Flopsey Gets Embellished

The current challenge at Embellish Magazine is to use the colors brown, red, pink and yellow and to incorporate felt. Since this challenge is sponsored by MFT, I got out my Flopsey Cupcake and found some pink felt in my stash. The rick rack strips are made with the MFT die, and I ran the brown and yellow layers through two times to get different thicknesses of the rick rack. I love how it turned out! And I have to mention that the die ran through the pink self-adhesive felt like magic! I LOVE their dies and am restraining myself from running over to buy them all!

Flopsey is colored with brown pencils and then flocked, and has tiny black pearls for eyes. Let me tell you, I think Fun Flock is NOT. I never used it before and maybe it takes practice, but I wasn't sure how to best apply it. The frosting of the cupcake is also in the pink felt, colored over with a glitter pen. The patterned paper is from Basic Grey, the Junebug 6x6 pad. I love those patterns but am never sure when to use them (never mind mixing them!). This one has pink red and yellow, though, so here it is!

Here's a close-up of the cupcake:



Phew! This card did me in for today. I've got low energy anyway because our house alarm went off in the middle of the night and I couldn't get back to sleep till about 2, and I get up at 6. Justin heard the alarm and thought it was morning! Luckily Carter slept right through it. Thanks for looking!

Origins, Embellished Style

The current Embellish Challenge is to use the colors light green, dark green, yellow and kraft, along with paper piecing as a technique. It is sponsored by MFT stamps, so I chose to use my new Who's That Harvest Girl set to create this cute card.

The patterned papers are all from Basic Grey's Origins 6x6 pad, and I even pieced the handle of the basket! I also used some Certainly Celery scraps and Kraft. I love how this card turned out. The twine is from my stash, and and green mesh ribbon is from MFT. The sentiment is cut with the plain and scalloped circle Nestabilities dies. The apples are colored with Prismacolor pencils, blended and topped with a glaze pen.

I hope you are having a good weekend. I planted some herbs in pots on my patio. Now that the weather is cooling off a tiny bit, maybe they will grow! It's taking us forever to find a contractor to complete our outdoor patio and kitchen and garden area and we are getting frustrated. Hopefully we'll have hired someone soon and can be done before the end of the year!

Thanks for looking!

Merry Wishes

I finally broke down and ordered this little Pure Innocence cutie from MFT a few weeks ago. I love paper piecing her outfit!! For this card, I used some papers from the Basic Grey Olivia pad and some yummy ribbon and a scalloped card base that came with the MFT VIP kit last month. This paper pad is great for Christmas, too!

While trying to photograph the card, I realized that the stand for our mailbox is perfect. Since we have no neighbors yet, there is only our mailbox on the double stand. The lot is not sold yet, so I'll have my new spot for a while. I got the new Mac computer with Aperture for a photo program, and the learning curve is SO steep, it's going to take me a year to figure out how to edit photos and save them as the right file size. Seriously, I need more time in the day!

Hope you're having a happy Thursday. Thanks for looking!

Baby Love

Since we are done having children, I will never have a baby girl, but I do so love the pink stuff! Luckily, our friends have girls and I can get the girly part of me out on them...

This card came together very quickly the other day, with some pink gingham that was on my desk along with the pink and white polka dots. I added a scallop edge punch, heart punch and sentiment from MFT (who also made the onesie stamp).

There you go. Done. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Can you believe it's almost the last week of April already? Yikes!! Thanks for looking!

More Fun Window Shopping

While these images and papers were on my desk last week, I made two more cards using the MFT Window Shopping set. This is such a fun set to piece! You can make yourself the perfect color shoes and boots :)

The papers are from BG Sultry and Perhaps pads. I think they are pretty self-explanatory - paper piecing on the dress and shoes, some Bella Dots and ribbon, and there you have it.

I hope you are all having a good week. Thanks for looking!

Shoe Sale!

I should be working on my list of challenges to complete this week, but instead I made this fun card. My mom needs a birthday card for a friend in April, and I was playing with ideas. This was really fun to paper piece!! I used the BG Sultry pad and MFT's Window Shopping. Who doesn't love a shoe sale? The sentiment is from the SAB set I just got, Happy Moments. The ink is Melon Mambo. I am loving that color this week after using it for the SCS Color Challenge lately.

Well, I'm off to lunch with friends, which means I actually have to get dressed in real clothes and get Carter ready to go. Thanks for looking!

Sultry Girls Day In

This week's sponsor for the CPS sketch is MFT and since I recently got a few new WTG sets, I decided to make a girly-girl card. I really should have been working on Christmas cards, Thank You cards and December birthday cards, but this was more fun at the moment.

