The Paper Parade

Paper Smooches Sparks

2012-03-05T06:00:00.001-05:00

Time for another Paper Smooches Sparks challenge!

Here's the neat inspiration photo they gave us this month:

I decided to make my monster have the colors of the clock, but be inside a larger clock. The monster is from Paper Smooches Falling for You. The numbers on the clock are rubons from Marcella K. The clock hands are from a SU arrow punch. The circle for the clock was cut using Nestabilities.

I decided to use a SU embossing folder for texture because the photo had a lot of texture in it. I also gave the Paper Smooches sentiment from the Sentiment Sampler the same clock colors which are PTI's Aqua Mist, Soft Stone, and Hawaiian Shores. I cut it out with the SU label punch.

I didn't have a "time to" stamp, so I just wrote it, but I thought it went perfectly with the clock. The kraft ribbon is PTI, and so is the Aqua Mist card base.

This will make a cute birthday card for a guy in the future, or maybe my nephew Liam. I think it turned out really whimsical. I was also able to make one more card with this inspiration photo that I'll be posting soon, so keep your eyes peeled :)

Freshly Made Sketches #24

2012-03-04T13:00:00.001-05:00

My sister's birthday is coming up on the 18th and her favorite color is orange, so I broke out the PTI Canyon Clay cardstock and created this card for her:

Here is the sketch I used from this week's Freshly Made Sketches:

The butterflies are from PTI's new Beautiful Butterflies, the mat is Mat Stack 3 and Layerz 3 from PTI. The patterned paper is from a DCWV patterned paper pack.

I also stamped PTI's Mehndi Medallion on the Canyon Clay band.

This is the other card I created on Wednesday night when Suzanne was over :) On another note, I feel completely back to normal now, thank goodness!

CPS #254 & cQc #126

2012-03-03T08:20:00.000-05:00

Here's a birthday card I created for my husband's Great Aunt:

I used this week's colors from ColourQ:

And this week's sketch from CPS:

This cute little apron stamp is from Market Street Stamps, and so is the "souper" sentiment!

The border die is from PTI, and all the patterned papers are from a SU DSP pack. The circles were cut out of SU and PTI cardstock with a SU 1 inch circle punch. The twine is from The Twinery.

I'm not sure where the little clothespin is from, I just happened to find a bag of them at work in the craft closet, but it was just the right color and went perfectly with the theme of this card.

I decided to do the polka dots on the bottom layer because the cQc photo inspired me to do so. I ended up only working half a day yesterday and came home and rested, and now I feel almost back to normal, I'm even going to go to Zumba this morning (but take it easy). After going to this frozen yogurt place two separate times and getting sick in the middle of the night after each (the first time was in FL when I got so sick and had to be quarantined from the babies in Oct.!), you can bet I won't ever be going back there!

Card Patterns #154

2012-03-01T07:23:00.003-05:00

Here's a spring card I made with the new PTI set to go along with the Christmas label:

And here's the sketch I used:

All supplies are PTI including ribbon, patterned paper, stamps, cardstock, border die. The gorgeous crocheted flower was made by my friend Christina! Sorry for such a short post, everyone, but I was up all night sick and now I'm rushing off to work because I couldn't get anyone to cover for me, but I wanted to make sure this card meets the noon deadline today. Thanks for stopping by!

The Paper Players Challenge #84

2012-03-01T07:22:00.004-05:00

Suzanne came over last night after a long hiatus from our Wednesday night crafting nights and it was so nice to have her here! I made two challenge cards with PTI's new Beautiful Butterflies while she was here, and this is the first one for an anniversary that I created:

I used this sketch from this week's Paper Players Challenge:

The sentiment wouldn't fit on my little label, so I got out the large PTI Christmas label die and used the stamp set, too.

The patterned paper is all from a DCWV paper pack, and the cardstock is all from PTI. The twine is from the Twinery. The mini red pearls are from Q & Co.

I'm glad that I used the red and blues because this is also for a man, and I didn't want to make it too girly, so I think that he'll be okay with the blue butterfly, lol. I'll put the other card that I made while she was here up in a couple of days. In other news, we finally got snow over night that stuck! Did you?

Runway Inspired Challenge #6

2012-02-29T17:00:00.000-05:00

I decided to play along with the Runway Inspired Challenge this week and I created this card:

Here is the model's outfit we were given as inspiration this week:

The silver twine at the bottom was inspired by her silver bracelet and shoes, so was the fact that I stamped the sentiments in Encore silver ink.

I cut all the squares out with an old Creative Memories punch that I've had for years (probably about 10 years by now, lol). I was inspired to do this by her shirt. The dark blue background was inspired by her shorts.

The two border dies used at the top are PTI and so is the tag die. The cardstock is all PTI, too. The silver twine is from SU. The "You brighten my day" sentiment is PTI and the "thanks" is Paper Smooches. The lamp stamp is from Hero Arts. The pearls are from Q and Co. This card was a bit out of my comfort zone to make, but I'm glad I gave it a shot! You should try it out too, head on over to their blog here.

12 Kits of Christmas: February

2012-02-29T00:01:00.002-05:00

Yay! Its that time again, for the 12 Kits of Christmas February Edition :) Didn't see January's? Did you stumble across this blog hop and you're wondering what its all about? Read all about it here on my January post.

This month, our kit was from Cathy from Empty Nest Crafter. Look at all the awesome goodies she sent!

And on to the cards I was able to create with this fabulous kit! First, a group shot:

And then the close ups. This is the first card I created with the kit. I was loving that she sent one of the bears cut out of felt! Even his little scarf was in felt, too :) And the snowflake embossing on the snowglobe was pretty awesome, too.

This is the second card I made and is one of my favorites. I love all the patterned papers that Cathy sent, and I love that they're not all the traditional Christmas colors. The neat text paper especially caught my eye! I used my Copics to give the polar bear a BG10 cool shadow and also a striped scarf to match the colors of the card.

