FancyCrafty{Me}

My First CropStop Card - FUN!

2012-02-02T08:00:00.094-07:00

This is my 2nd post for the day! If you are looking for MTME's Pretty Pattern's sketch scroll down to the next post. Can you believe that I have TWO cards for you today? I'm so excited to be on CropStop's Design Team and am posting my first card as such. This is the first month that the CropStop Design team are using a theme AND a sketch! You'll find the sketch on the CropStop's Blog . So without further adieu, here's my card!:

I was trying to figure out how to incorporate numbers into my card and then it hit me - the number can be spelled out! "You're one in a million" just seemed like the right touch. I used the most gorgeous designer paper: DCWV's "The French Country Stash"

I love the other sentiment that I used: "When I want to see Love defined, I look at you!" I wanted it to look like it was part of the paper so I stamped it lightly in pink.

I love butterflies so I just had to use Tim Holt's butterflies. I only inked up one butterfly at a time and punched them out with my postage stamp punch. I distressed the postage stamps and the note with distress inks for a vintage look.

More seam binding! This time I used some that was only slightly crinkled. I fussed and fiddled until I had it just like I wanted. I put a gold heart charm on top of the center of the bow.

Lovely dimensions!

Thank you for your visit. I appreciate all visits and lovely comments so much! It always makes my day to read them.

Please stop by CropStop's blog and see what the other team members made for your enjoyment. I hope you will play along with us!

What's in it:

Stamps: Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps PAPILLON, Tim Holtz Rubber Stamp FLORAL SWIRL Flower Stampers Anonymous,Tim Holtz Rubber Stamp PARIS MARK Post Stampers Anonymous,

Adhesives: Score Tape, Zots singles medium

Dies: Spellbinder's Classic Triple Scallop,

punches: I used both Stampin' Up's and Creative Memorie's postage stamp punches, Stampin' Up's ticket punch

Embellishments: seam binding (from my stash), zva pearls,

inks: Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Tea Dye and antique linen.

MTME Pretty Patterns sketch #46

2012-02-02T02:12:00.000-07:00

WOWZA! I can't believe we are on sketch #46! Time flies when you're having fun! Sometimes I use that sentence sarcastically but today it's sooo true! I enjoy getting crafty and making fun pretties. We're also now in February of 2012 which means that Valentine's day is just around the corner. I thought it would be fitting to make a Valentine's card.

I used the "Be My Valentine" heart stamp from MTME's digi set Sweet Sentiments. The gorgeous paper is MTME's digi set s"Candy Kisses" and Amour.

The rose die (above) and swirls (below) are a part of one die which is "Lace Rose and Flourishes" from Cherry Lynn Designs. Not many companies carry this brand of dies but Joan does and that's where I bought mine. (Joan is wonderful and through her online store I've become friends with her.)

Yummm.... crinkled seam binding! I have had people ask how I make my bows and I'll post a tutorial sometime. I just want you to know that it may look like I threw it together quickly but to be honest, I usually fiddle with my bows... twisting, turning and using either mini glue dots or other adhesive to hold parts of it in place. If you get frustrated with your bows... just keep working at it. I have a neighbor who helped us with my son's & his bride's wedding flowers. Now that's someone who can make gorgeous bows in no time! She said that it's easy... after the first thousand. lol

The red doily is from Lifestyle Crafts called "Nesting Doily Hearts".

You can see the layers on the card below.

Thank you for your visit. I appreciate all visits and comments so much! It always makes my day to read your lovely comments.

Please stop by My Time Made Easy's blog and see what the other team members made. I hope you will stop by and play along with us!

Fabulous News & COUPON!!!

2012-01-31T00:56:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to announce that I have been accepted to the CropStop Creative Design Team! Woo-hoo! I could hardly believe it when I got Vicki's email congratulating me a couple of weeks ago. I am soooo excited! Below is the formal announcement on their blog introducing several of us new design team members.

Meet the New CropStop Creative Team Members!

We had an extremely overwhelming response to our CropStop Creative Team call. Thank you so much to everyone that applied for our team. Please watch for future calls and be sure to submit again.

It was a long road to choosing and finalizing our choices and getting the details in order and...

We are happy to announce the addition of 4 members to our CropStop Creative Crew!
A huge welcome to....

Carina Hella

Lisa Watson

Nancy Jensen

Nazeema Bastian

They will be joining us for the next 6 months. Ladies, we look forward to working with you and sharing your creative inspiration and goodness on our CropStop Challenge Blog.

You can read more about them on our Creative Team Member page. Just click on the "Creative Team" tab in the left sidebar of the blog!

We are sad to say good-bye to fellow Creative Team Members, Agnieszka Marchel and Kathleen Hernandez. It has been a pleasure working with you and sharing your creative abilities on our CropStop Challenge Blog the past 6 months. Thank You!

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I also have a coupon for 10% off your WHOLE ORDER at the CropStop store! Normally you would have a $30 minimum to use a coupon but with my coupon there is no minimum! Now that's a great deal, especially as new products are arriving every day from CHA! Use code: NJCT-02 at checkout ... now let's go shopping!

NOTE: I am still with the My Time Made Easy Design Team so I'll have a card for them posted before my first card for CropStop. Until then, here's a little teaser of my first card for CropStop coming up on Thursday:

I LOVE love

2012-01-26T20:28:00.005-07:00

I LOVE love, don't you? I love my husband, my children, my parents, my siblings and their families, my in-laws, my church family, my friends... and the list goes on and on. I made this card for someone special... someone who I admire and love. But since I haven't given this card to them yet, I'm not going to say who it's for until the time is right. I guess you'll have to come back to find out who the lucky person was, won't you? hehe!

When I saw the sketch at CardPatterns I just knew I had to use it.

Here's my take on it:

I was so happy to be able to use the red mini roses that I've had for awhile. That's the first thing I thought of using when I saw the sketch. I used paper from the Le Tres Chic stack from DCWV which I got from my local Michael's store.

I used some deep red ribbon for the bow, tied a narrow strip of toole to the pearl heart button and glued them onto the rest of the card. I love finding pretty buttons to put onto my cards.

I wanted to add a tiny butterfly to the card so I punched one out of light pink paper and put a little glitter glue on it to make is sparkle. After the glue dried I bent the wings up and out with my fingertips and adhered it to the card.

I added some pearls to the centers of the mini roses to add that last extra little touch.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I appreciate each and every visit and comment. In fact, I have some exciting news that I can't share with you quite yet... so there's yet another reason to keep coming back! hehe!

What's in it:
The "love" stamp, tag punch and linen thread are from Stampin' Up!
Dies used: Spellbinders circles and scalloped circles
Embellishments: Red mini roses from Taylored Expressions, adhesive pearls from Michael's, toole and lace are from my stash,

Other challenges:

Simon Says Stamp: Anything Goes!

Just us Girls: Red, Pink & white

The Pink Elephant: photo inspiration
Papertake Weekly: Happy Hightlights
Sugar Creek Hallow: Go girly

The Paper Players: CAS & tag
Digi Doodle Shop: Anything Goes
PaperCrafting Journey: Floral
There She Goes: Love is in the Air
Creative Inspirations: anything goes

Winter Wonderland

2012-01-26T02:01:00.000-07:00

I love scenes of snow covering the ground, trees, buildings and everything in sight. I can't look out my window to see a winter wonderland as I live in Southern AZ, but I can make my own on my cards... so that's what I'm doing again this week.

I took some white vellum and ran it through my Big Shot with the snowflake embossing folder. I trimmed it down to the size I wanted and took a picture of it for you on top of my desk so you can see the embossing.

I attached the embossed vellum with silver brads onto pink cardstock and placed the image of a winter hat on top of it.

The hat is from MTME's Winter Knits and the paper is from MTME's Feminine Flakes and Fuzzies. I love these two sets that I used them two weeks in a row! Below is a side/angle view of the card.

For the snowflakes I used shiny pink and shiny white cardstock punched with Creative Memories' snowflake punch and attached them with silver brads.

I cut a piece of white cardstock with Magnolia's Leaf and Swirl die and then spread Stickles diamond on top of it.

I think it added just the right touch. It gives movement to the card, giving a sense of wind swooshing the snowflakes around a winter wonderland!

Thank you for stopping by today. I truly appreciate each and every visit and comment. Don't forget to hop on over the the MTME Pretty Pattern Sketch blog and see what the other designers have prepared for you today.

Happy Winter

2012-01-19T16:11:00.001-07:00

Yes, I said Happy Winter! I can say that because I live in Southern AZ and we are having wonderful weather right now! hehe! I feel sorry for all of you who are dealing with heavy snowfall, terrible roads and below 0 temps. Maybe this card will cheer you up a bit?

I used MTME's Winter Knits digi stamps for this card. I colored the hat with copics and cut it out. The copics I used for the hat are: rv000, rv00, r81, bg10, bg11, bg34.

The paper I used is MTME's Feminine Flakes and Fuzzies. I LOVE this set of digi paper! Living in Southern AZ, I don't see a lot of snowflakes so I love using them on my cards. I also like "girly" colors so this set is right up my alley.

I added some light pink lace behind the purple ribbon as part of the sketch. It adds a nice feminine touch. Below is a picture of the card with the the light pink lace below. The lace doesn't pop out at you on the card so if you didn't see it before, you can see it now. :-)

Thank you for stopping by! I truly appreciate each and every visit and comment. Head on over to the MTME blog to see what the other designers have for you today. It would be great if you play along with our sketch challenge this week too!

Other Challenges:

Sundays With Crissy: Beat the mid-winter blues

For A Real Sweetheart

2012-01-12T05:19:00.002-07:00

Good morning! Today's card has been through some transformations as you will see. I had such a hard time making this card come together. The only thing that I ended up with that is the same as my original idea is the main image. The paper, pink scalloped circle, white doily and swirls, etc were all added as the day went on. It seemed as though everything that could go wrong DID. Computer glitches, printer stopping mid-printing, etc. But I was able to get the card done in time to go in today's MTME Pretty Patterns challenge post. *whew*

Then I decided to add some more fancy stuff - some pearls around the heart and some flowers... and even embossing the little pastry with clear embossing powder!

In the view below you can see how shiny the white doily and swirls are. I also added some shiny to the pastry with my Gelly Roll (Sakura) "clear star" glitter pen.