Can you use an MFT set and NOT paper piece? I can't seem to. Especially with this yummy BG Sultry paper! If I had a million dollars, I would have every BG item there is out there. And a bigger craft room to house them all. And a nanny to watch the kidlets so I could stamp. And a chef to cook dinner so I could stamp while the nanny watched the children. You get the idea. Sadly, I don't have a million dollars...

We had a nice quiet weekend and yesterday was gorgeous outside. DS is fighting a cold/sinus infection and I'm just hoping he is well next week so we can travel to my mom's for Thanksgiving. Today, I'm off to do a little more Christmas shopping. I want to be done before the end of November. Malls in NJ is December are a nightmare!

Thanks for looking!

Sending Love

Carter is about to wake up from his nap, but I wanted to post this card I was able to whip together the other day. It only took about 15 minutes, which is record time for me! It is going to DH's aunt, who is having some health issues right now. Hopefully it brings a smile to her face and lets her know we are thinking of her!

The base is SU! Pretty in Pink, the embossing is a Nesties rectangle die and the butterflies are Maya Road rubons. My LSS had a buy-one-get-one sale on rubons so I stocked up. I love that there are so many butterflies of all sizes on these sheets! The stamp is the flourish from Baroque Motifs. Sentiment is MFT. It was a terrible rainy day, and the photo isn't the best, but I didn't want to wait for sunshine.

The in-laws arrive tomorrow, so hopefully that means some time in my stamp room over the next week while they play with Carter. I need to dig it out and find that lost Bella stamp and get re-organized. See you then. Thanks for looking!

Gettin' Digi With It...

Maybe I'm dating myself by using a spin-off of a Will Smith song for a blog post title, but it fits...
Did you see that MFT was giving away FREE digi stamps this weekend? I've been skeptical of these digital stamps, because I like the mess of inky fingers and stuff all over my desk. But I have to say that this digital image was SO easy to download and alter to fit exactly how I wanted it on my card! MFT did attach a stipulation to the free image - you have to use it to make a card to send to someone who could use a pick-up. I chose Flopsey "Pulling for You" and made this card for my aunt, who is undergoing chemo and radiation for a recent cancer diagnosis.
The sketch is from Techno Stamper's weekly sketch challenge, which I have not gotten to play along with in a very long time. The sketches are printed out, but I have not sat at my stamp desk in about 8 weeks (that's how old Carter is now!). Last night I pulled out my new June Bug BG paper pad and got busy. The base is Bazzill, and the flower was from my stash. The sentiment is computer generated, layered on the word window punch and new label punch.
We are having another rainy and cold day here today, and Carter is not napping lately (anyone have any insight into an 8-week old that won't nap?), so who knows if I'll get to stamp again any time soon. But thanks for looking!!

Mom, Cindy, Brenda, Kristin, Michelle - DON'T LOOK!

These thank you cards are in the mail to all the kind folks who sent us baby presents. It took forever to get them made between naps and nursing, but I do like how they ended up. I used Flopsey and paper pieced her with Delicate Dots dp from SU! The flowers are also paper pieced and the centers are sparkled up with Stickles. It's the same paper pack I used for the baby announcements and I have almost finished the whole pack!! One pack of paper down, many many more to go...

The sketch is actually from CPS last Sunday. It's a miracle that I actually finished a project with a sketch the same week it was posted. It's the little things that are making me happy now. I seem to have this irrational need to *get things done* during the day, which just doesn't happen with a new baby. But I can't let it go and it's making me crazy! It shouldn't take three days of planning to actually get the bills paid and mailed! Oh, well, the little Chunk o' Love is growing and is up to 10lbs 5oz at his 6-week checkup yesterday. He was 6lbs 9oz at birth! And I got my first real smile yesterday :)

I hope you all have a wonderful World Card Making Day. If the stars are aligned, I will get to create a bit later. At least to make a birthday card for a party this afternoon! Thanks for looking!

Gerber Inpired CAS23

This week's CAS challenge is to choose an image from Art.com and use it as inspiration. Here's the image I chose: Three Gerberas. Of all the challenges posted in a week, this is one of my favorites of all. The base of my card is Kraft, and the green layer is a sheet of Making Memories from a Christmas dp pack. The flower stamp is unknown, and I know it's not really a gerber daisy, but it worked! The colors are Summer Sun, Cameo Coral and Rose Red. The white panel is scored to make a frame and I also scored the Kraft layer on either side of the sentiment. The sentiment is from MFT.

