craft room, leaving only a post-it note with my name and a smile :)      

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2012

Hugs and Kisses

Today I made a card following the sketch at Come and Get it Challenges, This is for my daughter who is 16 and away from home right now, I just wanted to send her a quick reminder of how much I love her, and when I came across this sketch I had to try it out.

Front

Inside

                                                                            

Recipe:

Lemon Flower stack from DCWV 

Fiskars Apron Strings edge punch

Stamp from Stampablities

Black Ribbon (from my stash)

TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2012

Just because

This is the front of the card

I started out making this card for my daughter, but it ended up way too girly looking for this particular daughter, so I am keeping it in my stash for another occasion.  I followed a sketch from the Card Patterns challenge and will be entering it there.

Inside

I used a Kraft cardstock base and the papers are all from Basic Grey, the Sugared collection, I used some pre-cut dies from that same collection and also I added a button and some white satin ribbon from my stash.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011

Sympathy card

 Some friends of ours lost thier father this past week and I wanted to send something to let them know we were thinking of them, I used Basic Grey paper, I think it was from the Hang 10 collection, but don't quote me on it??? The stamp came from Joann's but as usual I can't remember what brand or collection (sorry).  I find sympathy cards to be the hardest for me to make, I never know what to say, but I hope that just knowing that thier in our prayers helps.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2011

Baby Announcements

 I helped a friend make her baby announcements, and I had so much fun doing it!  I wasn't really very crafty when I had my own kids, and since I can't have any more, I decided to live vicariously through someone else.  The card is double sided, so the base is just one 4 1/4 X 5 1/2 piece of kraft cardstock, this 

particular one was done on patterned paper from the Dots, stripes, & plaids stack from DCVW, we varied the backgrounds a little.  The honey pot was cut out at 4" and Pooh was done at 3 7/8, it was pretty basic, but the added touch where his picture was hidden in the honey pot made this one of 

                                                    my favorite card projects I've done.

Almost a card swap

                                                                                      This is the card/s that I made for my very first card  swap, which I unfortunately missed, I was so sad.  I used Aged and Confused by Basic Grey for my patterned paper, and I used a Tim Holtz Sizzix embossing folder for the bricks on the bottom.  The swap was supposed to be either a seasonal card, or a just because card, so for my sentiment I just used my "Family" stamp, because it is my favorite, and who doesn't love family :)

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

Just Because Card

I made this card just because the challenge took me out of my comfort zone, so I thought it would be fun to see where it went.  I combined the Die Cuttin Diva's Shabby Chic challenge, and the Basic Grey Pink and Brown challenge, and this is what I came up with. I used paper from the Basic Grey Blush stack, and a Kraft cardstock base.  The ribbon was just some pink sheer 7/8" that I had in my stash, for the edging I used a Fiskars border punch, whose name has tragically been lost in the recesses of my mind.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

Thanks!

I am entering this card into theMAG challenge, a very dear friend of mine (actually several friends) have been so very supportive as I have been going through some things in my life, and I am (hopefully) at the tail end of the most difficult of those struggles and so I am taking the opportunity to tell these beautiful women how much thier friendship and support has meant to me.  The bears are from the Doodlecharms cartridge, the paper is from the Dots and Stripes (DCWV). I embossed the bottom paper with my Swiss Dots folder and the chipboard elements are made by Provo Craft.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2011

Fall in Love

This card is 5X7, which is much bigger than I usually do, but I needed the extra room to accomadate my late night inspiration.  The vase is from the Walk in My Garden cartridge, the papers are Basic Grey, a stack called (I think) Hang Ten and a stack called Archaic.  The vase is foam taped, double thick to give enough height to fit the flower arrangement.  The sentiment is a stamp that I have used before, it came from Michaels.  I am entering this into 2 challenges, the Whimsical Wednesdays fall colors challenge, the twist on this challenge was that you had to add a handmade embellishment, and so I am sincerely hoping that my flower arrangement counts as an embellishment. I am also entering it into the Colors of Autumn over atCooking with Cricut.  Thank you for taking the time to visit, your comments are always appreciated.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

Just Because

I didn't make this card for anyone in particular, I just like to keep a stash of cards around for when you run into someone and think it would be nice to send one.  So I made this just for fun, I am entering this into the Just because challenge atWhimsical Wednesdays and I am also entering it into the challenge atThe Paper Variety. The paper is from the Sugared stack at Basic Grey and the sticker was a clear one that I had sitting around, I backed the sticker with the same paper I used to line the card, and added some white ribbon and a bow and POW! an awesome card was born... :) Have a beautiful day.