In the view below you can see how pretty the pearls are.

And finally: I like to show the layers and 3-Dness (I know, not a word... but it describes what I want to show, right? lol) of the card.

Thank you for stopping by! I appreciate each visit and comment. I hope you stop by the MTME Pretty Patterns challenge blog and see what the other design team members made for you today and it would be great if you played along!

What's in it:

MTME digi stamps - Sweet Sentimentals & Sweet Treats.

MTME digi paper - Candy Kisses (I changed the background color from brown to black with my digital program - Photoshop Elements)

Other challenges:

Joan's Garden:

Make a card and/or tag using some kind of hearts
Use any kind of embellishments
Use, pink or red with white
Do some kind of embossing

CMC Copic Challenge Group: go retro

Sympathy Rose revisited

2012-01-05T02:56:00.000-07:00

We are having a review of sketches 27, 28, 29. 30, 32 and 33. (we didn't have a sketch #31 because we were doing a review that week) You can see the sketches on the MTME Blog here. I chose to use sketch #30 - in fact, I'm re-posting a previous card and here's why: I'm suffering from tendinitis in my right hand. (suffering is the perfect word because I want to craft! lol) I had to take a leave for this week because of the pain... and I really should let my hand rest... so instead of typing up a whole new post I'll copy and paste parts of the previous post. Thanks for understanding.

In October of 2011 made a sympathy card for the parents of a young boy who passed away from several congenital diseases.

I used MTME's new digi stamp set Well Rounded and the digi paper Wildflowers.

The white paper is a shimmery white stripped paper. I took a couple of pictures to show the pretty stripes. I don't remember what it is called but I've had it on hand forever. I also used light pink lace and white flower trim from my stash.

I love the rose in the digi stamp set I mentioned above and I wanted to color it with copics so I took the time to reverse the effects of the rose stamp which is a black silhouette and outlined in white. I used the eraser tool and erased the black areas and then used the paint bucket to color the white outline to black. That way I could print up the black outline and color it pink with shading and highlights.

I first tried using the color bucket to color the different parts of the rose in 3 shades of pink and I really like how it turned out.... but that is for another project and another sketch! (which I should use soon, huh?)

I hope you enjoyed the card even though the occasion is a sad one Thank you for stopping by and I appreciate each and every comment.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-29T03:18:00.001-07:00

I hope you had a Merry Christmas! I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day with family and friends. Of course I missed my angel daughter but I know she was with us... just in a different way. Spending time with family and friends is such a comfort when missing a loved one who has passed away. I'm so thankful to have a large loving family both blood related and through my church.

Now onto my card for this week's MTME Pretty Patterns challenge. I love the Mrs. Candy Claus pattern paper so I had to make one more Christmas card for you using this luscious paper.

I used Tim Holtz carved Ornaments die cut from Sizzix to cut out the ornament. The paper is glittered and from Sugar and Plums pattern paper by Recollections (at Michaels).

I hope you can see the glitter a little better in the photo below.

I used some shiny white paper from my stash for the snowflake on the ornament.

I typed the words "Merry Christmas" onto cardstock and then trimmed it for the tag. I carefully bent the strip with my fingers to give it the 3-D effect.

The sheer white ribbon also has glitter on it. Here's a close-up of it.

I hope you stop by the MTME Pretty Patterns blog and see what the rest of the design team have in store for you.

Thank you for stopping by today. I appreciate each and every visit and comment. I hope you have a fabulous New Year!

Other Challenges:

Simon Says Stamp: Anything goes!

Our Creative Corner: inspiration from home & glimmer/sparkle (I have pink, green and white shiny ornaments on my Christmas tree!)

Wrapped Up Tilda Holiday Challenge

2011-12-19T17:48:00.001-07:00

I made this cute ornament for the Wrapped Up Tilda Holiday Challenge. The contest is now closed and I barely made it in time. Silly me, I've been down with a major fibromyalgia flare so I haven't been doing much of anything, really, so it was a miracle that I was able to finish this project on time!

I bought both the Wrapped Tilda and Unwrapped Tilda at the Magnolia-licious store where Diana has these two stamps sold together for one low price of &8.99.

The ornament was stamped with Waltzingmouse Stamp set Vintage Ornmanet. Here's a close-up for this Tilda.

I used Sulkey thread and adhered it in between two circles to make a suspension ornament. The inner circle can turn on it's own. (sorry that the picture is so blurry)

This is the other side of the ornament.

Blow is a close-up of the Tilda image.

I used Spellbinders layered poinsettia dies for the poinsettias on each side of the ornament and a Martha Stewart punch for the white leaves.

Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate each visit and comment!

Other Challenges:
Waltzingmouse Makes - Christmas tag

Season's Greetings!

2011-12-16T03:33:00.004-07:00

Today I'm sharing a set of Christmas cards that was so fast and easy to make! I made these for my monthly card making group which is a Stampin' Up! club.

I used Stampin' Up's embossing folder Northern Flurry for the front of the card. I don't usually make one layer cards so I was a little leery to try this but I think it worked out well - and it was so fast!

For the sentiment I used "Season's Greetings" from Festive Frames - from Gina K Designs store.

I added a bow and red "bling" and there you have it! A quick, easy Christmas card!

Challenges:

Joan's Garden - make a quick Christmas card

Creative Inspirations - all-white card

Cupcake Inspirations - image - I used the colors red, white and gold found in the image and snow to reflect the snowman.

Simply Create Too - embossing

Paper Players: color challenge - cherry cobler, gold and very vanilla

Thank you for stopping by. Each visit and comment are greatly appreciated.

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!

2011-12-15T04:51:00.004-07:00

I can't believe that Christmas is just about a week away! I sure wish I was ready... but I'll get there.

Today I have a Christmas card for you using MTME's Beautiful Baubles. I love how the "O" in "Jolly" is an ornament. Instead of using circles like the sketch has, I used a snowflake and two ornaments.

For the background paper I used MTME's Mrs Candy Claus and the solid paper is DCWV's Shimmers and Recollections' Holiday Shimmer that I found at my local Michaels.

I cut out the ornaments using Creative Memories 'Tis the Season cricut cartridge and I cut out the snowflakes using cricut's Winter Lace cartridge.

I hope you will play along with us this week as we are taking next week off to enjoy Christmas with our families. Trust me, I need all the time I can get to get ready for the most wonderful time of the year! :)

Please stop by the Pretty Patterns sketch blog and see what the rest of the designers have in store for you. And as always, I truly appreciate your visits and comments. I hope you each have a HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS!

Other challenges:

Joan's Garden - create a quick Christmas card
For Fun Challenge: Christmas card - anything goes.

Winter Penguin

2011-12-08T00:33:00.001-07:00

I have a treat for you today. I have two cards in one! Well... sort of...

You see, I started out by using Perky Lil' Penguin and then re-sizing one of the hats from Winter Knits. After coloring it I adhered it to the penguin.

Isn't he cute? I embossed the white paper to make it look like snow. I then cut out the frame in red and added x-mas stickles to it. I used the yellow and green patterned paper from Farmhouse Fresh. I popped the penguin up on pop-dots and added the hat.

I had also printed up another hat from Winter Knits the right size for the penguin and wanted to see how this little guy would look with a different hat on. So viola'! A second card making it two cards in one! *wink*

I think I like this hat... I added Polar White Flower Soft to the hat making it look fresh and fun!

The hat was also popped up on pop-dots. Below is a 3-D look.

I hope you enjoyed your visit. Thank you so much for coming, I appreciate each and every visit and comment.

I hope you will join us this week and make a card using our MTME Pretty Patterns sketch. You can link up here as well as see what the other designers have to share with you. Have a great day!

I am also entering this card into the following challenges:

MTME Pretty Palette #38 - Daffodil, Green and Cherry

Santa with Cookies!

2011-12-01T02:08:00.000-07:00

It's December 1st and the Christmas season is officially upon us! I LOVE Christmas! I couldn't wait to use the digi stamp Mr. Claus. The background paper is Candy Claus. I love using fun embellishments and I used plenty on this card. hehe!

As you probably know by now that I love my layers and pop-dots and this card is no exception! The picture below shows how even the layers on the tree flip up a little.

The red frame was cut out with Spellbinders and popped up on pop dots too. I smeared a little Xmas Red Stickles on top of it to add some pretty shine.

I colored dear Santa with copics and then added a mini bell to his hat and Polar White Flower Soft to all the "fluffy" trip. I also used it for snow on the ground. I used Buttercup Liquid Pearls for his buttons.

The tree is made from Taylored Expression's Trim the Tree die set. I used White Opal Liquid Pearls and Xmas Red Stickles for ornaments.

I used beautiful snowflake-looking buttons for both the top of the tree and the center of the bow.

I hope you will stop by the MTME Blog and see what the other design team members have made for you today. This week is another review so hop on over to see what the 6 sketches are that you can choose from.

Lastly, since today is the first day of the month, MTME has a new release for you! I'm so excited about the new product which can be seen right here: New Products You may want to sign up for My Time Made Easy's email updates found on this page so you never miss out on a new release or any important news.

Thank you for visiting! I truly appreciate all comments.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T02:49:00.001-07:00

To all of you who celebrate, I hope you are having a marvelous Thanksgiving! I wanted to make a Thanksgiving card and I LOVE the new baking digi stamp sets so these cute characters are cooking Thanksgiving Dinner. I used What's Cooking and Baked With Love.

I used copics to color the image.

Aren't these cooking supplies cute? They are also colored with copics.

Here is a 3-d view. The designer paper is Autumn Leaves.

I hope you get a chance to play along with our sketch this week. Don't forget to stop by MTME's blog and check out what the rest of the Pretty Pattern team has for you.

anything Thanksgiving

Gratitude

2011-11-16T23:59:00.001-07:00

"Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul." ~Henry Ward Beecher

What a great quote especially during this time of year that we remember what we are grateful for. I printed this quote from MTME's digi stamp set: Bold Botanicals.

I used Autumn Leaves collection 2 for the pattern paper.

I used Spellbinders "Twisted Metal Tags and Accents" to frame the sentiment. The flourish is from Magnolias and the leaves are Spellbinders "Nested Maple Leaves".