Almost time to pick up DS from camp. Hopefully he'll want to craft later and I can get more done! Have a good afternoon and thanks for looking!

Bedding Inspired Thank You

My in-laws sent me a gift card to a craft store for my birthday earlier this week, and I wanted to make a special Thank You card for them. In yesterday's mail, there was a Bed Bath and Beyond flyer that has this bedding on the cover:




I just think the colors are gorgeous and cheery, so I set out to use them this morning. But can you believe (gasp! Horror!) that I don't own a fleur de lis stamp? In all the stamps I have, that is one that I'm missing. I might have to hop over to PTI later and remedy that situation :)

Instead, I used Verve's Filigree Fantasy. The striped strips are from SU! Happiness and the sentiment is MFT. I used Gable Green ink and the Aqua petal from my Colorbox set that I have had forever. The papers are from the craft store and the flowers are Primas. For some reason, the colors are a bit washed out in the photo, but I'm too lazy to go somewhere else to take another pic. How bad is that?

Well, we have a lunch date at 12, and I have some other things to get done before we go. If you choose, please make a card using this bedding as inspiration and post it here in the comments! I'd love to see what you come up with :) Thanks for looking!

Sunshine Inspired

This week's CPS sketch was a fun one, and I combined it with the SCS Color Combination from yesterday. The Color Combo was Creamy Caramel, Apricot Appeal, Tempting Turquoise and Baja Breeze.

The stamps are all from By the Seashore by MFT. The base card is Tempting Turquoise and the dp are from my stash, so I don't have the details. The image layers are Baja Breeze and Apricot Appeal. The image is stamped in Creamy Caramel and paper pieced and colored with Bic markers. Those MFT stamps are too much fun to paper piece!! The sentiment is stamped in TT and the small sun image is cut from the dp and I added a bauble to the center.

I think this card has the most layers of all the cards I have made to date. I like it, even though it will definitely take extra postage! Well, my morning time is up and it's time to pick up DS from camp. He's going from 9-12 four days a week and is having a blast so far. Today is a gorgeous day outside, so I'm sure we'll be in the pool after lunch. I hope you are all enjoying some sunshine as well. Thanks for looking!

Use It! Challenge #16

The other morning while DS had a friend over to play (read: keep him entertained so I could craft), I put together this cute card using my new MFT Flopsey stamp. The Use It! challenge this week was to include an image inspired by nature (see the flowers), polka dots, and your favorite embellishment (right now mine is rhinestones!). The final challenge is to send it off to someone and this will be headed in the mail soon. The DP is DCWV and the ribbon is from Target's dollar spot a year or so ago. Flopsey is colored with prismacolor pencils and blended and the flowers are paper pieced. I also sponged the image panel so it wasn't so stark white against all that pink. This has got to be the pinkest card I've ever made!

Today is rather cloudy, but still warm. I'm ready for a nap already and it's not even lunch time! I received my new SU! Catty the other day from my demo, Cindy, and would love to laze on the couch combing through it. Cindy has some FAB blog candy on her blog right now to celebrate her birthday today, and some great ribbon/dp shares. Go check her out!

DS is going to want to go in the pool after lunch, so duty calls! I hope you are enjoying the day. Thanks for looking!

Two Down, Two to Go

My DH and I have mixed families, which means there are lots of cards to make come Mother's Day and Father's Day. Here are the cards I made for his dad and stepdad. Still to be done are my stepdad's card, and a card for DH. Actually, the latter is made, but I can't post it in case he peeks at my blog!

For the first card, I used Furnished with Love and embossed the fan. I masked the sentiment from the image and then stamped it along with "you're" from one of my Verve stamps. The black layer on the banner is twill tape. For the second card, I used some of the Amy Butler paper that has been in my scrap stash for a while. I love it, but was reluctant to use it up. I have enough for a few more cards that I will save for a later occasion. The image is from Lovely as a Tree, stamped in True Thyme. The blue layers are scrap and the sentiment is from MFT. The square snaps are from my never-ending stash of embellishments.

Today, it's time to clean the bathrooms and do the dusting. Yippee. I may make myself do the bathrooms before allowing myself time in the craft room. This weekend we are headed to NH again and I also have to be sure our laundry is done before we go. So the next few days will be busy, but I do have a few more things to post. I hope you are having a good week and the sun is shining in your neck of the woods! Thanks for looking!

Graduation Invitations

Phew, I got these finished and in the mail to my mother earlier this week. My (much younger) brother is graduating from high school, and I made these invitations to his party. Of course, what started out as 20 turned into 40, so it took a few days to crank them all out. It was fun, though, and I hope they like them! Papers are from the craft store and the stamps inside are So Inviting by MFT and some dollar stamps from Studio G. The mortar boards are 2.5 inch squares and the tassels are made with embroidery floss, attached with black brads (that were silver, and I embossed them black).

