Just For You

Tonight I am sharing a card that I created for the color challenge at Stamp TV hosted by Tina Gilliland. The color combo was red, ivory and kraft. My base card is SU! kraft card stock and the red and ivory are Gina K's Pure Luxury in Lipstick Red and Ivory. I tore the edge of my red strip and then ran it through my Cuttlebug with a border embossing folder. I then stitched on a border and ran some ivory satin ribbon down the red edge. I created my frame using Nina Brackett's Lovely Labels stamp set by Gina K. Designs. I stamped the label in SU! Riding Hood Red and then used my Nestabilities to cut it out. I then pulled out another one of my favorite Nina sets, Lovely Shelf, and stamped the sentiment onto a scrap of the kraft card stock. Using my Memento marker in Lady Bug, I colored and stamped just the flower blooms (this stamp is actually two flowers with leaves in a vase) around the sentiment. Using markers is a great way to customize your stamps to exactly what you need :) The framed sentiment was then added to my card and I attached a bow to the top. My final addition to this card was the flower. To create it, I used a random felt shape, layered a silk flower on top, used a vintage button from Grandma's stash for the center, and then added some Martha Stewart branches.

It felt so good to finally have some time to play tonight :) What a great stress relief from my long day at work. I hope you like what I came up with!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

An Update On Life

I know, I know... I have been MIA for quite some time! Crafting has been shifted to the back burner for now, so I decided to pop on blogger tonight to say hi and to give you a little update as to where I have been.

As most of you know, I have been going through the home buying process. Well, as far away as it seemed, closing day is just around the corner! Shaun and I make settlement on April 13th. Our current apartment is in shambles - boxes stacked in every corner (I've only stubbed my toe like 6 times LOL) and piles of clothes and other random items are scattered about. Half of my stamping supplies have already been packed - Shaun said that I couldn't possibly need EVERYTHING out (he just doesn't understand that the things I pack are the things I will end up needing) so stamping is becoming a bit tough. We are both super excited about the move and we just can't wait to get settled in :) After that, it's on to the wedding plans!





In addition to all the sorting and packing, I went on a little trip to Orlando, FL with my company and I got to meet Mickey Mouse and all of his friends! I had never gone to Disney before so I was counting down the days until my departure. I was working on that Friday and my flight was scheduled for around 8pm that night. When I arrived at work that day, I became very sick - I couldn't believe it - I am NEVER sick. I had the chills, stomach ache, the whole smash. I left work a little early to try and get some rest before my flight. When I got home I took my temperature and I couldn't believe it - 101.9 With this trip being a work event (and me being on the luncheon planning committee) I couldn't miss it. I pulled myself together, took some medicine and had Shaun drop me at the airport for what seemed like the longest flight of my life. I arrived at the hotel by 1:30am and just curled up in bed, hoping it would pass. I did feel a little better in the morning, and I slowly got back to myself by Sunday.





Sunday and Monday were spent exploring in Disney. I went to Magic Kingdom on Sunday, Downtown Disney Sunday night, and Epcot on Monday. I have to tell you, I felt like a little kid - it was phenomenal! It's A Small World had me smiling the whole day! While at Epcot, I got to see the Flower and Garden Festival - it was breath-taking! I have included some of my favorite snapshots from the trip in my post - I hope you enjoy them :) I loved the Lady and the Tramp garden display in Italy :)



So, that's what I have been up to. This past weekend I was drove home to visit mom and dad and mom and I were able to sneak out to a small rubber stamp show that was being held near by. I picked up a few new goodies and I can't wait to play with them. I am going to try a dig some of my necessities out of the boxes so that I can make something. Hopefully by tomorrow night I will have a card to post!

Have a good night!

Shabby Birthday

Tonight I am sharing a card that I created following the current sketch over at CPS. Lately I have been seeing so many gorgeous handmade flowers. When I got home from work tonight, I was determined to make one of my own. I found this great tutorial that was quick and easy - if you would like to make one of these fab flowers, visit this post over at Rachel's blog. I just fell upon her blog the other day - 14 years old and so talented!

So, for the card, I used designer paper by Fancy Pants Designs (Lavish and Sweet Nothings) and I used textured card stock by DCWV in a yellow and lime green. I also used the same textured card stock to create my shabby flower. I then got out my Tim Holtz distress ink in Peeled Paint and Spiced Marmalade to get everything inky :) To create the circles on each side of the flower, I used a birthday stamp that I had purchased from Denami Design last year at the stamp show, and then cut them out using my pink Marvy punch. I added a stitched border to finish it off.

Have a wonderful evening!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day. When it rains, it pours. Singing in the rain. You can stand under my umbrella. Can you think of any more? This little sweetie is on her way to cheer up my friend who is under the weather. I am hoping it will do the trick!