Thank you for stopping by, I appreciate every visit and each comment. I hope you will join us in this week's MTME's Pretty Pattern Sketch shown below:

TE's Blast from the Past Blog Hop

2011-11-16T01:27:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Taylored Expression's Blast from the Past Blog Hop! I had fun making this card... here in Southern AZ we don't get a lot of leaves changing color so of course I had to put some on this card. This month our theme is "Thankful". I used TE's "Much Appreciated" for the sentiment which I inked up in "Brilliance" cosmic copper and then embossed with clear embossing powder. I then framed with in shinny green paper with QuicKutz "frame" (REV-0090).

I had a hard time getting a good picture of this card because some of the paper had glitter, some was embossed with fuzzies, other paper was shiny while some of it was just plain 'ol pretty paper. Also, my lamp that I normally use broke so it was just hard to show all the different textures. Below is a slightly different angle to show some more textures.

I used a lot of different dies for this card, most of which are Spellbinders. The swirls is from Magnolias. I added a burgundy seam binding bow and there ya have it. A lovely Thank You card.

I am thankful for my family, friends, the freedoms I enjoy and for a loving Father in Heaven. I am thankful to have been the mother of a very special daughter named Jessica who went "home" to heaven last year and who taught me to "Never give up!"... never give up hope, never give up faith and to never give up on myself or my family. I miss my beautiful girl but I'm also thankful that she is in a better place and free from pain. I'm so thankful for my dear friends and family members who have helped me through each day... one of which is going to receive this Thank You card. I think I need to make several hundred if I were to just begin to give out Thank You cards to everyone who has helped me throughout my daughter's 22 years on earth and the one since she left. I'm blessed beyond measure.

Thank you for stopping by and don't forget to stop by the rest of the blogs and see what everyone else has made for us today. :)

MTME Pretty Patterns sketch #35

2011-11-10T10:04:00.001-07:00

I can't believe how many of you out there already have SNOW this year! I'm glad I'm not one of them but we don't get much of that white stuff here in Southern Arizona. So I have to come up with my own creative ways to get some of that snow for myself. Today I decided to use the cute little boy elf from MTME's Holly Jolly digi stamp set. Isn't he adorable?

I used some paper I had on hand this time for the background... I could just see the little elf in a forest of Christmas trees. I had some shimmery blue paper on hand also and used Lifestyle Crafts' snowflake dies to cut out the snowflakes. I also cut two out in white and layered them behind the blue snowflakes.

I used some pearls for the centers of the snowflakes and also for buttons on the little elf. You can see the buttons better in the photo shown above. But what is that on his hat? It looks like white fluffy stuff... could it be???

No, it's not snow but it is Polar White flower soft. LOVE that fluffy stuff! It's the next best thing to real snow... or maybe it's better since it's not freezing cold and it won't melt and make a muddy mess. Yeah... I think I'll stick with my own kind of snow. :)

I hope you will head on over to My Time Made Easy's blog and play along.

Here's this week's sketch:

I moved the bottom circle to the top and turned them into snowflakes! I also didn't think that the three dots went along with the snowflakes so I put one in the center of each snowflake. See how you can mix it up a little? Just make sure we can see the sketch in your card. - but most of all HAVE FUN!

Thank you for visiting - I appreciate each and every visit and comment.

A Gift For You

2011-11-03T10:26:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited about this month's new products release at My Time Made Easy.

The image in today's card is from the Holly Jolly set. There are several cute elves and a reindeer in this set. I can't wait to use them all!

I used copics to color the image and Spellbinders die to cut it out. I used SU's Pink Pirouette to sponge around the edge.

The designer paper is fabulous! I used Mrs Candy Claus paper from last month's release. I punched out the top and bottom of the striped strip of paper with a Martha Stewart snowflake punch and then added some pearls for a little feminine touch.. not that it needed it, I think it brings out the snowflakes a little better.

The flower die is from MFT and the leaves are a MS punch. I thought it was a little fun to make the flower from a green dp and the leaves from the striped dp. It was a another fun little touch.

I hope you enjoyed your visit today - I truly appreciate it! Don't forget to hop on over to MTME's Blog and play along with our Pretty Pattern sketch shown below.

Lil Sweet Pea

2011-10-27T01:43:00.000-07:00

My next door neighbor has a new baby girl! I made this sweet card to take to them.

I used MTME's digi set Tending the Garden to make the seed packet. I printed the frame onto light pink paper and then used copics to darken the edges. I colored the peas and pea pod with copics too.

I used Spring is Here for the paper. I popped up the center of the seed packet and the pea pods with pop dots, added some ribbon and a little bling center and I was done!

Thank you for you visit - I appreciate each visit and comment so much! Please head on over to the MTME Pretty Patterns blog so play along and enter. I'd love to see you there!

You've Been Boo'd!

2011-10-19T22:36:00.002-07:00

I have another Halloween card for you today. I don't normally make Halloween cards but MTME has such cute ones that I couldn't resist!

I used MTME's "A Spooky Surprise" for my card. I grouped the pumpkin, ghost and jack-o-lantern together and added the sentiment, "You've Been Boo'd" together and printed them up. I printed up 3 more jack-o-lanterns and cut them out.

I used copics to color them and popped them up with pop dots. I used a Martha Stewart punch to make the border around the card. It is actually behind the orange card. See how it is partly open in the photo below?

You can see the dimensions of the jack-o-lantern in the photo below.

The spiderweb was a little tricky. I didn't want to have to use black in but since printers don't have WHITE ink it's all I could do... I made a black background and then turned the spiderweb white and placed it on top of the black background and then printed it up. No matter what color I used to print onto the black cardstock, it just wasn't going to show up.

The orange with white polka dot paper is from some old Creative Memories paper. I added some orange brads and put some star dust stickles on them so they will shine and I added some ribbon. I used clear glue dots to hold the middle of the bow and the ends in place.

I hope you will join us for this week's sketch challenge! Go on over to My Time Made Easy's blog to check it out!

Other challenges:
Stampylandchallenges - Halloween
Stamping Scrapbooking Challenge Central: Halloween

Trick or Treat, smell my feet!

2011-10-13T00:05:00.002-07:00

My oldest son, Justen, used to say "Trick or Treat, smell my feet!" every Halloween when he was a little boy. He would laugh and giggle thinking it was the funniest thing ever. I laughed at him enjoying saying such a silly little saying and then hearing his little sister trying to repeat it was priceless.

Here is my version of the cute Trick or Treat saying:

I used MTME's digi stamp set: A Spooky Surprise. It was fun to line up the witche's feet with the words and the spider. I colored the feet (and shoes of course) with copics. The MTME digi paper is from Traditional Halloween. If you click on either photo you can see that there are little spiders in between the orange and purple diamonds.

This week we are having a sketch review. You can choose from sketches 12 - 18, I chose sketch #13. I rotated the sketch to the right and instead of a flower I added a bow.

Don't forget about our design team search going on right now! It's not too late to enter! You can go here to read all the details. Even if you aren't applying for the DT position, come and play along with us. You can go here to choose which sketch is your favorite!

Thank you for your visit. Each visit and comment is greatly appreciated.

Other challenges:

My Craft Challenge: color challenge

Stamping Scrapbooking Challenge Central: Halloween

Sympathy Rose

2011-10-06T02:37:00.002-07:00

I made a sympathy card for the parents of a young boy who passed away from several congenital diseases. The father works with my husband and we want to reach out to them since we can sympathize. It was one year ago (Oct 4, 2010) that my own daughter passed away from her heart & GI congenital diseases. It's going to be hard but we want to reach out with love and support. I wanted this card to be feminine mainly because I will be reaching out to the mother and she and I haven't met yet. I wanted this card to express my appreciation to her for all she did for her son over the years. I understand the sacrifices that a mother of a special needs/chronically ill child makes... and I also understand the bond between that mother and child.

I used MTME's new digi stamp set Well Rounded and the digi paper Wildflowers.

I hope you enjoyed the card even though the occasion is a sad one. I hope to make the day just a tiny bit easier for the parents by letting them know that they aren't alone.

Hope you stop by the MTME blog to see what the other designers have made for you! And don't forget about the DESIGN TEAM CALL!

~Design Team Call~

The sketch team is having a Design Team call.

Requirements: Participate each week (having your card ready the night before the sketch goes up).
Pay off: Access to MTME digi images & digi papers! (I LOVE THIS PART!)

Easy as pie! If you think you’d like to be a part of our sketch team all you have to do is participate in each Pretty Pattern Sketch Challenge over the next 4 weeks (9/28 – 10/19), linking your entries up to the appropriate post! Oh yeah, don’t forget to leave us a comment letting us know you are interested. It’s that easy!!

Please link your projects up to the MTME Pretty Patterns Sketch challenges on the blog here.

Other challenges:

First Annual Link for Pink (Breast Cancer Awareness) - use PINK

Happy World Card Making Day

2011-09-30T23:56:00.004-07:00

Today is World Card Making Day! I am so excited to share a Christmas Card with you today as we go through Operation Write Home's blog hop. If you haven't heard of Operation Write Home it's an amazing program where card makers can send hand-made cards to soldiers who then use them to write home. The soldiers received hand-made cards for all occasions to use to send special messages to their loved ones who are left at home while the soldiers are deployed. What a wonderful program indeed!

For today's Christmas card I had a lot of fun using my Big Shot and my Cricut! I also used one of my favorite stamps sets by Gina K Designs, Heirloom Ornament Stamp set.

I stamped the image with Purely Pomegranate (Stampin' Up) ink and then embossed it with clear embossing powder. You can probably see the embossing a little better below.

It is a delicate card with all the swirls but I like it. The card base is cut out using Spellbinders Parisian Motifs. The white shiny snowflake is cut out using a Cricut cartridge called Winter Lace.

I added a little bling and a bow and it was done! This cute card is small enough that it could hang on a Christmas tree. I just might have to make one for each of my siblings this year! (but shhhh, it's a surprise! lol)

Thank you for stopping by! I appreciate every visit and comment. Have fun visiting the rest of the participants in the hop!

And don't forget to visit the link below to see MANY other crafters who are participating in World Card Making Day!

Baby Moose, Autumn Leaves & a DT Call!