Well, we are off to a busy Saturday with soccer, hair cut for DS, and a birthday party this afternoon. Also, DH is busy getting things ready for his big business trip, which starts tomorrow morning. Just me and DS for 3 weeks!

Have a good weekend, and thanks for looking!

Happy Birthday - TechnoStamper Style!

I sat down tonight to make a few birthday cards, and decided to use this week's TechnoStamper Monday Lunchtime Sketch as the guide for the first one. Let me just say that I do love this sketch, but ovals are the bane of my existence! I'm ready to jump online and order the oval nesties to make my life easier. Too bad I've decided to cut back on my spending for a while...

This card will go to my SIL (hope you're not reading this, Chris!). The paper is DCVW Spring Stack, the solid layers are Marigold Morning and the images are from MFT Icing on the Cake (cupcakes and candles) and Hanna Stamps Tis the Season (presents). All images were colored with my Bic Mark It markers. The center cupcake is Stickled and the cherries are Ruby Red Liquid Pearls. The brads are Queen and Co.

Have a good night! Thanks for looking!

Today's Limited Supply Challenge

Since DH brought DS to daycare this morning, I had time to check out the Limited Supply Challenge and get a jump on it. The challenge is to use orange and coffee. Of course, I should be packing for vacation, but wanted to finish this card first. The dp is all from the White Out collection by We R Memory Keepers. Love these colorful patterns! The stamps are all MFT, Hot Stuff. I paper pieced her shirt and mug, then stamped the three hanging mugs on patterned paper and cut them out. In the upper left hand corner is a photo corner stamped with the coffee bean stamp from this set. I also separated the sentiment, adding extra ellipses with my small embossing stylus dipped in the Chocolate Chip ink. The steam from the cup is drawn over with my Sakura glaze pen. Ribbon is from my stash, brads are Making Memories.

Ok, off to create a few more posts so that I'm not totally MIA while away next week. Oh, and by the way, we are headed right up the coast to Cape Cod with Hanna tomorrow! Should be a fun drive, huh?

I wish you all good weather wherever you happen to be. Enjoy the weekend! Thanks for looking!

Wide Load...

Allison's weekly challenge was to use fat ribbon on a card. You can view details HERE. I combed through my stash until I found this pretty green/blue shimmery ribbon. It's just over an inch wide. Most of my wide ribbons are just shy of 1 inch, so I was happy to find that I actually had some material to play this challenge. I only just found the felt I could have used a couple weeks ago!

The backstory of this card is from our vacation in June. When we were with my brother and SIL and kids, my neice had the cutest shirt on one day. It was light blue with butterflies across the front in purple, yellow, pink, green and orange. I have had that shirt in my mind ever since vacation and I just today got it out onto a card. Base is Certainly Celery, with a dark brown layer and a Soft Sky layer that was run through the Swiss Dots embossing folder. The butterflies are from Fluttering By by Verve. I added microbeads to the butterfly bodies and mounted the cut-out ones over a stamped Chocolate Chip butterfly. The tag is a Cuttlebug die also, stamped with a sentiment from MFT's Icing on the Cake.

I am quite pleased with how this card turned out, although next time I might make a long card to fit more butterflies...

Thanks, Allison, for another fun challenge!

Taylor's Cupcake Challenge #17!

I just love the sketch Taylor posted this week for the Cupcake Challenge, #17. Here's what I had in my mind, that actually made it onto paper today. My card is full of cupcakes, and I am very pleased with it.

I used Cuppacakeabella, an image I got from my SBS Sister Rachel. Don't you just love this Bella? She was tons of fun to color, and I used my Prismacolors and blended with OMS. The sentiment, the cupcake stamps on the side and the shadow under the main cupcake are from MFT, Icing on the Cake. The sprinkles on the cupcakes is the tiny flower stamp from Verve Visual's Floral Whimsy. The dp is Miss Elizabeth's from the dollar store and the panels are mounted on yellow and purple scraps. The small cupcakes are cut and mounted on pop-dots and have red rhinestones for cherries. The large cupcake has red Stickles for a cherry, and a stem drawn with a black glaze pen. The ribbon is from the craft store and I paper pierced the white panels to dress them up a bit.

I hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend - one more day to go! DH left for Europe on business today, so it's just me and DS for the week again. Let's hope he cooperates better than last time! Thanks for looking!