If a Card Could Exude Happiness...

Just uploaded and posted the following card to SCS for today's inspiration challenge (IC237) and I gotta tell ya this card just makes me wanna smile.

It's kind of like you're staring into the face of sunshine. It's bright, it's bold, and it has an amazing quote on it! Aaaaahhhhh....I just want to bask in it's radiance. HAHH! ;)




I loved the inspiration shop, Loveartworks Clay Originals. Who couldn't be inspired by something there? I was a little overwhelmed by everything, to be honest, but I love her use of color and the quotes she puts on some of her pieces. I went with that.

Hope you're all having a FABULOUS weekend! And thanks, so much, for stopping by.


{Supplies:
Paper: Colored c/s - (SU!), white (Georgia Pacific)
Ink: Elegant Eggplant (SU!)
Stamps: The Artist In You (Donna Downey for Unity)
Accessories: Flowers (Prima), Pearl, brads (SU!), Corner Chomper (We-R-Memorny Keepers) }


All my best,

Best Dad In the World

I participated in my VERY first sketch challenge yesterday on Splitcoaststampers (it's SC285, and the link to the challenge is HERE <-- click) and I decided to make it a Father's Day card for my dad. I knew I wanted to use my new DP from Tim Holtz called Lost & Found, but I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do.

My original plan kind of fell apart when I realized I didn't have enough metal letter charms, so I went a different route and I really like how this turned out. I used the map paper and spelled out "Dad" with letter stickers from Jolee. The stickers were WAY too light so I sponged them darker with Coffee Arhival ink (Ranger). I love archival ink!

I also hand cut 1" squares out of swirl-embossed Grungeboard and used Perfect medium and a combination of two colors of Perfect Pearls to create a really neat color for the tiles. (Too bad you can't really see it in the photo, but they're soooo pretty!) Perfect Pearls are so much fun.

I added the metal arrow hardware (kind of like compass arrows to guide your way :) ). Anyway, using the map as my main "theme" and knowing it was a Father's Day card I knew what I wanted it to say on the inside to I printed my sentiment on cardstock. It says: "Happy Father's Day to the Best Dad in the World".

He's a great dad. And is hope he likes his card. I loved making it for him.





{Supplies:
Paper: C/S Oceans Tide (PTI), Naturals White & Choc. Chip (SU!); DSP - Lost & Found (Tim Holtz), Max & Whiskers (Basic Grey)
Ink: Distress Inks (Tim Holtz), Archival Ink (Ranger)
Accessories: Letter Stickers (Jolee), Grungeboard & Metal Findings (Advantus), Perfect Pearls (Ranger), Square Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Die-cutting/Embossing Machine (Cuttlebug by Provocraft) }

All my best,

In Honor of Flag Day

There's a challenge going on over at Splitcoast Stampers right now for the Clean and Simple group called "Things That Fly" (click HERE for the challenge). Well, I decided to participate today by making a card in honor of Flag Day.

Not much is known (I'm sure) about Flag Day. But here is a teeny snippet of information I pulled up from Wiki:

It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States, which happened that day by resolution of the Second Continental Congress in 1777.

I think that's pretty cool!

Now, I'm fiercely patriotic. I signed the dotted line, held up my right hand, and swore to defend my country by serving in the military. So making this card was pretty straight forward...sort of. I decided to drop one of the stars down and not really make it *look* like a flag. The "fallen" star is to commemorate all those fallen soldiers who, like me, also signed, held up THEIR hands and swore to defend this great country of ours. They...are MY heroes.



If you have a flag I hope it's out there flying high & waving proudly today.


{Supplies:
Paper: C/S (Enchanted Evening - PTI), White (Gina K Designs)
Ink: Distress Inks (Tim Holtz), Night of Navy (SU!), Jet Black Archival (Ranger)
Stamps: Star Prints (PTI), Bountiful Backgrounds (Verve)
Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder (Ranger), Star Punch (SU!)}


All my best,

May VSN Puddle Jumper Winner

Okay. So we all know that I did the VSN because Lydia FORCED me to, right? Right! ;) I really also did it because my mojo had all but disappeared. Soooo not good. (For anyone who says they need mojo? I can identify in ways that you just will never understand and will say prayers to the mojo gods on your behalf.)

Anyway, when I did the VSN I kinda trudged along and did the best I could. Some things I really liked how they ultimately turned out (which you may have seen in earlier posts) and some I thought were just, well, meh. What I have learned is that beauty really IS in the eye of the beholder. Really!!!

Two of the cards I felt the most "meh" about were two that seemed to leave the biggest impression somehow. One was the CAS (clean and simple) card that got picked for a CAS Weekly Favorite. Total shocker. The other was this card:



It was for the watercolor challenge and to use brown. I didn't use brown (other than a little tea dye ink) in my image just a lot of brown in the paper and ribbon. Actually, it's a fairly straight forward card. And I thought my water-coloring was awful! My hands shook so bad...I colored outside the lines. I was embarrassed to post it. But, I did it anyway.

Well.

It got picked as one of the WINNERS, yes, WINNERS!! for the May VSN (Virtual Stamp Night). The card is considered a "Big Puddle Jumper Winner". Still not sure what that means, but I'm very honored and excited.

Thanks to all of you who have been kind enough to look at all these posts recently, to comment, and be so supportive. I cannot possibly thank you enough!!