2011-09-29T01:13:00.000-07:00

Autumn is in the air! At least it is at night here in Southern AZ. We're still in the mid 90's during the day but down into the 60's. It's nice to get some cool air for a change. Sure beats 100+ for highs and 90's for a low! Since it's beginning to feel like Autumn I thought I'd make a card using the fun Autumn digi papers from My Time Made Easy for this week's sketch. For the Design Team Call info, scroll down.

I used MTME's Color Infusion. I wanted to change the green leaves to yellow and with digi papers it easy-peasy! Lauren has a quite a few video tutorials on how to use the digital files and you can do it all by using a FREE digital program called GIMP. I use Photoshop Elements 5.0 but they basically work the same. If you have a specific question, I'll be happy to try to help you. I'm no expert so you know that "If I can do it YOU can do it!" Also, when you purchase any digi product it comes with instructions for use. I'm having a lot of fun with these great digi papers and stamps.

I turned the sketch on it's side so I could use the tree patterned paper on the right side of the card. I combined the digi stamps Happy Hallows and Wonderful Woodland Creatures. Don't you think the baby moose is so cute?! I tried to match my copic marker colors to the designer paper colors and had a few of the flower-leaves falling to the ground.

I embossed the raspberry colored cardstock with the QuicKutz "leaves" embossing folder. I couldn't decide which side I liked better the embossed or de-bossed side but ultimately I chose the de-bossed side. I liked it so much that I used a larger piece than what was in the sketch so you could actually see it. :)

Thank you for your visit! I appreciate each visit and comment! I hope you will stop by the MTME Pretty Patterns blog and join in on the fun! The sketch is below.

~Design Team Call~

The sketch team is having a Design Team call.

Requirements: Participate each week (having your card ready the night before the sketch goes up).
Pay off: Access to MTME digi images & digi papers! (I LOVE THIS PART!)

Please link your projects up to the MTME Pretty Patterns Sketch challenges on the blog here.

Halloween Kitten

2011-09-24T13:35:00.000-07:00

I am soooo late with this post! I was supposed to have it up on Thursday morning for my MTME Pretty Patterns sketch design team but I was sick at the beginning of the week and then pulled a muscle in my back. I couldn't even sit for more than just a few minutes at a time so making a card wasn't "in the cards" (doh!). I'm doing quite a bit better, thankfully, so I finally have a card to share!

I used MTME's Purr-fect Pumpkin digi stamp as the focal point. I also used Color Infusion digi paper. I printed the sentiment, "Happy Halloween" onto white cardstock and punched it out using Stampin' Up oval punch. The pink polka-dot paper is from DCWV's Cherry Limade paper pack as is the pink paper that frames the sentiment and the image.

I just love these new images and papers from My Time Made Easy. Come by their blog and enter our pretty pattern sketch! Below is this week's sketch:

Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate each visit and comment.

Happy Birthday to..... ME! and more!

2011-09-21T06:52:00.001-07:00

That's right! Yesterday was my birthday... and the day before that was my sister's birthday. I have a nephew who's birthday was on the 10th and my dad's birthday is on Saturday. I also have a niece who's birthday is coming up in two weeks on Oct 3rd. She just missed one of the busiest birthday months for my family. I was so happy to find out that this month's theme for the TE Blast for the Past Blog Hop was "BIRTHDAY". We could do either a new baby theme (and congratulations to Taylor for the birth of her first baby, Madelyn Grace, last week!) or a regular birthday. I chose a girly birthday theme.

I used TE's Moka Olivia for the image and I cheated a little and used the sentiment from Moka Taylor for the "Happy Birthday". Next month I'll be able to use Moka Taylor legally. hehe!

I paper pieced the dress and hair band on Moka Olivia. I think she's so cute!

I used TE's Shopping Bag and labels die. What a fun little bag! I cut the top down a bit and added some glitter rick-rack for the handle. Real tissue paper is on the inside. In retrospect I should have put a lighter pink in it so it will show up better in the photos.

Here's another angle so you can see the cute bag.

The paper I used is DCWV Cherry Limeade Stack. Lots of yummy colors, patterns and shininess. ooooooooooohhhhhhh, shiny!

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you enjoy the rest of the blog hop!

Witch Way

2011-09-15T00:11:00.002-07:00

I have a little cutie to share with you today, Witch Way single digi stamp. Isn't she cute? I didn't want to color her with boring black and grey so I decided to use blue with a little pink to go with the paper, Trendy Forest. I love this release!

Here's a close up of the cutest witch around! I colored her with copics and then cut her out (with her kitty of course). I cut a circle out of yellow embossed paper. I tried to get the embossing to show up in the photos but it doesn't show like I wanted it to. I popped the witch up on pop-up dots and also popped up the moon to give ia a more 3-d dimension. I think it's cute that my husband loves it when I layer with pop-up dots. He's such a sweetie to get involved in my crafting. :)

Below is an angle which shows the dimensions better.

I really enjoyed using this week's sketch. Please stop by and play along with us at My Time Made Easy Pretty Pattern sketch.

Thank you so much for stopping by! I truly appreciate each visit and comment.

Other challenges:
Make it Monday: anything goes
Simon Says Stamp: use a film or song title as inspiration: BEWITCHED!

Cute Turtle and sketch

2011-09-08T02:26:00.004-07:00

Are you ready for another Pretty Patterns Sketch? When I first saw the sketch all I saw was a flag of the USA... then I saw the awesome NEW PRODUCT over at My Time Made Easy and just knew I could find something else to do with the sketch. I LOVE the new digi stamp sets and paper!

I saw this cute turtle in the Wonderful Woodland Creatures and just HAD to use it first. I've printed them all up and can't wait to use them!

The horizontal line between the flowers made me think of the sketch... or the stripes can be vertical... but for the use of the sketch I had them be horizontal. Then I remembered some great ribbon that I had in my stash and decided to use them as stripes in between the lines of the flowers. I hope it's not too much! And who can use ribbon and NOT have bows? Not me!

I used copics to color the turtle and tried to match him up with the colors of the paper. I used Spellbinders to cut the background paper. Love the lacy borders!

Below is the sketch. The other design team members have made some great cards with different ideas then mine so head on over to My Time Made Easy's blog to check them out!

I hope now that summer is over and school has started, that we can get back into our routine. Don't forget to make some time for yourself every day if possible. I hope you get a chance to play along with our sketch challenges.

Other fun challenges:

The Ribbon Carousel Challenge: anything goes - use ribbon

Papertake Weekly: Anything Goes

Stamp Something: use digi stamps

Cupcake Inspirations:

Chase After Your Dreams

2011-09-01T02:35:00.000-07:00

I made this card for a friend of mine who's daughter is in the hospital fighting leukemia. This sweet girl, named Jessi, was born with CHD (congenital heart defects), has other developmental delays and issues and now has leukemia. If you would like to send her a card, please let me know so I can send you the hospital address. She is such a sweetie, I hate that she is battling such a terrible illness.

I wanted to make a girly card with bright colors because I think that Jessi would like it. Her mother, Jen, knows about how much my Jessica loved butterflies so I decided to send them a little bit of my Jess (butterflies on the card) to watch over them.

I used the digi stamp set: Chase Your Dreams and the butterflies are from Tending The Garden. I used the digi paper pack Fun Flowers.

I colored girl and butterflies with copics. I hand-cut out the butterflies and use my Spellbinder's Nestablilities to cut out the focal image and sentiment.

I thought that the butterflies needed something behind them to help them stand out against the bright background. I used a Martha Stewart punch to accomplish that. I think the punch is called doily or has the word doily in it.

Thank you for stopping by. Don't forget to go to MTME's Pretty Pattern Sketch Blog and see what the other designers have prepared for you. I hope you will join us this week and play along with our sketch pictured below.

Last but not least, My Time Made Easy has some great new releases for you today! There are some great digi stamps, digi paper packs and cut files! You can also check out Lauren's blog to see some great project ideas using the new products.

Have a great weekend!

Butterfly, Tulip and Ribbon Rose

2011-08-25T00:37:00.003-07:00

This week we are doing another sketch review challenge. You can choose between sketches 7 - 12. I look forward to these reviews... I enjoy choosing my favorite sketches and using them again.

I used the tulip stamp from the digi set Bee-loved. I colored it with copics, cut it out with Spellbinders and added a little bling. The color is a little more vibrant in real life but for some reason I just couldn't get the true colors to come out in the photos... but that's ok, it's close enough.

The patterned paper that I used was from Spring is Here. I cute out two of the butterflies from the printed paper and adhered them near the tulip. In the photo below you can see a little more of the layered butterfly.

I had a piece of ribbon left over from the bow so I made this little rose. I've seen tutorials on how to make it and I have been wanting to try it but I didn't really want to do a search for a tutorial so I just winged it. I first ties a knot at the end of the ribbon and began twisting the ribbon as I wrapped it around the knot. I realized that I didn't have anything to support it and I remembered seeing a tutorial where they glued it to a round paper while twisting and rolling the ribbon. I didn't have enough ribbon to make a very large rose and I didn't really want a very large one anyway so I just glued it right where I wanted it on the card as I made it. I was fortunate to not get glue all over my card but I sure got glue on my fingertips! Next time I will plan ahead and have a cardstock circle ready for the glue and the ribbon. edited to add: I found a great rolled ribbon flower tutorial here. It looks like a fun one. If you use it please come back here and let me know so I can go to your blog or photo site to see it!

This little flower only measures about 5/8". Cute, huh?

I used MTME Pretty Pattern sketch #12 (MTMEPPS12)

To see the sketches and play along please go here: My Time Made Easy Blog. I would love to see your entry this week!

Other challenges:

Stampy Land Challenges: make a square card
Papertake Weekly: use die cuts

MTME Pretty Patterns sketch #23

2011-08-18T02:53:00.001-07:00

Today I'm happy to share a card I made with My Time Made Easy's acrylic set: Singing Silhouette I had fun using an acrylic set from MTME ... a little change of pace from using the digi sets.

I stamped the birdcage first then the base of the next (light brown) and then stamped the twigs in a darker brown. It was easy to stamp the birds and nest exactly where I wanted on the cage because the acrylic is clear and I could see exactly where to place them.