There was a note in the kit that said to think long and hard about opening up the synthetic snow, well I gave it a shot. Next time I'm going to have to break out the Glossy Accents to hold it down though, because Tombo didn't work too well (there was a lot more snow when I started ;)

And I think that this last one is my favorite of the bunch. Cathy sent the snowglobe all cut out, so I knew I would definitely make a card with it. I did add the snow from the PTI snowdrifts die, but absolutely everything else on all four cards is from the kit except for the card bases.

So what do you think? What was your favorite? I'm excited that now I have 8 cards done for Christmas and its only February! Now I know that you're dyeing to see what the other talented women in the 12 Kits of Christmas group came up with...I know I am!! Go ahead and hop on over to their blogs from the list below.

Suzanne: thecardyard

Cathy: EmptyNestCrafter

Joyce: Cards-by-the-Sea

Kim: CupcakesCardsandKim

Amy: Stamp-n-Paradise

Kara: KandRDesigns

Sharron: OnPapillionWings

Marybeth: Marybeth's Time for Paper

Jeanne: AKeptLife

Jessica: The Paper Parade

Christina: SeaGlass&Sentiments

Renee: ItsAPatchworkLife

I'm sure you loved some of these supplies just as much as I did...so here's a list that Cathy sent along with the kit so you can get them for yourself!

Paper: Yuletide Collection by Memory Box

Polar Bear Stamp and Die: Wesley Bear by Memory Box

Banner Die: Spellbinders Ribbon Banner Trio

Embossing Folder by Tim Holtz

PTI Buttons

Sentiments: PTI: Holiday Lights, In the Meadow

Waltzingmouse Stamps: Compliments of the Season

I've already got my March kit from Suzanne, and I know you're just going to love all the great supplies inside, so make sure to check back on March 31st to see the third installment of The 12 Kits of Christmas!

Jessica

Make It Monday #55

2012-02-27T19:28:00.004-05:00

This week's Make It Monday is creating large frames with smaller frame stamps. I can't believe that I never thought of this...its so easy! Thanks for coming up with something so creative, Dawn :) Here is the funky card I created for today's challenge:

The cute coffee cups are from the new PTI Heart 2 Heart #1 set. The frame is from Fillable Frames #11, the sentiment is from Signature Greetings.

The ribbon is Aqua Mist grosgrain ribbon and the twine is from The Twinery. The polka dot paper is from the new Aqua Mist patterned paper pack. The cardstock is PTI Raspberry Fizz.

I will definitely be going back to this technique again in the future :) Hope your Monday was a great start to your week! Thanks for stopping by :)

Market Street Stamps February Block Party & CPS #253

2012-02-25T14:43:00.004-05:00

I'm joining in on Market Street Stamps February Block Party and the CPS Sketch for this week. With both challenges, I created this card:

There's still time to join in on the fun at MSS, go check it out here.

Here's the CPS sketch that I utilized:

The stamps and sentiment are from Market Street Stamps. The Mat is Mega Mat Stack 1 from PTI, and the cardstock and patterned paper are also PTI. The library clip and heart are from SU. The twine is from The Twinery.

I lined the edges of the compass, sentiment, and Dearest Jane paper with PTI's tea dye duo.

I didn't make this one for anyone specific, but I think that it could definitely work as a masculine card one day. I'll hold it in my stash. It could be used for more than one occasion, so we'll see where it ends up :)

PTI February Blog Hop & cQc #125

2012-02-25T12:47:00.006-05:00

This month's PTI blog hop challenge was to make an interactive card, and boy was I excited since my release package came in just in time! I used the Movers and Shakers Spinners die and the Scrambled Eggs set and die to create this little card for my niece or nephew (haven't decided which one yet, hehe).

I took advantage of using this great color combination from Colour Q. You can check out the challenge yourself, here.

Check out what this bunny does...he moves!!

All of the cardstock is PTI. The patterned grey paper is from SU. The fence punch is from Martha Stewart. The ribbon is Canyon Clay from PTI. I got the sentiments to go along the path like that by bending them on my clear block before stamping.

The only thing missing was a cute cottontail! Which unfortunately I only had pink and it just didn't look right. Now off to check out all the other blog hop cards, thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend :)

MIM #54 & Freshly Made Sketches #23

2012-02-23T19:31:00.004-05:00

I haven't played along with a PTI Make It Monday in awhile, but I thought this Glitter Button technique was pretty cool, so I gave it a shot...and plus I got my release package today, so you KNOW I had to play with it :) So here is a card I created for Phillip's cousin who is getting married next month:

And here's the sketch I used from this week's Freshly Made Sketches Challenge:

I used the new PTI Beautiful Butterflies set that came in today, and oh do I love it! All the different butterflies, and the gorgeous sentiments, too. It was a lot of fun using it, and I only used one die and 3 butterflies...many more to play with later! And at the bottom you notice my glittered buttons. It was a neat and easy technique. You'll also notice the new Aqua Mist patterned paper that came in my package, too.

Everything on this card is PTI except the pearls and the ink (SU). It was hard for me to leave that "blank" space on the right side, but I'm trying so hard to stick to the sketch. I think it turned out to be a very nice wedding card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Paper Smooches Sparks

2012-02-20T18:34:00.006-05:00

Time for another Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge.

This card was inspired by...

This picture from Pinterest that PS offered us for this challenge. Head on over to the Sparks blog to give it a shot yourself here.

I used some really old scrapbooking pinking shears scissors (that I can't believe I still had, LOL!) to cut around the SU Sizzix heart die that I used to give it the look from the picture. I thought about sewing on it, too, but decided to just go for twine wrapped around the heart.

The background is from Market Street Stamps and I thought it gave the kraft paper a look sort of similar to the mesh in the background of the photo. The bat and sentiment are of course from Falling For You.