Wedding card

My friend is getting married this weekend, and I made her this card, I am entering it into the challenge over at Card Positioning Systems.  And since her decorator and coordinator both had unexpected emergencies, I also get to play wedding planner!  I am so excited, I love weddings!  The paper came from the the DCWV I think its Creme and Black??  The sentiment is a rub-on from my stash.  I always keep wedding cards simple and sweet, the occasion is more than enough, you don't even have to try to be fabulous,

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2011

You are loved

Sometimes you just get the feeling that someone needs to be reminded how much they mean to you, I ran across just such a situation today and thought I ought to follow that little voice and just say "hey, you... yeah, you over there..YOU ARE LOVED!  And so I made this card to give to my friend, whom I do not tell often enough just how important she is.  My card was made using basic grey's hang 10 paper, and I embossed the yellow part with a tim holtz brickish pattern (I never know what my embossing patterns are called, the names seem to hide from me)  I inked, twined and added a lovely stamp I found in the bargain bin at Michaels last week. Ta-Da :)

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

Birthday card

 I made this birthday card for my brother, he turned 25 last week and is feeling absolutely ancient.  I used Basic Grey Archaic collection, I did an A2 sized card, and covered all 4 sides. I am entering this in the tuesday sketch challenge over on the Peachy Keen blog.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2011

Home card

 My sister and I used to do by the page challenges, when I was going through a particularly challenging time in my life I would be having a terrible day, too much thinking etc... and my sister would call me and say grab your ???? cartridge, look on page ??? we have 1 hour, go!  Believe it or not those challenges got me through many a day I thought I wouldn't make it through, so when I came across the MAGchallenge, I just couldn't resist.  Also, I figured I could say thanks to my sister, for dropping everything to do challenges with me anytime I needed to be distracted.

Bloom where you are planted

I made this card for the challenge over at cardpatterns.blogspot.com, My creative mojo seemed to abandon me for a while so I thought I'd better just pick a challenge and make it happen.  I had so much fun once I got started, the paper is from the hippie chic stack, the stamp is from the dollar bin and the stickers came from my stash.  It was so good to be crafting again!

MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2011

Just because card

 I am entering this card into the challenge over at The Paper Variety, my paper came from the citrus stack, I embossed the green with an embossing folder from provocraft, but I don't remember the name of the folder, I love color challenges because I tend to stick to the same old colors all of the time and I would like to broaden my range a little.  The joy stamp was borrowed so I am not sure where it came from.  I inked everything in brown and added some yellow ribbon, and I was good to go.

THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2011

Sympathy card,made with my brother

 This card was made last minute by myself and my little brother, he's almost 32, but definately a man when it comes to crafting... He came in at about 8:30pm and asked if I would help him make a card "real quick".  It was a sympathy card, which is by far the hardest kind for me to make, so we got started.  We managed to get done in less than 2 hours, start to finish... so there I am totally amazed at my own awesomeness (I mean we had to do the whole stare blankly at the wall until an idea hits you, then hope that a color scheme comes to mind to fit said idea, then pray that some embellishments will start waving at you screaming pick me, pick me!) So there I am loving that we got it done so quickly and he sighs, "I had no idea this would take so long, whew".  It dawned on me that he truly had meant "really quick" since he had only seen finished products and didn't know what crafters actually do...  I decided that I should let someone know that "really quick" in crafty time is closer to 2 hours than 10 minutes.   Anyway the card is 5X7 and the front says yesterday, today, tomorrow...the papers are from Basic Grey, the Romani collection, the twine is just plain old regular twine from wal-mart.  Added a flourishy little stamp and

a flower from my stash,  inside the card there is a border from my Graphically Speaking cart and the word Forever, also some little sticker dove's and finally the last side says Family, and there is a God Bless sticker from my stash.  Hopefully my brother will love his creation, and I hope it will bring a smile to the face of someone who needs it.