I used the digi papers: Fresh Cut Expressions collection #1 and Fresh Cut Expressions collection #2 . I made the flowers and swirls and added some lace and pearls. (and even made it rhyme) lol

Here's a side view to show the layers.

Thank you for stopping by! Every visit and comment are greatly appreciated. Don't forget to stop by the MTME Pretty Patterns blog to see what the other design team members have prepared for you and to enter into the fun challenge!

Here is the sketch:

Have fun with it!

More Challenges:

Make it Monday

TE's Blast from the Past Blog Hop

2011-08-17T02:36:00.002-07:00

This month's challenge is "Collectors Anonymous". We are to use things on our project that uses things that we collect. Of course my collections border on hoarding as most crafters do but I digress. I collect things that I like the most which include: paper, lace, ribbon, buttons, bling, dies, punches and stamps... so many stamps! My most favorite stamps are of flowers, girly stamps and butterflies I decided to use my most favorite things on this month's card. The song from the Sound of Music kept running through my head, "My Favorite Things" as I made this fun card. My daughter loved butterflies, the color pink, flowers and anything shiny.

I used TE's CreativiTEA for the flower and New Beginnings for the butterflies and frame and Discover Your Wings for the sentiment.

I did a technique called "kissing" with three of the butterflies. I inked up a couple of the designs from Miniature Motifs melon mambo ink and then touched a un-inked butterfly to the inked design... after that I stamped the butterfly onto cardstock. I loved how they turned out. The light butterfly on the frame (by the flower) was first stamped once onto scrap paper and then stamped onto the cardstock. That made the butterfly color much lighter... such a soft touch.

I folded the wings away from the center a little and attached them to the card only in the center... that way the wings are not flat and help it give movement to the butterflies. I added some "bling" on the butterflies as well as below them to also help give them movement.

I used a banner from Spellbinder's Nested Lacey Pennents for the sentiment.

A bow, a button, some lace and a background punched with Martha Stewart "punch around the page - Monarch butterfly". Below is an angle I like to use to show the 3-D effects of all the little details and layers.

Here you can see that I added a 2nd layer to the flower center and added some bling to it after coloring it with copics. Love that flower!

This is how the card opens up. The pink background with the butterflies punched out is behind the card.

Here's the alternative sketch which I actually used this time! Instead of using 3 brads on the left-hand side of the sketch, I used butterflies. I added a little extra to the sketch but I like how it turned out.

I hope you enjoyed my card today and hope you will click on the links below and see what all the other participants made for us today. Thank you for stopping by - I appreciate every visit and comment.

Other challenges:
Simon Says Stamp and Show - show us some bling

Flourishes - recipe challenge: Use the color pink, one button, ribbon, and lace on your creation. Other than that anything else is a go.

MTME Pretty Patterns sketch #22

2011-08-11T06:52:00.003-07:00

Today I am sharing a card I made using one of my favorite MTME’s digi stamps. Underwater Wonderment.

I took the photo at an angle so you can see the shimmers that I added on the mermaid's fins and headband. I used shimmers angel wings. I also wanted to make the bubbles look a little more realistic so after I colored them with my copics I added a white highlight with a white gel pen. I then used Crystal Effects (by SU) on top of the bubbles. After letting it dry it shines and give is a water effect. I colored some pearls with my RV2 copic and put them on her ears for earrings. I had colored the earrings with that same copic but the pearls add so much more.

I printed the mermaid and the seahorses onto MTME's pattern paper Fresh Fabric. I shaded the images with copics and cut them out. I then applies the shimmers angel wings to the mermaids fins.

I hope you can see the bubbles a little better in the picture below. It was hard to get the lighting just right.

I hope you come and play along with us. I really like this week's sketch.

Isn't it fun? I didn't make a square card so the sketch might look a little different on my card. I put two seahorses instead of brads and added decorative corners. The sketches aren't there to hold you back... they are a jump-off point to get you started and then you can be as creative as you like!

Stop on by the Pretty Patterns blog post and see what the other amazing design team members have made for you today. (ps: I was late getting my card done and my post up so if my card doesn't show up right now, it should be up later today).

Thank you for stopping by! Every visit and comment is so appreciated!
More challenges: Stampyland - Pink & Green
Embellish blog - use color techniques on your card - copics

MTME Pretty Patterns sketch #21

2011-08-04T04:25:00.005-07:00

My goodness, we're at sketch #21 already? My how the time flies when you're having fun! ... and I really am having fun being on this design team.

This week we're doing something new. Since My Time Made Easy has a HUGE variety of images that you can use to make your own backgrounds and some fabby quotes! Sooooooo, this week we want you to make your own background paper and use a quote as your focal image! Feel free to use our sketch on any project you want, we encourage you to get creative! And of course you can combine challenges. While participation with products from My Time Made Easy ™ LLC is appreciated, it is not required to participate. You can use products from ANY company. Sketch Keyword will be MTMEPPS21.

Here is my card for this week. I was so nervous to try to make my own background paper but I did it!
(as always, click on images to enlarge)

The butterflies that are on the background paper are from the Be Dazzled digi stamp set. They started out black. I then used my software to colorize the different parts and placed them onto a blank document where I wanted them. I use Photoshop Elements 5.0 but there is a FREE program called GIMP. Either click onto the link to go to their website to download or there's another place you can download here. Both links are to the same free program. There's tutorials and other information. Using these programs is easier than one would think! I should know because I'm not the techie geek I wish I were!

Here is what the background looked like before I turned it into a card. I printed onto light purple cardstock otherwise my background would be white. I didn't see the point in using ink to colorize the background when I can just put the color of cardstock I want into my printer. The color of the paper will effect the color of your image(s) so what I did was print two butterflies onto a piece of light purple cardstock and when I didn't love it I moved the images down, tweeked the colors and reprinted onto the same piece of paper. Having the butterflies print right under the previous ones helped me to see what the difference was. I was able to get them to print exactly like I wanted them to. While in my Photoshop program I added more butterflies, placed them where I wanted them and when I was ready to print, I turned the paper I had been using over and printed the whole page. Printer ink doesn't bleed through the back of cardstock (at least mine doesn't) so I just used the same paper and didn't waste it. Checking the colors of my butterflies just two at a time also saved on ink instead of printing the whole page of them not knowing if I would like it. (ok, ok... you caught me. I actually had a completely different background and printed it onto a whole paper... I didn't love it so I decided to try again and only print 2 butterflies at a time. LOL Hopefully you can learn from my mistakes!)

The sentiment is from the digi stamp set My little friends. Oh boy... guess what I just noticed? I totally forgot to color in the hearts on the word FRIEND. LOL Just imagine that the hearts are pink, ok? I'm going to color them in pink when I get to it. LOL

Rose, swirls and "greenery". lol I punched the foliage in coordinating colors to the paper, not what nature usually provides.

Here is this week's sketch. Remember to stamp your own background paper using either digital or traditional stamps and use a sentiment as the focal point. Be sure and link up to the blog right here:

My Time Made Easy blog

Thank you for your visit and comments. I truly appreciate each one!

Ingredients:

stamps: MTME digi stamps: Be Dazzled , My little friends

dies: Spellbinders Parisian Motifs and Parisian Accents, MFT small curled rose, Magnolia Doohickies Vintage flowers and leaves & Doohickies leaf and swirl die. Martha Stewart punch (one of the leaves... can't seem to find the name of it - sorry).

embellishments: purple rhinestones from Michael's and ribbon from my stash.

Saying Hello from the French Riviera

2011-07-28T02:38:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm not really relaxing on the French Riviera but this card helps me feel like I am.

This week on MTME Pretty Pattern challenge, you can choose from sketches 1 - 6. You can find those sketches here. I used sketch # 5. The stamps are from the digi collection, A Lil' Cafe.

The paper is from the digi packs Dainty Damask and the pink & white stripe is one of my favorites from Serenity. The post card is actually a free extra from the digi pack Warm Serenity.

I colored the images with copics and used distressed inks to give it an antique look. I couldn't help but add some little pearls to the centers of the daisy silhouettes and a little pink butterfly.

I lowered the circle in the sketch and put a flower near the bottom. I added some netting behind it, diamond stickles to the petals and a pearl in the center.

Thank you for visiting! I appreciate every message so please don't be shy.

Also, don't forget to stop by MTME's Pretty Pattern challenge and join in the fun!

Happy 50th Anniversary to my Mom and Dad!

2011-07-25T01:48:00.003-07:00

I apologize that my MTME post is so very late. I had a crazy-busy week getting ready for my parent's 50th anniversary celebration which was Saturday night. It was a wonderful event - all 6 of my parent's children, their spouses, 22 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren were in attendance. Two of the 22 grandchildren were represented with a photo of the two of them since they have passed on.. my nephew, Marcus, at the age of 17 in 2008 from brain cancer and my own sweet Jessica just last Oct (2010) from the heart, lung and GI defects she was born with - she was 22 yrs old when she died. I'm sure that Jessica and Marcus were there in spirit. Some of my parent's siblings were able to attend too as well as my mom's cousin and her daughter. It was an event to remember!

Here is the card that I made that we had every family member sign:

I used MTME's digi paper Wistful Wonder. I love this set!

I used Martha Stewart punch for the butterfly and then applied Diamond Stickles on the top and added little pearls down the center.

I bought the lace at Michael's in a spool... can you believe how gorgeous it is?

The sentiment came from a couple of different digi stamps: I used the "happy" and Anniversary" from Sentimental Occasions and used the 5 and 0 from Harriet Hop-Along Birthday.

Silly me... I forgot to take a photo of the inside of the card. I printed the sentiment from So Sentimental that says,

"Family - Our family is a circle of strength and love. With every birth and union it grows. Every crisis faced together makes the circle stronger."

Guess what was inside the card? ... keys to a CAR! My siblings and I as well as a few of my parent's siblings pitched in and bought my parents a car. They were shocked! It was great! We had it all decorated and at a friend's house so while they were inside my brother-in-law drove it to the church and had it parked outside.

I also made a large display board that said, "Family - all because two people fell in love". Below it I had their wedding picture from 1961 and a recent (beautiful!) photo they had taken a few months ago. The remainder of the board was covered in photos of their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I'll have to take some photos of it and share it here.

I'm exhausted from all the activity from this past week. Thank you for being so patient with me on getting this post out late.