I made this card at mom's this weekend as well (I am so excited that I got a chance to use her Copics again - hopefully she won't notice her supply slowly dwindling LOL! (JK mom!) This precious little girl is from the stamp set My Umbrella by Pure Innocence for My Favorite Things. I stamped her onto white card stock and colored her with Copics 0, Y13, Y15, Y17, YG06, YG11, YG13, YG17, B00, C1, C3, E00, E02, E31, E35, E57 and RV10. You know, you really don't realize how many different colors of Copics you use until you go to list them LOL! After she was colored, I cut her out using the scalloped circle Nestabilities die and sponged in the sky and the ground using SU! ink in Baja Breeze and Going Gray. Next I went on a dp hunt through mom's paper and came across this rainy paper in the Debbie Mumm Noah's Ark paper pad. I would have never thought to pair bright green and yellow with blue and gray, but it was working so I kept going with it! I layered the dp with some lime green paper from the scrap bin and embellished with some bright yellow and green polka-dot ribbon, some coordinating Primas and a vintage button center.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your night!

Pink Hope

Tonight I am sharing with you one of the cards that I made this past weekend at mom's house. I submitted this card over at Stamp TV for the color challenge that ended today (to use pink and white only) and I am also entering this card over at JUGS for their sketch challenge (isn't this sketch stunning?). Mom also combined these two challenges and you can find her card here.

This was a quick and easy card. I stamped Nina Brackett's image and sentiment from her Lovely Labels set using SU! ink in Pink Pirouette, and then cut it out using Nestabilities Labels 9. I used Gina K's Pure Luxury card stock in Innocent Pink, embossed using a Sizzix embossing folder, and highlighted with sponging. A border punch was used for the scalloped edge. The trim and ribbon are from mom's stash :)

Stop back a little later if you can - I will be posting a second card tonight (and what a wild color combo!).

Dreamin' Dream Bird

Well, what can I say... I had a blast with this card! I am so glad that I finally had a chance to ink up Dream Birds designed by Asela Hopkins for Gina K. Designs. I am entering this card in the current challenge over at Pals Paper Arts to make a spring themed card.

To create this card, I used designer paper from the Basic Grey Marrakech paper pad on all of my layers. My images and sentiment are all from Dream Birds. I stamped the branch, bird, and crown (aren't these images sweet?) onto white card stock and colored them with Koh-I-Noor pencils and OMS. I then cut out the scene with my Coluzzle and sponged in the sky using SU! Baja Breeze ink. I cut the same shape out of a piece of the dp and layered my scene on top - stitching the two pieces together with a straight stitch. I stamped the sentiment onto white, cut it out, sponged, layered onto the dp, and added some zig-zag stitching.

Next, I started with my favorite part - the embellishments! I added Star Dust Stickles and three rhinestones to the birdie's crown. I stamped the small and large butterflies onto the white card stock, colored them with pencils and OMS, added some shimmer to the wings with a Sakura Star Dust pen in Copper Star (you can really see the sparkle in the close up snapshot), cut them out and added them to my scene. I love bending up the wings of paper butterflies to add dimension! Lastly, I created the coordinating corner treatments by layering some tiny Primas, adding a teeny weeny brad center, and attaching some vines that I made by winding some green, thread-coated wire around a pencil. I had one flower left over and I just couldn't resist adding to the corner of the sentiment to finish the card.

I hope you enjoyed my card as much as I did making it! Have a fabulous weekend!

Pressed and Distressed

Tonight I am sharing with you a card that I created for Gina K's inspiration challenge for this week - Diamonds are a girl's best friend! over at Stamp TV. The challenge is to use diamonds on your card. I followed Gina's video tutorial on how to do background embossing with your Scor-pal. I decided to change it up a bit and give my card more of a distressed look.

My base card is Gina's Pure Luxury card stock in Chocolate Kiss and I paired it up with one of her newer colors, Creme De Menthe. After scoring my background piece, I used SU! ink in Close to Cocoa on a sponge to "dirty it up" a bit. I then distressed it by spraying it with water from my Mini Mister and then rubbing sand paper over the front and edges. For my image, I used stamps from Melanie Muenchinger's new stamp set, Pressed Flowers. I used Memento markers in several colors to ink the stamps and create my tulips. I then cut them out using Nestabilities Labels 9, and sponged around the edges with SU! So Saffron and Close to Cocoa. To make the tulips pop, I accented them with my Inkssentials opaque pen. I kept my embellishing simple and just added a piece of sheer ribbon and some copper brads to the corners.

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week! It's almost Friday!