MONDAY, JUNE 27, 2011

Fourth of July

 

This card is being entered into 2 challenges.Whimsical Wednesday andCricut Cardz. The challenge at Cricut Cardz was to use the flag and any cricut cartridge, and the Whimsical Wednesday challenge was to do a patriotic card using either brads, bling or buttons.  I did a standard A2 size card, I started with ivory cardstock, and used black to mat before I added any images.  I cut red and white strips at 1/2" to do the stripes and I used blue glitter paper from the Tradewinds paperpack with sticky bling for the stars.  The snake was cut at 3 1/2" from the Create-a-Critter cartridge, and I added google eyes, just because he was cute that way.  The snake is stitched in white as are the outside borders of the red stripes. The white stripes are stitched in red.  Inside I made the balloon that is found on the same page on Create-a-Critter, also cut at 3 1/2".  I used bright shiny red paper and added a blue ribbon, just to keep the red white and blue theme going. On the front I used gold stickers for the word happy, they were from the clearance rack at walmart (not sure what brand) and the 4th was printed on my computer and cut out with my fiskars circle punch.

THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 2011

 I made this birthday card for 2 challenges,Crickets Cricut Creations is doing a challenge, anything birthday :) and Whimsical Wednesdayswas having a color inspiration challenge, they showed us a picture and we could use Red, Yellow, and one other color (found in the picture) of our choice.  I chose orange to add to the yellow and red.  I don't usually use orange a lot but I got these super cute flowers in the mail today and I couldn't resist.  the sentiment is from the classic font cartridge. I used a gem for the dot in the I and used glitter glue all over the yellow part of the words.  The paper is from the Citrus Stack, and the flowers were a gift, so I am not sure where they came from.  I used red gems for the insides of all of the flowers.  Inside I just layered Cranberry red with the same citrus I used on the outside and pale yellow.  I put some twine and a button inside, and some twine on the front just to add a little more, also on the front I stitched the orange and yellow parts with a white gel pen.

TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2011

Forever Young

I used the Forever Young cartridge to cut out the

woman and the mirror, both at 3", for the mirror 

I used silver/grey cardstock and used glitter glue to

make it sparkle.  The sentiment was made on my 

Design Studio, using the Base Camp cartridge. 

Everything is inked in a dark forrest green and the

ribbon is just cranberry 1\4" ribbon from wal-mart

I wrapped it around 3 times to make it as thick as 

I needed it.  I used sticky bling for the choker and 

the design on the mirror. 

On the inside I left it mostly blank for writing, the image is from Inspired Hearts, cut at 2", I cut the shadow a second time at 2 1/4 to add some depth.  Last but not least I added a bow, just to make the middle tie in a little better with the front of the card.

SUNDAY, JUNE 5, 2011

Just Because

This card was to give to someone just because, no special occasion.  It is 8 1/2" tall and 4" wide.  I used craft cardstock, and the flower on the front is from Stretch Your Imagination.  The sentiments inside all came from the Inspired Heart cartridge.  I used glittery gluey stuff on the flower and leaves, and dotted the i's with little gems.  The front of the card is all inked in forest green/brown everything else was inked in brown.  I forgot to take a picture before I wrote in it, so the picture of the inside has been photo-shopped just a little to blur the words that I had written.

SUNDAY, MAY 15, 2011

Tri-fold Card

 I made this as a birthday card for my friend Melanie, it looked super cute until my 2 year old sprayed it with windex... I just got my Forever Young cartridge and I have been waiting to try it out, I haven't really had time yet, but thats where the flower came from I think I cut it at 2".  All of the paper is from my Natural Stack and I inked the edged of everything with dark brown then I stitched around the edges with my cranberry gel pen, and I was good to go.  I liked how it turned out (minus the windex)