I'll be back on Thursday with another card and another sketch.

I'm entering this card at: Make it Monday

Guest Designer spot with Tilda

2011-07-21T01:31:00.002-07:00

I'm so excited to be a guest designer for Paper Crafting Journey today. {If you are looking for my weekly post for My Time Made Easy's Pretty Patterns post, I'm afraid it will be late. Between internet problems, photoshop problems (needed for the digi stamps) and not feeling well, I'm running behind schedule. Thank you for your patience.} In the meantime, let's talk about this fun card I made for Paper Crafting Journey's challenge! This week's challenge is a sketch and a theme: Go Girly! Do you think my card is girly enough? lol

(click on images to enlarge)

I used Tilda with Hawaiian flower. I love the flower in her hair and all the butterflies around her. My daughter loved butterflies too so this stamp makes me think of her and feel closer to her. I stamped the dress onto the patterned paper, paper pieced it and adhered it to the image. The rest of the image is colored with copics. I added Diamond stickes on the dress, butterflies and flowers. The photo below shows all the shiny goodness.

Lots of layers and embellishments on this card, which I love to use!

Thank you for stopping by! Don't forget to check out the other designers on Paper Crafting Journey and join in the fun!
Here's the sketch and remember, the theme is GO GIRLY!

Other challenges I'm entering this card in:Make it MondayReally Reasonable Ribbon - cool it!

I'll have another post for you later today (hopefully) with MTME's Pretty Patterns sketch challenge.

TE's Blast from the Past Blog Hop

2011-07-20T07:05:00.002-07:00

Good morning! I have a fun card for you today. The theme of TE's July's Blast from the Past Blog Hop is: Sending You Sunshine. I have plenty of sunshine to share here from AZ! By the time July comes around we're all ready to welcome any clouds to give us a break from the furnace that many call "At least it's a dry heat"... at 110 degrees it doesn't matter... just give us a break from the heat! lol My card is inspired by the massive amounts of sunshine we get here in AZ... as you can see, my whole card is sunshine!

I used the tree branch and the sentiment from Branching Out and used the nest with the birds inside from Wreath of Love.

I first cut out a circle from the yellow cardstock. I then measured and marked where I wanted the sun rays and then cut out about 1/8" slivers so the blue background could show through. I had a hard time getting the picture just right with the dark background... but as you can see, I numbered the sun rays so I wouldn't get mixed up as to where they went.

I sponged Daffodil delight around the edges of the yellow cardstock and then adhered it to the blue cardstock. I then cut the extra off.

Thank you for joining me today as we hop our way through the TE's Blast From the Past Blog Hop.

Join me tomorrow as I have TWO posts with TWO cards to show you. I'm guest designer for Paper Crafting Journey! What an honor!

This card is being entered in Simon Says Stamp = ANYTHING GOES!

Love is Like a Butterfly

2011-07-14T01:54:00.003-07:00

Today's card is one that I made for this week's MTME Pretty Patterns sketch - we are on week 18 already! I love the sentiment, "Love is like a butterfly - it goes where it pleases and pleases whereever it goes." My daughter loved butterflies and told me that she would send me butterflies from heaven so now I think of her every time I see one.

The butterflies on this card are from Tending the Garden digi set.

I took the butterfly and flipped it and saved it as a separate image so I can print them up going in either direction. I then colored them with copics and cut them out.

The sentiment is from Chase Your Dreams digi set. I cut it out using Spellbinders Beaded Ovals and sponged the openings using 'spun sugar' distressed ink.

I used paper from the following digi paper packs: Serenity, Cheerful Chirps and Fresh Flowers.

I used Borders, Fanciful Flourishes by Cheery Lynn Designs and Magnolia DooHickeys Leaf and Swirls for the white swirls and leaves.

The flowers were made using My Favorite Things Dienamics Mini Rolled Roses. I love making these cute little flowers.

Here's this week's sketch - I hope you will play along!

Thank you for stopping by! Don't forget to check out the rest of the design team's creations at the My Time Made Easy blog.

This card is also being entered in the following challenges:

The Shabby Tea Room:

inspiration photo, colors: pinks, reds & neutrals and flowers

CR84FN color challenge:

Simon Says Stamp = anything goes!

Enjoy the Little Things...

2011-07-07T03:45:00.001-07:00

"Enjoy the little things for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." -Robert Brault

What a great sentiment! I love this saying which is a digi stamp by MTME. I love their newest digi stamps and papers release! You can find the paper I used here.

Here's an angle view to show dimensions and layers.

I used Spellbinders Fancy Tags Two for framing the sentiment - then I popped the sentiment and frame on pop-up dots to give it dimension.

Here's the two banners with buttons at the top. I love the shiny buttons! I used my craft scissors to cut the backs off the buttons so they can lay much more flat.

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you are able to go blog hopping and check out what the other design team members have in store for you! Don't forget to leave a comment too!

A Mother's Day Card

2011-07-07T00:11:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a chance to post some cards that I recently made... in fact, I haven't even had time to put the finishing touches on my mom's Mother's Day card so that one will have to wait - but I was able to give my mother-in-law her card so that's the one I want to share with you today.

There is a design team call over at "Our Creative Corner" - the theme is "show us your style". Well, I have so many different styles that I wasn't sure what to submit but I think that this card shows several styles. I love shabby chic, elegant, cute, colorful with just a touch of grunge. Here's my card:

My mother-in-law is quite the seamstress. She has a huge sewing room with many sewing machines and a lot of sewing supplies. When I saw this Stampin' Up stamp set, Sew Suite, I just knew I had to have it so I could use it to make cards for her. My mom and I both sew too so it's a set I'm sure to use quite a bit.

Below is a close-up of the sentiment. I cut the flower out with larger flower from MFT's die-namic's mini rolled roses. I used Spellbinder's labels twenty to cut out the sentiment and Spellbinder's label fourteen to cut out the decorative paper behind it.

At first I wasn't sure where I was going to place everything so I stamped the pin cushion and colored it with copics then set it aside. After I decided that I wanted it on the sentiment I adhered it to the already cut out and sponged sentiment and then used Buttercup Liquid Pearls for the heads of the pins.

I used real buttons on this project and tied them with cotton string. I really enjoy adding embellishments to my projects. I made my own card with the sewing manikin stamp and hand-drew the dashes and dots. I used to do that type of thing all the time in my decorative painting projects.

I used some hand-dyed seam binding for the bow to add a little shabbiness and also used some distressed inks around the edges of each of the stamped items. Here is an angle of the card to show the lovely dimensions.

I used the doily stamp from Nina Bracket's "Nana's needlework". I stamped it with veramark ink on vellum and embossed it with detail white embossing powder. I then fussy-cut it out around the outside edge. I think it adds a touch of elegance.

I stamped the spool onto cardstock, colored it in with copics and then cut it out. I then took some embroidery floss and wrapped it around to look like thread.

On the inside of the card I stamped the sewing machine and colored it with copics. I added a little shine with a glitter pen.

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed your visit and remember: everyone loves comments - especially ME! So please leave me a message - they keep me going! tee-hee!
And join me a little later when I post my card for My Time Made Easy's Pretty Pattern Sketch challenge.

MTME Pretty Patterns 16

2011-06-30T09:12:00.002-07:00

Hey everyone, so sorry that my post is up late... blogger was giving me fits last night and then a thunderstorm came in so I just shut operations down for the night.

Today I have a card for you that not only fits in with today's Pretty Patterns sketch, but also fits in with MTME's Pretty Palette color scheme which is light pink, yellow and Kraft.

I used the digi stamp set Bee-Loved... it is one of my favorites! I cut most of the petals of the top flower down to the center and then rolled the petals over a pencil toward the center to make it more 3-d.

I also used a couple of MTME digi papers: wildflower, wistful musical and romance. Below is another angle of the card... I used pop dots to accentuate the lower flower and make it pop off the page a little.

I used copics to color the flowers...

and added some stickles on both of the flower centers to add a little shine.

Here is this week's Pretty Patterns sketch:

and here are the Pretty Palette colors:

I hope you will join us in both of these fun challenges! The Pretty Palette colors are posted every Sunday so look for a new color scheme then!

I also want to encourage you to stop by Lauren's blog for previews of the new release on July 1st! You won't want to miss it!

Other challenges:

PaperCrafting Journey: anything goes!

Mirror - Mirror

2011-06-29T07:11:00.004-07:00

I have a post today using a Lili of the Valley stamp. I'm new to their stamps but I think they are soooooo cute!

Isn't this little girl so stinkin' cute playing dress-up? I added some pearls around her neck since all the best-dressed ladies are wearing them.

I also added little pearls in the lace flowers and on the bow in her hair. I used the sketch for the Lili of the Valley challenge and the colors from CR84FN.

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:
The Shabby Tea Room: favorite embellishments and paper: I love flowers, lace, pearls and doilies, etc
Stamp and Create: Summer
Creative Inspirations: Summer
Stampin for the Weekend: favorite things: flowers, lace, pearls and doilies, etc
Papercrafting Journey: anything goes!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed your stay and I hope that you'll come back tomorrow when the MTME's Pretty Pattern sketch team (yours truly included) will have a new sketch for you... and we'll post some new cards to inspire you as well.

Old Glory

2011-06-23T04:56:00.001-07:00

I have two posts today so if you are looking for My Time Made Easy Pretty Patterns challenge, scroll down or click here.

It's time for the monthly Taylored Expressions Blog Hop again! woo-hoo! The theme is "Old Glory". I had an idea for my card that evolved and then evolved some more and then turned out quite a bit different than I had originally expected. I originally had planned to have a small flag on the card in the background and then have the TE stamp that I ordered especially for this blog hop "God Bless The USA" in the center with maybe a few shabby stars in the background... well, this is what it grew into:

I still used the same stamp and I made the flag that is in the background... but somehow the flag grew and the fireworks lit up all over the card! LOL I saw the blue and "diamond bling at Michaels yesterday and knew it just had to go on my card.

I didn't have room to stamp the whole stamp so I fussed with it (threw a couple of tries away) and finally got the center that I wanted. I used a red marker to ink the the USA part, stamped it and then cleaned the stamp really well and then with a stamp positioner figured out where I wanted the "God Bless the" part, inked it up with a dark blue marker and stamped it above the "USA". I then used the nestabilities to cut out the sentiment and the two tags as well. Popped it up with pop dots and viola'! An Old Glory that is quite glorious!