The twine is from Divine Twine and the cardstock is PTI, all other supplies are listed above. Thanks for stopping by to check out my card :)

Freshly Make Sketches #22

2012-02-19T19:00:00.005-05:00

I decided to make a card using my MSS prize stamps and the Freshly Made Sketches challenge for this week.

Here's the sketch, you can check it out for yourself here.

This little bird and sentiment came in the set that I won. The DSP is all from SU (can you tell I've been going through my stash lately?)

The cute little bird ribbon was in the dollar bin at Michaels awhile back. I thought it went nicely with this card :)

Hope you had a great weekend!

CPS 5th Anniversary Day 15 Sketch #231

2012-02-18T18:33:00.005-05:00

I made it through all 15 sketches of the CPS 5th Anniversary Challenge! Whoo hoo!! Here's Day 15's card and just in time as the link closes tonight ;)

Here's the sketch that I used:

Isn't this lion with the lamb so sweet? It's from my new Paper Smooches set :) And so is the sentiment.

The kraft ribbon is from PTI and so is the Aqua Mist cardstock. The DSP is all from an old SU pack. The oval and scalloped oval punches are also from SU.

I got together with my friend Suzanne for crafting today, so I decided to make more of the cards since they turned out so cute, so here's the lot of them :)

Fingers crossed that I win the grand prize!! ;)

CPS 5th Anniversary Day 10 Sketch #26

2012-02-17T17:35:00.006-05:00

I held out on this sketch until today because it just had so much on it that scared me! Haha ;) Well, I'm glad that I did it finally, and I got to use my new Paper Smooches set that came in the mail yesterday (it was part of my V-day present :) So here's the card:

And here's the sketch:

The snowflakes, tornado, and raindrops are all from the set, the patterned paper is all from a DCWV patterned paper pack and the cardstock is PTI. The twine is from Divine Twine and the punches are both SU.

This card is going to either go to my dad for my Valentine's gift or to Phillip (he did ask me to make him something with my new stamps afterall ;) Only one more sketch to complete before tomorrow's deadline...I'm going to make it!!

Happy Birthday, Cathy! (Surprise Blog Hop) & CPS 5th Anniversary Challenge Day 12 Sketch #118 & cQc124

2012-02-16T20:00:00.000-05:00

I have been so fortunate to get to know so many wonderful crafting friends through our mutual love of stamping, and Cathy is no exception! Because of the 12 Kits of Christmas group I'm in, I was able to add so many new talented friends including Cathy, and Joyce (who set up this special hop in Cathy's honor!). Both of these ladies (and all the rest in the group) are incredibly talented, and I'm so honored to have my name linked with theirs. So without further ado, Cathy, I hope your birthday is your best one yet!!

This card was created with another sketch from CPS's 5th Anniversary challenges.

I also used the colors from this week's ColourQ challenge on Cathy's card.

This cute little bird is from the Market Street Stamps set that I won during their last release :) The spiral notebook punch is from SU, and so is the ribbon, and the 3 circle/scallop punches. The sentiment is from PTI and all cardstock is PTI.

The Chevron Stripes are from PTI, and the twine is from Divine Twine.

Joyce actually got a group of us together to surprise Cathy, so make sure to go and check out all the other cards created for her. Just click on the links below :)

Joyce
Renee
Kim
Marybeth
Jeanne
Sharron
Jessica (You are here!)
Kara

CPS 5th Anniversary Day 11 Sketch #170

2012-02-14T20:20:00.004-05:00

I know I'm getting a little bit out of order on the CPS challenge days, but I still have a goal to finish them all, and I'm getting REALLY close! I have until Saturday to get them all completed :) So here's a 1st Valentine's Day card for my nephew, Liam:

I used this sketch from Day 11 of the CPS 5th anniversary to create the card:

I did not learn this until he had a son, but apparently my brother really likes giraffes! So I thought what better animal to use on his son's card...so I made it red to go with the V-day theme :) This little giraffe and bird are from an old SU set that I'm sure will get a lot more use now that I have a niece and nephew.

The neat animal print ribbon was sent to me by my good friend Dana for my birthday last year. The grass punch is from Martha Stewart. The animal print embossing folder is from Sizzix. The cardstock is PTI and the pearls are Recollections. The 1 die and "st" are from PTI, and the heart punch is from SU.

It turned out a bit more feminine than I planned, but he isn't even 1 yet, and it is a V-day card, afterall ;) Happy Valentine's Day to you all! I hope that you were able to get some crafty goodies :) I got a lotto ticket, a small pot of baby roses, and 2 Paper Smooches stamp sets on the way :)

CPS 5th Anniversary Day 14 Sketch #45 & MSS Paint the Town Color Challenge

2012-02-13T20:17:00.004-05:00

Card 2 of the day! I received the set that I won from the MSS last release in the mail today, so you know I had to get inky with it :) Here's my card:

Here are the colors from the MSS Paint the Town challenge:

Here's the CPS sketch I used:

Isn't this peacock awesome? I paper pieced with some SU DSP to get the effect below:

The DSP is all SU, the ribbon is PTI, the pearls are Q & Co, the punches are SU, the cardstock is PTI. The sentiment came with the MSS set.

I liked this sketch a lot, and although the paint the town challenge ends tonight at midnight, they have one each month, so go check it out yourself, here!

PTI's 5th Anniversary Day #9 & CPS 5th Anniversary Day 13 Sketch #121

2012-02-13T18:10:00.005-05:00

Finally, I had time to participate in one of PTI's 5th anniversary challenges! And since I'm behind on CPS's 5th anniversary challenges, I decided to combine the two to create this card:

Today the challenge with PTI was to use leaves and butterflies, and here is the sketch that I used from CPS:

Don't these colors look awesome together? And that sentiment is so meaningful. It came from PTI's Harvest Berries stamp set. I also used the ginko leaves and dies from that set. I scored two lines into the Spring Rain paper, and then tied it with kraft twine from the Twinery.

