4th Of July PPA-49 Inspiration Challenge

4th of July is really special here, especially since the parade runs right in front of our house!! Last year was our first year to see it, and I determined that every year I will ask off from work for two reasons: 1) I had so much fun watching it from our driveway with the boys (my two dogs Boz and Nando, and the hubby Phillip) and 2) I'd have to leave incredibly early since they block off the road, and I wouldn't be able to drive out of the driveway, or I'd become part of the parade

So I created this fun 4th of July card. I'm making 20 of them and they aren't all finished, so if you are reading my blog and are one of my usual card recipients...close your eyes!! Or at least act surprised when you get it ;)

This was made with one of the SU sets from the mini catalog (the fireworks) and one of the dollar bin stamps from Jo-Anns (the circle 4th of July stamp). I know you can't tell that well from the picture (lighting bad again) but each firework has Spica Giltter pen on it so they sparkle. Also, the blue ones have little blue pearls in the center (from the dollar bin at A.C. Moore). The yellow ones have clear Stickles. The scallop circle punch is from EK Success and star punch and star brad from SU. Finally the yellow border punch is from Fiskars. I have seen it used in a lot of the card magazines, and found it for 60% off at Jo-Ann, so you know I had to get it ;) I saw this sketch in the current Card Creations magazine, so thought I'd try it out.

Hope you get to enjoy fireworks or a parade this 4th!

P.S. After I posted this, I found out that the next challenge for Paper Pals Arts was an inspiration challenge for 4th of July, so this card works perfectly!!

Sock Monkey Pop Art

This is a card that I made in 2008, but still have it displayed, it always makes me smile :) I can't take credit for the pop art idea, I did see it somewhere online forever ago, but unfortunately I can't remember who created the idea. I did add my own flair to it, but want to give credit where it is deserved! Anyway, it is made using the Sock Monkey set from SU, and one of the word sets, and scallop punch, circle punch, and some eyelets, probably from Michaels. The paper is SU, and I believe the ink was the silver Encore one. I'll keep better track of supplies from now on out, but still wanted to share this special card :) I also created one that I sent out that is very similar, except I put a birthday sentiment, and also a birthday hat on top of one of the monkeys' heads.

P.S. Notice a difference in the quality of the pic? I used the Cannon Rebel to take it, you can see it much more clearly than my iPhone pics, huh? Thanks for the camera, mom!

Nestabilities, Glimmer Mist, and Cars

I have become a "wild child" lately and have been trying tons of new products and techniques! This is the card that I sent out for Father's Day this year, but not everyone got to see it, so I thought I'd share. I have fallen in love with the Nestabilities dies, and loved how this one, Labels 3, looked with the car. I had to use the car for the father's day card since most of the fathers in my life love their cars! The car is from the Paper Trey Ink set Enjoy the Ride. I did not buy the coordinating car die, so yes, I had cut all the patterned pieces, including the bumper! The corduroy button is from SU (seems to be a reoccurring theme in my cards lately, they had a huge sale on them awhile back, and I stocked up!) The glimmer mist turned out darker than I thought and I need some practice with it, but I still had fun (and made a mess) using it :) It is from Tattered Angels. I like the color combo with the green as an accent so my card didn't resemble the Gators too much. Finally, the sentiment is the same one from the plane card, but again, works great with travel/transportation. It is from A Muse.

My First Challenge: PPA48

My First Challenge!!

I decided to try the Paper Pals Arts Challenge number PPA48-A Sketch Challenge.

The girls of PPA came up with the sketch above, and you could use any supplies to make a card following their sketch. I chose to use the adorable A Muse cloud paper that I've had for awhile and haven't had a chance to use. Then I was trying to decide what would go well with clouds, and a new set that I had ordered from Paper Trey Ink called Fly Away came to mind. Then I used a SU corduroy button, SU ribbon in Real Red, the SU star punch, and the sentiment that went perfect with the travel theme from A Muse.