I'm thinking it's a little over the top but what the hey... it's very festive. In fact, due to all the wildfires here in AZ this card might be the only fireworks we get to see this year for the 4th of July. We're praying for rain and hoping for relief.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you will go to the other blog hoppers to see what they have in store for you today!

My card is being entered into the following challenges:
CC328: Cherry Night Cakes: color challenge: Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake (kraft), Neutrals of choice
Magazine Monday - color challenge: Bazzill Red, Sea Water, Lily White and Beetle Black

For Someone Sweet

2011-06-23T03:53:00.002-07:00

It's Thursday so that must mean that it's time for a new MTME Pretty Pattern sketch challenge!

I used MTME's digi images Well Preserved. I did some digi magic to colorize the topper from black to red... same with the strawberry on the jar... resized the saying and the strawberry to fit into the label and then printed it all up. (It really isn't hard at all! Lauren has some great video tutorials on how to do it!) I then used my copics to color the red jam and shade the label. Had I been thinking right I wouldn't have used a grey (N0 & N1) and I would have gone with a warm color due to the fact that I wanted to achieve a vintage look. I used the distressed ink to warm it up a bit and to also distress the paper on the card.

I cut a strip of shiny red fabric and tied it around the jam jar before adhering it to the card with pop-up dots. I printed up some of the great papers from Preserve it Oranges and Strawberries. There are other "Preserve it" paper packages that are so fun! You can also see the buttons I used below.

And here's my bow...

I'm quite happy with the way this one turned out. I have my own unique way of tying them and maybe... just maybe I'll share that secret on here another time. Not this morning though... I still have another blog post to do before I even go to bed. No rest for the weary!

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you will play along with us and be sure and check out the other design team member's cards.

I'm also entering this card in these challenges:

The Shabby Tea Room: inspiration photo & gingham

Inky Impressions Challenge: "amazing lace"

Ribbon Carousel challenge: "color your world" & use ribbon

Bringing Home Baby

2011-06-16T13:08:00.001-07:00

I decided to make a baby card for this week's sketch. My brother and his wife have a new baby girl! She is soooo cute!

I used Bringing Home Baby for this card. I also used Bringing Home Baby Girl digi paper. I also decided to try a new card style (that makes two new ones for me in so many days)! I made a recessed window card. You can see the dimensions better in the following photos.

The center of the card is recessed so it cannot lay flat - but that's ok, I delivered the card in person when we went to visit my brother's family and to meet my new niece.

You can see the dimensions more clearly in the photo below.

Some fun details - bling for the buggy...

I love the little storks on the paper in the upper corner left-hand corner. I also used my sewing machine to stitch around the card and between the different papers to make it look like a quilt.

I hope you will stop by the other design team blogs and see what they have for you and don't forget to play along.

I hope you enjoyed your visit today - please leave a comment - they really make my day!

Underwater Wonderment - new MTME digi release

2011-06-15T08:41:00.002-07:00

Good morning everyone! I'm so excited about My Time Made Easy's new digi images called Underwater Wonderment. They will be in the store a little later this morning... Lauren is working on it as I speak... erm, type!

I made a wiper card using the new images... I think the only image I didn't use is a dolphin and that's because I just didn't have enough room on the card. All the images are so stinkin' cute!

Here's the front of the card:

Now, when you open the card you get a little surprise:

How sneaky is that little seahorse?! He pops right up because he wants to join in the fun.

This is called a wiper card. I found the directions on Splitcoast Stampers wiper card tutorial. Give it a try! It was a lot of fun.

Every image and paper (except for the base which is SU) is My Time Made Easy's digi paper. I printed Alexa the mermaid onto the orange paper so I could cut out the parts I needed to paper piece her outfit.

For my sketch for the front of the card I used Splitcoast Stampers sketch challenge#SC337.

There are other challenges I am entering:
A Spoonfull of Sugar- Splish Splash
ScrapCreations - anything goes

Thank you for stopping by! I appreciate each comment - they really help keep me going!

MTME Pretty Patterns #13

2011-06-09T01:51:00.003-07:00

A dear friend of mine told me that her pastor is getting married and she needs a card for his wedding. Instead of giving her one of my other cards, I decided to make a new card using MTME's wedding cake image and MTME designer paper, Wildflowers. I'm so excited about this week's sketch. It was a lot of fun to work with.

I made the flower - oh yes I did! I've made one similar to this one but it was quite big so I used the two middles sized flowers in this Sizzix die for this flower. The instructions on how to make this fun flower is on my friend, Linda's blog: The Funkie Junkie - Easy Apple Blossom Tutorial

The center of the flower is... a button of course! Last week JoAnn's was having 40% all buttons so I stocked up on a few of my favorites. I'm not sure if they are still on sale - they could be... another JoAnn's flyer just came in the mail today for next week.

I just LOVE MTME's digi wedding cake found in the stamp set called On Display. I wanted the cake to be a little larger than the original size so I easily enlarged it and then printed it up. Lauren has a lot of video tutorials that are easy-peasy to follow. She also has a link to a FREE program that you can use with your digi stamps. Changing a stamp's size is one of the perks of buying digi!

I colored the cake with copics added the little pearls and then added a tiny bit of shimmer by outlining the roses with my star dust pen. (I totally forgot the name of it. lol) I gathered some lace down the middle in a zig-zag fashion and adhered it to the card (before I attached the flower of course).

I dry embossed the white background with Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder, cut the lattice with Cherrylynndesigns Lattice #2... and then I had to re-size it to fit in the area I wanted it to. You can see the dry embossing a little better in the photo below:

I cut out the sentiment, To the Happy Couple from the set So Sentimental, with Spellbinder's fancy tags.

All the fun, frilly, layers and details. What fun!

This sentiment, "Love" is stamped on the inside of the card. I found this and several other rubber stamps mounted on wood at Michael's that were originally $1 each but were on sale for $.60. You just can't beat that!

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will stop by My Time Made Easy Blog and join in the fun! Here is this week's sketch:

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:

CR84FN: light pink, med green, neutral (white!)

Wee Memories: anything goes

Truly Scrumptious: Summer & Sparkle- June weddings & pearls & shimmer on roses

Mark's Finest Papers: use a 3-D flower

Paper Take Weekly: anything goes!

The Shabby Tea Room: embossing
Stamp TV's Mix it up Monday: add texture to your card. (if my card doesn't qualify with all the different textures... then I don't know what does! tee-hee!)

MTME Pretty Pattern #12!

2011-06-02T00:41:00.009-07:00

Wow, are we already on sketch twelve? As they say, time flies when you're having fun.... well it's certainly true as far as these challenges go. They are very fun indeed!

My Time Made Easy has a new release - it's all digi this time - check it out here!

I used MTME's newest digi paper called Spring is Here. Isn't it gorgeous?! I used one of their acrylic stamp set called Singing Silhouette. I bought the acrylic because I love to stamp solid images (such as the birds, flowers and leaves) right into my different colors of ink. It was a lot of fun! I also enjoy embossing which can't be done when you print a digi image, but I did not do it on this project.

(As always, click on photos to enlarge)

Here are some close-ups of the new paper that I used on my card:

Can you see the orange birds amongst the flowers?

This pattern has vertical stripes of flowers. The stripes just happened to be the right width to use with this sketch. What's great about digi paper is that you can resize the print and make it fit whatever project you are working on. See? I am becoming accustomed to using digi stuff. ;)

My usual 3-d shot. I like this photo.. it makes it look like the pearls are all lined up straight. LOL

Here are the love birds! I don't have a pretty orange ink pad so I used a marker to color the orange bird's body. I couldn't get the ink to come out smooth like the pink. It looks like it has scratches on it. Does anyone know what to do about that?

I hope you will join us and play along! Just click on the sketch and it will take you there.

Thank you all for coming by! Please leave a little comment so I know you were here... and stop by the other Pretty Patterns design team members to see what they've come up with and leave them a little love too!

Pretty Patterns Sketch Team
I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp and Show: use your favorite stamp
Tip Top Tuesday: use ribbon (bow)
Paper Play Challenge: "Summer Citrus Splash"
Spoonful of Sugar: "Flower power"
Wee Memories: "Pintrist/Etsy Inspired" Here's my inspiration photo - click on photo for link to Etsy
Cupcake Inspirations: inspiration photo that includes flowers and spring theme:

Pretty Patterns # 11

2011-05-26T00:12:00.001-07:00

We have another great sketch for you this week. Here's my take on it:

With Father's Day just around the corner I decided to use one of the new digi stamps that was released last week at My Time Made Easy. I really like this Papa Bear and daughter image called #1 Dad - the daughter sure is proud of her Daddy! I also made a #1 Dad ribbon to go on the image. For the ribbon I used the digi set called, For Dad - 16 images.

The designer paper was also from My Time Made Easy called Romance,

I wanted to make the image look like a framed photo so I hope I accomplished it. I like that the bow really gives the card dimension as does the popped up image (in frame) and poppsed up #1 Dad ribbon.

Thank you so much for visiting! I hope you will go by and visit the rest of the Pretty Pattern's team blogs and see what they've made for you.

Pretty Patterns Sketch Team

Have a great day!

Other challenges:
Crafty Calendar Challenge: Teddy Bears

The Kindness You Share...

2011-05-23T23:01:00.004-07:00

"The Kindness You Share is a Blessing". Isn't it true that the kindness that others show us blesses our lives? We are also blessed when we show kindness to others. I know that when I've been having a hard time and someone shows me kindness whether it be a meal brought in, prayers offered on mine and my family's behalf or even just a smile... it really lightens my mood. So many people were so very kind to us when my daughter was so sick and after she passed away. I am forever thankful to those people who showed us such kindness. So... when I saw this Justrite set, Kindness, I knew that I HAD to have it. I will be using this set a lot!

I stamped the frame in light blue and cut it out with Spellbinders dies. The sentiment, "The Kindness you share is a blessing" is stamped onto a doily that I made out of SU Kraft paper.