This butterfly is from a SU set that I had actually never used before. I found it when looking for another one, and knew it would be perfect for this card since I don't own any PTI butterflies (that may be changing after this release, though, lol!)

The Smokey Shadow and Canyon Clay combo came from Nichole in the Canyon Clay release month, I just loved these two together.

Here's hoping I win!

CPS 5th Anniversary Day 9 Sketch #5

2012-02-12T20:02:00.005-05:00

I've been MIA on the anniversary challenges. I am involved in a volunteer women's group in my town and I was in charge of our overnight state meeting that just took place Friday and Saturday. It went well, but I'm glad its over! Back to some cards :) Here's a Valentine that I created for my niece:

Here's the sketch that I used:

The patterned paper was too cute to cover up with a mat, so I decided to make a frame instead. The fish stamp is from SU and the wave punch is from Fiskars.

The twine is from Divine Twine, and the sentiment from PTI. The pearls are Q & Co and the cardstock is PTI.

My sister grew up loving The Little Mermaid, and this reminded me of Flounder. Since it is for her daughter, I couldn't resist this sea-themed Valentine's Day card :)

CPS 5th Anniversary Day 8 Sketch #102

2012-02-08T21:00:00.005-05:00

I've made it through Day 8 of CPS's 5th anniversary celebration. I'm only a few days behind, but will hopefully get caught up over the weekend. Here is the cute V-day card I created:

From this sketch:

The birds and cage are from PTI. The cardstock is all PTI, too. The heart is from a SU Sizzix die (hearts and brackets) the twine is Divine Twine, the border die PTI, the pearls Recollections, and the sentiment is from Heidi Swapp. The ribbon stapled on the side is SU.

I love how the tiny twine bow makes such a cute addition.

Are you almost done with your Valentine's Day cards?

CPS 5th Anniversary Day 7 Sketch #242

2012-02-07T20:00:00.003-05:00

For CPS's 7th Sketch, I created another Valentine's Day card:

Here's the sketch that we were given:

I used this cute Inkadinkado image, but after using so many PTI and Paper Smooches stamps, the quality of this stamp was horrid. I had to color in the black parts with a marker after I stamped it. It was a great deal and had some other really cute images in the set, but I think I'll stick with buying higher quality stamps only from here on out.

The paper is all from a SU DSP pad, and the hearts from a SU punch. I also used another of the Valentine rub ons. The library clip and scalloped edge punch are also SU.

I only need to make a couple more Valentine's Day cards to be complete with my recipient list. It has been fun making each one different. I've never done that before when I've done a mass mailing of cards (not that 14 cards is that mass, lol, but usually I design one and make the rest all the same). The hardest part is deciding who gets each one!

CPS 5th Anniversary Day 6 Sketch #37

2012-02-06T20:08:00.003-05:00

Okay, so now I'm participating in TWO anniversary celebrations..gheesh! Too bad they can't happen at different times of the year, oh well I'm having a blast, anyway :) So back to the CPS 5th anniversary sketches, here's card #6:

And this is the sketch I used:

So I had the negative image of the cloud sitting on my desk from another card I was working on and I decided to put it to good use...I think it turned out kind of neat.

The little bat and sentiment are from Paper Smooches. The ribbon is all SU, the twine is Diving Twine. The heart is a SU heart punch. All the paper is from an SU DSP pack. The heart border punch is also SU.

I'll be back for more, tomorrow!

PTI Anniversary Day 2

2012-02-06T20:06:00.002-05:00

On Day 2 of PTI's 5th Anniversary, the challenge was to use one (or two as I did!) of the free digi images that were created by the design team members for the anniversary celebration. I chose to use the cute tape cassette and the Love letters. The minute I saw the tape, I knew that I would make a V-day card for my brother and sister in law (Whit, if you're reading this, close your eyes ;) Without further ado, here's my card:

This card is full of PTI products. I used one of the doily dies, the BB Chevron Stripes, the BB Sheet Music, the Mega Mat Stack #1 die, and PTI cardstock. The only things not PTI are the twine (The Twinery) and the pearls (Q & Co.)

These letters sort of remind me of the circus, but the bright colors I thought went well with the bright colors of the tape.

My brother is a musician, and I know he'll really like this card. Now off to check out what all my other PTI friends created for this challenge :)

PTI Anniversary Day 1

2012-02-05T12:16:00.003-05:00

Today is the first day of PTI's 5th Anniversary challenge! On Nichole's blog today, she showcased each DT member and asked them to show one of their favorite projects from the year. Then she issued a challenge to each of us...choose one of the DT members projects and create a new project inspired by it. I chose Maile Belles card and created this:

My card was inspired by this card created by Maile:

These neat rolled rosettes are still from the stash that Suzanne gave me so long ago. I went with the exact colors that Maile chose, but used the Background Basics Sheet Music instead of the Chevron Stripes, and the rolled rosettes and twine instead of the buttons.

Also, I decided to staple a ribbon loop on the side of the card instead of wrap it on like Maile did. I used the same sentiment set, but chose Merci instead of hello friend. This was a fun challenge, I can't wait to see what else they have in store for us for the rest of the anniversary celebration!

I would say that Maile is most definitely one of my favorite DT members. I love all the bright cheery cards that she is constantly creating, and anytime I see something in a magazine that I like, half of the time the designer is Maile!

CPS 5th Anniversary Day 5 Sketch #38

2012-02-04T18:14:00.004-05:00

And for Day 5 of the CPS 5th Anniversary Sketch Challenges, I created this card:

And this is the sketch that I used to create it:

I used the little love monster from the Paper Smooches set, and then another rub on from the Valentine's Day SU demo rub ons. The clouds are from Memory Box, and the ribbon from SU.