I had a blast making this card and love how it turned out. I am in love with this sketch, now, too, and will definitely use it again, in the future. Too bad it is overcast outside, so the picture isn't as bright as I would have liked :( This just may be the start of many challenge entries for me!

This was a really fun card to make. When I saw this stamp set from Paper Trey Ink, I knew I HAD to have it! Stamps and sentiments that talk about loving paper crafting? So me! This was the first PTI stamp set I used. I took the sketch for layout from a Paper Crafts issue (which was also another first for me, I never used to look at cards in magazines and think of using the layout with my own colors, stamp sets, etc.) The card stock and patterned paper are from Stampin' Up and so is the really cute library clip and the rhinestone brads. Another first from this card? Using a textured impressions embossing folder from Sizzix and using a sanding block to make the texture really stand out. After this card, I became totally hooked! I now have about 10 impression folders ;) The scallop border punch is also from SU. I sent this card to a few of my good stamping friends/family a few months back.

How exciting that I already have 4 followers and 2 comments on my first post! I may like this blog thing ;)

For those of you who know me, you know that my dogs are my kids. I love them so very much. We never had dogs growing up, so I think that we're kind of making up for it now. All three siblings have dogs and my sister and I both have two, each. My parents always joke that they're ready for the two-legged kind of grandkids. Anyway, my sister and her husband recently adopted a second dog named Carl, and I wanted to make them a card to welcome their new family member. (Hopefully she doesn't look at this post, yet! I only sent it out the other day, and from MA to FL the mail seems to be quite slow!)

Last weekend at Absolutely Everything, I saw this adorable line of dog and cat stamps, and just HAD to get this one. The stamp is called Big and Little Dogs by Impression Obsession. I used my new Copic markers to color the dogs (you can't tell from the picture, but I am practicing my shading techniques. I actually took a class at Ink About It (another local stamping store) called Copic 101, and hope to take 201 in the future). The background paw print stamps I found at a stamping yard sale that I went to a few weeks ago. The two punches (orange border and green punch with sentiment) are both from Stampin' Up. I thought that the bright rick rack and fire hydrant brad made it extra special (both from Michaels). The "Get Along Little Doggy" sentiment was perfect for adding a new dog to the family. It was another sentiment from the yard sale, I believe the Cat's Pajamas line.

Moving forward, I think I'll have to find a way to get better photos of the cards on here!

So my new stamping friend, Suzanne, @ www.thecardyard.blogspot.com convinced me that I needed a blog! It was hard to come up with a name as cute as "the card yard" (and it must be said with a Boston accent, which she totally has!) but she agreed that The Paper Parade was pretty cute :)

I really enjoy making cards, and spend most of my free time doing so, but I want to show them to everyone! Living in another state, I would make at least 12-18 of every single card I was making to send to family and friends. I was getting a little burnt out of making the same card all the time, so I'm thinking this blog will be a great way to still show them off, but to make one or two real cards, rather than 18!

I would also like to use this blog to start entering into contests and blog hops.

This first post is a card and matching box I made after visiting Absolutely Everything in Topsfield, MA. It is an awesome stamp/scrapbook store, that didn't quite have absolutely everything, but they were pretty close! Anyway, I went with a friend from work (who by the way owned her own stamp store for 9 years!) and we had a blast. We were there for so long browsing that we had to take a break in the middle for food! I made Ann this card as a thank you for our wonderful day together.

The stamp is from Memory Box, and I fell in love with the sample they had at the store (which I used as inspiration for my design). My favorite part about it are the tiny pink pearls, and the green part of the bush. It is actually something called Flower Soft that makes the leaves look and feel real. It was SO easy to use, and you didn't need much at all. I just used a glue pen and sprinkled the Flower Soft on top. I am now in love with that stuff and look forward to buying it in other colors!

The rick-rack is actually a die from Paper Trey Ink that I cut from cardstock. The tiny tag and sentiment are from Stampin' Up. The patterned paper I got from Absolutely Everything.

The matching box is a Sizzix die from SU that was so easy to cut and put together. Inside perfectly fits two Ghiradelli square chocolates.