As you can see the frame is propped up with pop dots to give it dimension and opens in the center to show the sentiment. I love how the frame was made to fit perfectly with the Spellbinders. I almost forgot to mention that I colored the pearls on the frame with my copic marker to match the ribbon. They are the same pearls that are all around the doily.

I LOVE butterflies so I added one in the right-hand corner. I added some shiny bling to add motion to the butterfly which I had glued in the center and formed the wings to add dimension.

I added a bow made from hand-dyed seam binding. One of these days I'm going to try dying my own but for now I have some on hand that I purchased online and at my local scrapbook store.

For this card I used sketch #116 from Cardpatterns:

I also am entering the following challenges:

Really Reasonable Ribbon: anything goes and use ribbon

JustRite Friday Challenge 055: Color: Light-Medium Blue & Ivory, Kraft or Tan

StampTV Free for all Friday: "Let's be Krafty = use Kraft" doily is made of Kraft paper

CES Challenges: Embellish it! = pearls all around the doily, copic colored pearls around sentiment, hand-made butterfly with bling and a big bow

Truly Scrumptious: anything goes & DT call!

WMS 2nd Birthday - Tea Party!

2011-05-21T05:18:00.002-07:00

Waltzingmouse Stamps turns 2 and in celebration they are having a tea party! We are to make a tea bag, tea pot or pastry themed projects - anything that you would find at a tea party! Claire provided a FREE tea bag template which I printed and put together for this fun contest!

I used several Waltzingmouse stamps. The flower is the smaller of two in Roses in Bloom. I also used Very Vintage Labels No 5. For the background I used Musical Backgrounds. Enjoy the rest of the photos! Lots of details in this project.

I even stamped the back of the tea bag. I punched a hole in the top and tied it together with string so that I can later open it and fill it with goodies. (I'm not a tea drinker so I don't keep it on hand... but I know quite a few ladies who would love a few chocolates in a fun container!)

oooooh, shiny! I used a glitter pen in the center of the flower. I also used copics to color and shade the rose which was stamped onto designer paper. I stamped it again and layered the rose.

Hand-dyed seambinding tied in a bow with a light pink pears half attached. It's the same color as the pearl flourishes around the rose.

I used chocolate chip ink for the decorative stamp on the top and the bottom of the tea bag.

I'm also entering this project in Papertake Weekly: Bloom and Growand the Shabby Tea Room: monochromatic

Win free copic markers:

2011-05-20T02:17:00.001-07:00

Would you would like to win Copic Markers? I found the instructions about this contest on Scrapbook Pal's facebook fan page! I just found out about this contest which ends today so hurry if you want to enter to win!

I've ordered from Scrapbook Pal.com and they are great. I hope you will give them a try.

Edited to add:
I WON!!! Seriously! How exciting! By the way, Scrapbook Pal's facebook fan page continues to hold more contests and are giving away more copic markers. Go and join in the fun! I'm sure glad I did! (click on the link above)

Super Dad - My Hero!

2011-05-19T00:00:00.006-07:00

I'm so excited about My Time Made Easy's latest digital stamp release. I'm in love with the new bear images. The papa bear doing things with his cubs just melts my heart. I chose to use Super Dad for my card today. My husband has sure been a SUPER DAD to our children and he's definitely my HERO.

I popped up the frame on pop-dots to give it some dimension. I also used a strip of the floral pattern from Cheerful Chirps digi paper. I love that I can print up what I want - when I want. I'm really enjoying using the digi products!

Here is MTME's Pretty Pattern sketch... I just turned it onto it's side and used is that way.

Don't forget to stop by the rest of the design team's blogs and see what they've prepared for you today. The list is on the right side column. I also hope you will join us in this fun sketch challenge!

Taylored Expressions May Blog Hop

2011-05-18T08:00:00.001-07:00

This month we were challenged to make a masculine card. I was a little concerned on how I was going to do it because most of the stamps I have are so girly. I went through my TE stamps and decided that the sentiment "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined" by Thoreau was a great sentiment to use. It's from TE's New Beginnings. ( I LOVE that set and really wanted to use the butterflies and roses images but no - they're not "manly" so I'll save them for another card... tee-hee!)

I used the dandelions and daisies from the stamp set Discover Your Wings for the background. Even though they are flowers, I think that stamped on the chocolate background and embossed in white allows for enough masculinity for it to be given to any self-respecting man. Am I right? ;)

This card could be a great for graduation! My son, Brandon, will be graduating from High School NEXT WEEK! I don't know how this happened... it seems like just yesterday he was throwing his things off his high chair and wanting us to pick them up for him so he could throw them again. haha! That's one of the many fun memories we tease him about.

I had a terrible time photographing this card - I'm not sure why. The photos just don't do it justice. I photographed it with a white background and the designer paper behind it but I'm still not happy with how the photos turned out. It's just been one of those days I guess.
I hope you've enjoyed your visit here and will continue visiting the rest of the blog hop participants.

My Time Made Easy ~ May 15 release

2011-05-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited about My Time Made Easy's release. Isn't this the sweeties image? I LOVE butterflies and Amber sure is out to catch some! I used the new digi image Chase Your Dreams.

I used the color scheme from Pretty Palette #8. I'm a little late to actually enter that challenge but I loved the color scheme so I went with it. The Pretty Palette #9 is up and just as great! The paper is also from MTME - Wistful Wonder and Serenity.

This is the first ribbon rose I've made this way. I saw the pleated ribbon at the scrapbooking store recently and just had to have it. It's a little poofy but I'll get the hang of it.

I used Martha Stewart punches for the butterflies and of course I used Spellbinders to accentuate the image. Other challenges: SCS sketch challenge and Papertake Weekly - use punches. Thank you for stopping by and don't forget to go see the full release.

With Sympathy

2011-05-11T23:14:00.000-07:00

Today I'm sharing a set of Sympathy card that I made using MTME's Pretty Pattern's sketch. This week's sketch is one of those that I'll probably use again and again.... it's also easy to produce in mass quantities (that is if you consider 4 a mass quantity - lol). Sympathy cards are not something that we like to think of wanting to have to us but we do need them. I wish I could say that I made these cards to put away for when I need one but unfortunately I'm going to use all four today. My sister's husband's mother passed away and today is her funeral. Even though she was not my family member or in-law, she made me feel I was. Her name is Maria but was known as Manoni to everyone. Manoni was warm and friendly to me and my family ever since my sister married to her youngest son almost 18 years ago. We would see each other on many occasions such as family birthday parties. Manoni and my daughter, Jessica, were friends too. Jessica would always tell me how beautiful Uncle Chuy's mom was after these get-togethers and tell me what Spanish words she had used in order to communicate with her. Manoni loved Jessica and would often ask my sister how Jessica was doing Manoni lived a full life, she was almost 88 years old when she passed away. She will be missed. I hope she gives Jessica a big hug for me now that they are together again. At least now neither of them are in pain and are no longer sick.

These cards are for Manoni's children (and families) who have been so good to my family (and who even came to Jessica's funeral 7 months ago). Of course one of those families are my brother-in-law & sister.

Here's the set of four:

I used My Time Made Easy's Sentimental Occasions. Here is version one:

A thought just ocured to me: A side view of a person is called a profile... so is the following photo a profile of the card? I like to do this shot on all my cards... a fun way to see the different layers.

Here is version two.

Another "profile" view. Let me tell you a little secret... the flower made of bling wasn't in my original design - or even in the first set of pictures. I accidentally got a little smudge of black in on it so I had to hide it somehow. Sometimes being a Klutz pays off! lol

Here is the inside of the card. The "Faith - Hope - Courage - Strength" is from MTME Bold Botanicals.

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you will join us in this week's sketch. Don't forget to see what the rest of the Pretty Pattern Sketch team has to share for you today.

Missing My Honey

2011-05-05T02:18:00.002-07:00

I’m so excited about My Time Made Easy’s latest release! The hardest part of making my card this week’s card was choosing which stamps to use! I chose the beehive image from Bee Loved digital stamp set. I also used Bee Mine and Buzzy Blooms digi papers. Aren't they gorgeous?

Close-up of the beehive. What's really great about the digital images is that I was able to resize the bees so they were the right size for the hive. They were originally much larger. I was also able to place them around the hive anywhere I wanted.

I colored the image in copics and made the clouds with blue ink, sponge and template I made by punching out a scalloped circle using a Stampin' Up punch.

This set has some great sentiments - isn't this the perfect one for the beehive image? I love my nestabilities... a fun way to add some fun to a sentiment.

I really like how this week's sketch has a long narrow area for a tag. This one was so much fun to make! Hope you like it too.

The bee on the tag is still a smaller version of the original size of the digital one. Such a cute bee - and there are several to choose from!

Add a little ribbon, heart button, heart charm and leaf dies and viola' - a fun card!

This is the great sketch we are using this week. I hope you will play along!

Thank you for stopping by. Your comments are truly appreciated.

MTME Pretty Pattern #6

2011-04-28T02:35:00.002-07:00

I chose to do a belated Easter card because I found the cutest easter digi Stamps at My Time Made Easy. I figured that it's still April... I can still post Easter stuff. *grin*

Here is my card for this week's Pretty Pattern Challenge #7:

Here is this week's sketch:

A side view... see the shiny ribbon? Oooohhh, shiny!

I'm so proud of myself - I am new at digi stamps and working with digital images so I'm tickled pink that I was able to use Harriet (the bunny) from this digi stamp set: Harriet Hop-Along Basket Single and the basket of eggs in this digi set: Some Punny Easter and merged them together so that Harriet is holding the basket of Easter eggs instead of a basket of flowers. I had to errase the basket of flowers first then re-size the basket of Easter eggs then put the Easter eggs basket where the other one used to be. I didn't think of the one egg printing up in all black though. Next time I'll have to color it before printing... that is after I learn how to do that. :) I colored her with copics and sponged the edges with SU Pink Piroette (where I accidentally smudges the black ink from the printer... I'm still learning!)

I also used this image from Some Punny Easter digi set. So cute! I colored it with copics too.

Instead of adding rick-rack underneath the two images I chose to cut the dp with my Grand Labels Four along the bottom edge. By the way, the designer paper I used is Wildflowers. It's one of my favorites!

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you will join us in this challenge. I can't wait to see what you make!

FancyCrafty{Me}

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MTME Pretty Pattern #6