The Chevron Stripes are from PTI, and the patterned paper are leftovers from a Christmas pack that Suzanne gave me.

The pearls are from Q & Co and the sentiment also from the Paper Smooches set. I'm happy that I've been able to keep up with the sketches so far! 5 down, 10 to go :) Maybe I'll win the grand prize!

CPS 5th Anniversary Day 4 Sketch #220

2012-02-03T17:54:00.004-05:00

Here is CPS's 5th Anniversary Day #4 Card:

And here is the sketch:

I used PTI's Simply Jane and the matching dies and paper for this card. I put pearls around the silhouette's neck.

This neat rolled flower was given to me from Suzanne. The lacy ribbon is from SU. The other patterned papers are from a DCWV paper pack.

This was a simple sketch and I enjoyed using it. Don't forget to check out the CPS anniversary festivities yourself here!

CPS 5th Anniversary Day 3 Sketch #54

2012-02-01T18:29:00.003-05:00

Here's Day 3's card for the CPS 5th Anniversary celebration:

And here's the sketch:

I was pretty proud of how the shading turned out on the acorn :)

This cute nut and sentiment are from Paper Smooches :) The cute paper is from that K & Co. paper pad (same one I used on yesterday's card). The little pearls are from Q & Co.

The Twine is from Divine Twine, and the card was cut with the Sizzix Scallop Square Die.

I've been on a roll! My in-laws are here for a visit, though, so I may get a bit backed up, but Id like to try to do them all so I can be entered into the grand prize :) Check it out yourself on the CPS blog here.

CPS 5th Anniversary Day 2 Sketch #166

2012-01-31T19:45:00.003-05:00

Here is the card I made for day 2 at the CPS 5th Anniversary Celebration:

And here is the sketch that I used to create it:

Notice how the sentiment goes along with the curve of the circle? So I've never tried this technique before, but I will now be going back to it, it was super easy!

All you have to do is bend the stamp to the shape you want it and stick it on your block. (On the right you'll see the real straight sentiment on the bottom of this stamp set, and then on the left you'll see how I put it on my block to make the curve).

I've been going crazy with Twine lately since I won an awesome prize of TWO full spools of Divine Twine from Whiskar Graphics when I won a CPS challenge a few weeks back :)

This funky paper is from a K & Co pack. The cardstock is PTI, and I used my Nestabilities to cut the circles.

The apple and sentiment stamps are from the Paper Smooches Falling For You set. The apple didn't have any seeds, so I just added those in when I colored it with Copics. Make sure to head over to the CPS blog to check out the festivities yourself!

The 12 Kits of Christmas: January 2012

2012-01-31T00:01:00.000-05:00

And here I am, off on my new year long adventure with some incredibly talented stamping women! I am honored to be a part of:

The details: Renee and Suzanne were talking after Christmas about how they were rushed near the end to finish their cards and their goal was to not have that happen again in 2012. And this is when Renee's wonderful idea was born, The 12 Kits of Christmas! 12 different ladies from the stamping community have agreed to be a part of this amazing group. We are each assigned a month to host, and get together 12 kits to send off to different parts of the country to our team mates. Then we will all post our cards at 12:01AM on the 30th of the month. Let me tell you that receiving these kits (I've already received my first 2!) in the mail is incredibly exciting! Getting to see the wonderful stamps, dies, paper, ribbons, and embellishments that were chosen by the hostess with her unique style is a delight. Here is a glimpse of all the goodies that were sent in our very first kit by the creator of our group, Renee!

Renee went ALL out and sent us each die in multiple colors, sent 3 kinds of ribbon and two colors of twine, she sent some gorgeous patterned papers, and sentiments stamped on all sorts of dies in various colors. And everything was packaged so perfectly in little baggies, on patterned paper! I had a blast with this kit as you will see below...I was able to create 4 complete Christmas cards solely from the kit (except for the card base which we provide from our own stash). Feast your eyes on these babies!

And now to look at each a little bit more closely. I was so excited that Renee sent dies from this PTI set that I did not purchase but definitely oogled. It was a lot of fun to get to try them out! And don't you love that red snowflake paper? She even sent jingle bells as embellishments!

Now this card was made with a new window die that Renee is in love with. She sent it to us in multiple colors, I even have extra to play around with on future cards as well. Isn't that tree die cool, too?

Another with the tree, and these adorable red birds to add a pop of color. It's hard to tell, but under the black velvet ribbon I cut the paper with my PTI pinking shear die.

And my last card. I used the 'Twas the Night Before Christmas sheet that Renee included in the kit behind the window, which I think gives it a nice effect and really makes the snowman and snowflakes pop. I love that plaid paper, and the ribbon was super easy to tie a nice big red bow!

So which one do you like best? I am thrilled to have 4 of my Christmas cards done already, and its only January! And these are just what I've created with the kit...I bet you're itching to see what the other girls have created (I know I am!) Also, make sure to check out Renee's blog to find out the details on everything included in the kit and for a chance to win some of the items used to make the kit! (Makes it even MORE exciting, huh??)

Suzanne: thecardyard

Cathy: EmptyNestCrafter

Joyce: Cards-by-the-Sea

Kim: CupcakesCardsandKim

Amy: Stamp-n-Paradise

Kara: KandRDesigns

Sharron: OnPapillionWings

Marybeth: Marybeth's Time for Paper

Jeanne: AKeptLife

Jessica: The Paper Parade

Christina: SeaGlass&Sentiments

Renee: ItsAPatchworkLife

CPS 5th Anniversary Day 1 Sketch #136

2012-01-30T19:44:00.004-05:00

It's CPS's 5th Anniversary! For the next two weeks, they're going to have 15 featured sketches and tons of prizes. Anyone who participates in all 15 is entered in for a grand prize! Go and check it out here. I don't know if I'll be able to do all 15, but here's the first one, at least ;)

Here's the sketch that I used for this card:

I used two older SU sets that haven't received much love and the paper is from an older SU DSP pack. The twine is from Divine Twine.