Hope you all have an AMAAAAZING weekend. Hugs to you all!


All my best,

A Card With a Wish!

I've been so bad with the whole card-making thing lately. I did VSN amidst craft room/office madness. Seriously, it was a disaster zone (HazMat suits were a requirement to get in there it was so bad)!! But, I knew there were a few cards that really needed to get made. I just couldn't get them done until the room was back in order. Eddy's eldest sister's birthday card was one that got delayed. (I felt horrible, too.)

So, now that order has been restored to the room and I can craft & create in a reasonable state of calm again I knew I needed to make that birthday card. Since she's being forced to wait for it I figured I try to make her something really special. I received some really beautiful paper (FOR FREE!!!!) from Eclectic Paperie in my last order from them so I decided to use that along with some Tim Holtz goodness and a little Core'dinations in the Jenni Bowlin line (it's so yummy!). Anyway (enough babbling)...here's what I made for her:



I love using all those little metal findings from Tim Holtz. They're so fun and add such a cool touch. The inside is really neat, too, but my camera's battery died. Boo hoo! Sorry.

Thanks for stopping by to have a look at what I've created today. Hope you like it!

{Supplies:
Paper: C/S (Stampin' Up!), DSP (MME - Bloom & Grow), Specialty - Core'dinations (Jenni Bowlin Collection), Grungepaper (Tim Holtz Ideaology)
Ink: Distress Inks (Tim Holtz for Ranger)
Stamps: Birthday Basics (Inside card) (PTI)
Accessories: Tattered Florals Sizzix Die (Tim Holtz for Sizzix), Adage ticket, Metal findings, Rock Candy Crackle Paint, Glossy Accents (Tim Holtz/Ranger), Lace (from stash).
Die-Cutting/Embossing: Cuttlebug (Provocraft)}


All my best,

Me? A CAS Favorite? Huh?

So I did the VSN thingy, right? And one of the cards was for a certain color-combo, and I did it. But I was a little unsure, so I kind of really didn't do much with it. I felt a little un-easy about the card. It felt a little "blah". Not much going on, y'know? But I loved the stamp set & went with it.

So...a week has passed.

IT GOT PICKED AS A CAS (Clean And Simple) Fan Favorite over on Splitcoast Stampers this week!!!!!!!! I'm so excited!!! This is a really big deal.

Here's the card:



Soooo not my usual style, right? :)

And here's the link to my super nice shout-out on Splitcoast Stampers <-- click And A HUGE, MASSIVE heartfelt thank you to my dearest honey-bunches-of-oats, Lydia. Who encouraged me to participate in VSN...THEN encouraged me again to select that card and tag it for CAS, also. What would I do without you, my friend? You are a shining light in a sometimes scary world. xoxo

All my best,

I've "DIED" and Gone to Heaven!

Ever since I first saw this Flowers 3-D Sizzix Bigz Die on my enabler (Lydia) friend's, blog here: Flower Pot Beautifulness I knew it MUST be mine! I mean, c'mon...HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!

I know a lot of people punch scallops/circles out and then cut the little swirly things by hand, but why? When you can buy this die and do a squillion of 'em?! YAY!!

I ordered it from the only place that seemed to have it in stock (thanks again to Ms. Lydia) and had it in my hot little hands within two days! Yippee! I ordered Wednesday AFTERNOON and had it today! So fabby. So as soon as I ripped open that package I had to start making a card. Without further ado, I present:



Don't those flowers just make you wanna squeal? Just a little? :D And you can adjust how small or large you make them by tightening or loosening them up. Love that!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! And thanks for popping by to have a look.


{Supplies:
Cardstock & DSP: SU!
Ink: Versamark (Tsukineko), Distress Inks (Tim Holtz)
Stamp: Mega Mixes Messages (PTI), Flower Lines (SU!)
Border Punches: EK Success (1 punch for SU!)
Ribbon: Stash
Die: Flowers 3-D Bigz Die (Sizzix)
Accessory: Corner Chomper (We-R-Memory Keepers), White Embossing Powder (SU!)



All my best,

My Mojo Went MIA! But It's BAAAACK!!! :)

Sorry for my extremely lengthy absence. It happens to the best of us. Kind of like when our creativity ignores us just like a moody teenager. That's pretty much what happened to me. It was not pretty.

So my dear bloggy/Twitter/Facebooking friend Lydia (@understandblue - her awesome blog HERE) upon hearing my predicament suggested I try the Virtual Stamp Night over at Splitcoaststampers . Of course, initially, I recoiled at the idea. Who? Me? Stamp a whole pile of stuff in a limited amount of time? 45 minutes for EACH project?! ARE YOU INSANE, WOMAN?!?! But, that Lydia, she's a tricky one. Somehow she worked some magic on me and I participated. :)

I didn't get to make ALL of the projects since we went to Napa on Saturday. But I did make 13 cards & a bookmark. Yay!!

So, I thought I'd post a few pics of some of MY faves. (One even got featured on Splitcoast's Facebook page & Twitter feed! How awesome is that?!?!)













Now these are just 8 cards! If you wanna see the others, please check out my gallery in SCS. Which you can do from the button over there. See it? It says something about My Gallery on Splicoast? ;) A few of the other cards feature some of the awesome stamp sets by that sweetheart, Kelly, of Lawn Fawn Stamps.

Thanks for stopping by today & hopefully I'll be way more creative again in the future!



All my best,