The label punch is from SU, and the pearls are from Q and CO. I edged all sides with PTI Tea Dye ink. The cardstock is from SU.

I like that although this card has pink, its not the usual Valentine's Day colors. One good thing about this opportunity to do 15 sketches at CPS is that I'll get a lot of Valentine's Day cards made ;)

SC369

2012-01-29T18:42:00.003-05:00

Time for my last Hambo SCS challenge. Actually, this will be my last card on the Hambo Design Team. I'll miss being a part of the team, for sure. Here is this week's sketch on the SplitCoast Sketch challenge:

And here's the Valentines Day card that I made using it:

I used the Party Elephant digi image which you can find here.

The balloon and the sentiment are actually rub ons that I found in my stash when cleaning out. They were a special gift to SU demos a few years back.

The patterned paper is all from a SU DSP pack. The cardstock is also SU. The twine is from Divine Twine.

As my time on the Hambo Design Team comes to a close, make sure to check back Tuesday to find out about a new adventure I'm starting on!

Market Street Stamps January Block Party

2012-01-29T09:09:00.004-05:00

I decided to pull out some MSS stamps that I hadn't had a chance to play with yet and link up to the Block Party! Here's the Valentine's Day card I created:

(I'm not sure why in the pictures below the base looks orange, but as you saw above, it is actually PTI's Berry Sorbet which is a pink color).

I will most likely be giving this card to my husband or his parents or grandparents since we all have campers, but isn't this image cute? And the little heart window makes it perfect for Valentine's Day!

The sentiment is from the MSS Compass set, and the Argyle is one of their background sets. The Dominoes are from a Cuttlebug embossing folder.

The bracket and heart are from a SU Sizzix die called Hearts and Brackets, the twine is from Divine Twine, and the pinking shears PTI die was used for the pinked border. PTI's Mega Mat Stack 3 and Sending You die were used for the mats.

All cardstock is PTI, the ink is SU, and the RV was colored with Copics. Now you should go over to the Block Party to check out what others have made and to join in yourself :)

cQc #121 & CPS #252

2012-01-28T08:40:00.000-05:00

I found this adorable Sweet Shoppe Stamp set on Scrapbook Steals a couple of weeks ago for half off, and I just couldn't resist :) So I ordered it and didn't think much else of it until I get a text at work from my husband worried that our CC had fraud on it because he called the bank and they'd never heard of the vendor, and all it said on the statement was "Steal Network" or something like that, lol. But if you haven't checked it out, you should! That place has some great deals. Now on to my card:

I combined the colors from this week's ColourQ and this week's CPS sketch in my card.

The cute little mushrooms came in the Gnome set. The woodgrain is a SU background stamp. The die is a Nestabilities die.

Aren't they just so cute?? And I loved the sentiments that came along with them, too.

The wide ribbon is from SU. I used my corner chomper on the corners, and popped up the mat and the gnomes. I think this color combo worked really well on this card.

Happy Saturday! Thanks for stopping by :)

Card Patterns #149, Color Throwdown #176, RCC37

2012-01-27T12:36:00.007-05:00

Looking for the Green Eggs and Hambo blog hop? Scroll down, this is my 3rd post of the day (can you tell I have the day off from work??)

Check out this adorable Valentine's Day card!

To make this card, I combined 3 challenges (something I've never done before!). Here is the sketch from the Card Patterns Blog:

Here are the colors I used from this week's Color Throwdown Challenge:

And finally, I'm entering this week's Ribbon Carousel Challenge that was issued by my close friend Suzanne! Find the challenge here.

So back to my card using Paper Smooches!

The cardstock is all PTI, the card was cut using a Sizzix scallop circle die and the circle with Nestabilities. The border die is from PTI.

The big heart is from a Sizzix Bigz die from SU (hearts and brackets). The ribbon is from the dollar bin at Michaels.

I did outline the monster with BG10, but it didn't turn out as blue as usual because its on the kraft. It still makes him jump off the paper, though.

I'm just loving this card, it turned out so cute!! Thanks for stopping by :)

Runway Inspired Challenge #4

2012-01-27T12:34:00.005-05:00

I decided to give the new Runway Inspired Challenge Blog a shot and I created this card:

Here is the runway shot that they gave us for inspiration:

Obviously the rainbow colors stand out, and also that neat triangle bag stood out for me. I took the colors in order from the dress, cut one inch strips, glued them down to a piece of cardstock, and then cut it all with the PTI banner builder die.

To bring in even more rainbow, I tied several multi colored strips of Amuse ribbon into the knot. I got this idea from an Amuse swap that I went to last year, and I thought it was a great idea for scraps of ribbon, and it makes such a statement!

I colored the worm with Copics, and made the "sand" with dots in 3 different colors. I stamped out the sentiment and used an SU label punch to cut it out.

I think it turned out to be a very cute and festive birthday card!

The set I used is from Paper Smooches, and the embossing folder is from SU. I mentioned all other supplies above. I had a lot of fun deciding how to create this card, I bet you'll be seeing me over at the Runway Inspired Challenge again ;)

Looking for the Green Eggs and Hambo blog hop? Scroll down, this is my second post of the day.

Green Eggs and Hambo Blog Hop

2012-01-27T08:00:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the “Green Eggs and….Hambo!” Blog Hop sponsored by Hambo Stamps! The Bacon Bits are here to help you start your New Year’s reading list off right with a little book title laughter and fun.

If you arrived here from Allison’s blog, you are in the right place. If not, you will want to start back at the beginning at the Hambo blog – TALK TO THE HAM. We don’t want you to miss anything!

A little surprise is hiding on one of the blogs today, so be sure to leave some comment love as you “hoof it” around the hop. One lucky commenter on the mystery hop spot will be in hog heaven and win a prize from Hambo Stamps!

We love comments anytime, but the deadline for prize entries is Tuesday, January 31 at 5 PM CST. Our current team will be retiring that day, and we will be welcoming a new Design Team AND celebrating the Hambo Hoedown’s ONE YEAR BIRTHDAY on February 1st. Blog Hop winners will be announced at the Hoedown on the 1st.

When picking a stamp to use for today's blog hop, I came across this adorable Amish image. I have always loved reading books about the Amish, and one in particular stands out, "Plain Truth" by Jodi Picoult (one of my very favorite authors!). So here is the card that I created to depict the book:

In addition to the Hambo digi Amish image, I used my new Mega Mat Stack #1 and Mat Stack #1 from PTI for the mats. The background was stamped with PTI's Tin Types. The impression folder is from SU, and the fence is a Martha Stewart punch.

The cardstock is all PTI and the ribbon is SU. The Amish image is colored with Copics.

And here's the inside....isn't the sentiment so funny/cute?!

In addition to the Bacon Bits, we are happy to show off some Hambo customer blogs as well. See below for the complete list of links to all the participants. Now head on over to Jen's blog to check out what book she is highlighting, I'm sure you're going to love it :)

Jessica (you are here!)

Jen N

Andrea

Libby

PTI January 2012 Blog Hop

2012-01-25T10:00:00.001-05:00

For PTI's Blog Hop this month, they issued this challenge:

"This month, in honor of the new year, we are challenging you to pick your favorite project from 2011 and share it with all of us! To take it a step further, you are also challenged to create a second card that is inspired by the favorite project you select. Your new version of an old favorite could carry over the color scheme, the layout or the stamp sets."

The card that I chose I originally made in October for a Make It Monday challenge. To see the original blog post, click here.

I used my brand new release package (that just arrived yesterday) to create a this card with Simply Jane:

I love this sentiment...I love this set, actually. I've always loved any Jane Austen movies and books, so when I saw that PTI came out with this set, it went in my cart, with the dies, and the matching paper, too!

I used the same layered mats and frames technique on this card as the original, and stamped the polka dots (PTI) and woodgrain (SU) the same, as well. The girls are cut with the matching dies.

Isn't it awesome that this paper is actually text from Pride and Prejudice?? The twine is from the Twinery. All cardstock is PTI.

This was a really fun blog hop to participate in, it was such a great idea to go back and find a card you really liked from 2011 and recreate it for 2012!

Hambo Hoedown #50

2012-01-25T05:56:00.003-05:00

Time for another Hambo Hoedown challenge, this time using the Caped Chick digi image which you can find here.

The challenge this week was to find a card in the Hambo gallery and use it as inspiration. Here is the card that I chose:

On my card I copied the sketch. It was nice and easy, but is still cute. The patterned paper is PTI's Men of Life, the ribbon is SU, the frame is Nestabilities, and the cardstock is PTI.

I wasn't able to print the sentiment right under the bird so I had to cut it out and stick it there, but it gives it the same effect.

This will make a nice masculine birthday card that I can add to my stash. In the meantime, why don't you head on over to the Hoedown and try the challenge yourself? It means a free Hambo digital stamp for you!

Paper Smooches Sparks

2012-01-23T19:45:00.005-05:00

I decided to give the Sparks challenge another shot (the rules said you could play along as much as you'd like). Here's the inspiration photo for this month:

And here's my card:

The big white circles on the red wall were my focus. Then I used an image from the PTI Stamp-a-Faire set to look similar to the design on the pillows (I didn't have a damask stamp, so I thought this was close enough). I stamped it with SU white ink on the green. Then I used my new Sew Easy to stitch around the edge like the black stitching on the pillows in the picture.

I took inspiration from the curvy black leg of the side table in the picture and put it to use with the label on my card. The yellow of the bird is from the side yellow wall in the picture, and the hat has the colors of the cute orange and green stuffed frog on the bed.

All the cardstock is PTI. The circles were cut with my SU circle punch and the bird colored with Copics. The bird and sentiment are both Paper Smooches. This card is going to be for my Mother-in-Law whose birthday is coming up at the end of this month. In case you can't tell, I've enjoyed playing along with this Sparks challenge! There's an awesome prize up for grabs that I wouldn't mind winning at all ;)

Christmas Thank You Notes

2012-01-21T08:07:00.003-05:00

I'm finally getting around to posting these cute thank yous that I made for the people who gave me Christmas gifts this year :) I used the new Willow Tree set that I got for Christmas along with my new Sew Easy (thanks for both, mom and dad!).

I did the stitching with the Sew Easy tool. The background is from PTI's BB: Retro. The sentiments are from PTI's Lordy Bees set.

The twine is from the Twinery and the wooden buttons came in a prize package I won and the green buttons from Big Lots.

Hopefully the recipients have all received them by now, but they did take me a few weeks to get working on and then send them out.

Paper Smooches Sparks & CPS #251

2012-01-19T07:00:00.002-05:00

Time for some Valentine's Day cards! I used this Paper Smooches set that was waiting for me when I got home today...trust me, you'll be seeing more of it...soon! I just love how cute it is :)

I'm playing along with the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge for the first time ever.

Here is the inspiration photo that was found on Pinterest that Sparks gave us to use:

I also combined this challenge with the CPS sketch for this week:

I was obviously inspired by the red wall with the white polka dots. Also, the black table, the green pillows, and the white of the bed.

This sentiment came along with the set...so cute and perfect for Valentine's Day!

The cardstock is all PTI. The red pearls are Q and Co, the black floss is DMC floss from Michaels. The bat was colored with Copics. The circle punch is from SU. This challenge was a lot of fun...I bet you'll be seeing me playing along with more Sparks challenges in the future, especially since I now have 3 Paper Smooches sets!

Hambo Hoedown #49

2012-01-18T05:44:00.003-05:00

This week, Hambo is sponsoring the Send a Smile 4 Kids blog which is dedicated to collecting and distributing handmade cards to children who are inpatient at Children's Hospitals. Hambo asked us to use this new Bailey image. You know I'm partial since its a dog card :)

I made this card extra cheery since it is a child's themed card. The "woof you" could be either "love you" or "thank you." The patterned paper is leftovers from a pack that Suzanne gave me, but I'm not sure of the company. The banner is made from an EK success punch that a friend gave me for Christmas. The "you" is from a pack of wooden letters that I got on sale at Joanns ages ago.

The little lady bug clothespins I found at work awhile back when I was cleaning out the craft closet, so I'm not sure where they came from, either. The twine is from Martha Stewart.

I used PTI's Mat Stack 5 to cut out the mat and then used SU punches for the circle, scallop, and label punch. I think any kid would definitely smile if they received this card!

My card will be showing up on the Send a Smile 4 Kids blog on Saturday rather than on the Hoedown blog today, so go over and check it out and what the other talented DT members have created! Also, today is the last day to apply to be on the Hambo DT for the next term, and to submit to be a part of the customer blog hop, so don't forget about that!

Color Throwown #174 & Freshly Made Sketches #17

2012-01-16T06:11:00.003-05:00

Here's a birthday card that I made for my Grandma using this cute Hero Arts Cling that I picked up at the Black Friday sale at one of my local stamp stores (I'm just now getting round to using it!)

I used this sketch from this week's Freshly Made Sketches Challenge:

And these colors (the closest matches I could find) from Color Throwdown's weekly challenge:

It took me 3 different inks and 5 tries to get the image to come out looking like this (which is still not as solid as I'd like). I about gave up on it! It is definitely a sweet image, though. Notice the PTI pinking sheers die on the left side.

The sentiment is from PTI's Ribbon Tails set and the pearls are from Recollections.

The ribbon and all cardstock are from PTI. This was a nice easy sketch to use, and I think my Grandma will love the card :)

cQc #119 and Card Patterns #148

2012-01-15T09:38:00.002-05:00

I had a very productive cardmaking day yesterday, and here's another of my creations for two challenges that I haven't played along with in awhile:

I used these colors from this week's ColorQ challenge:

And this sketch from this week's Card Patterns challenge:

Isn't this little girl sweet? It is a My Favorite Things stamp. I remember seeing someone using it at PTI's Stamp-a-Faire, and ever since then I wanted her. I just found her the other day at my local stamp store. The rolled rosette and the resin flower are both from Suzanne.

The pattern on the pink paper is from PTI's Background Basics: Retro. The floral paper is also from PTI. The grey paper is from an old SU DSP pack. The ribbon is also Melon Mambo Swiss Dot SU ribbon.

The scallop punch is also SU. Her shirt is stamped with PTI's Background Basics: Polka Dots. The sentiment came with the little girl stamp. I think that this card turned out sweet, but good grief it took me forever!

CPS #250

2012-01-14T17:12:00.004-05:00

I haven't played in the CPS challenge in ages! Today I got crafty and decided to play along. Here is what I created:

Here's the sketch I used from CPS:

When I saw this Poppy Stamps girl pulling a dog on a sled, I knew I HAD to have it :) It is so adorable, is it not? It even has a matching die to go along with it.

The sentiment is from PTI's Signature Greetings and the snowflakes are cut with an SU punch. The Houndstooth is from PTI's Background Basics: Houndstooth.

The white polka dot ribbon is from Amuse and the twine from the Twinery. The button is from PTI.

I love how wintery this card turned out. It doesn't really seem like winter here, though, because we still don't have any snow that's stayed on the ground!

Hambo Hoedown #48

2012-01-11T05:47:00.003-05:00

We haven't had a Hambo Hoedown challenge for a couple of weeks due to the holidays, but now we're back on track. This challenge was different...one I've never done before. We were given just a sentiment to use (you can find it here) and asked to use two different sizes of circles on our card. With the sentiment, I knew I'd make my circles balloons. So here's what I created:

The circles were cut with two different sized SU punches from SU cardstock. The two scallops are stickers that came with an SU paper pack. The striped paper also came in the pack.

The mini library clip is from SU, too.

You wouldn't think it would be hard to work with just a sentiment, but this card has NO stamping on it! Totally unusual for me. Why don't you give it a shot yourself? Head on over to the Hoedown, here, and you could be eligible for a free digi next week :)

Make It Monday #47 A La Carte

2012-01-08T17:56:00.002-05:00

I haven't done a Make It Monday in forever! But when I saw the choice to try one that I missed out on, I jumped at the chance. I tried #28, Glitter Die Borders and created this card:

I decided that if I try this again, I will use a thicker glue around the border since mine came out so thin and hard to see. I just used a Quickie Glue Pen..maybe Tombo would work better next time. Anyway, you can just barely see it sparkling in this picture.

The flower and hexagon background come from the new Rosie Posey set that PTI came out with last month. I loved the Smokey Shadow/Canyon Clay color combo that Nichole used on one of the release cards, so I wanted to incorporate that here. The button in the middle is a Stampin' Up corduroy button in Chocolate Chip.

The hexagons were stamped with Encore silver ink to have an embossed look without the extra work ;)

The sentiment is from PTI's Signature Greetings, the ribbon in Canyon Clay ribbon. The die cut is Mega Mat Stack #3. The ink for the flower is SU Pumpkin Pie and Mellow Moss for the stem. The glitter is also SU Dazzling Diamonds. Hopefully with the new year I'll be able to get back on track with PTI's Make It Mondays, because I sure do enjoy them :)

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T10:45:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it's 2012. Its going to be hard getting used to signing the back of my cards with 2012 instead of 2011. I have set some crafty goals for myself this year as well as other goals, so here's hoping for a great year! I wanted to make sure my loved ones got well wishes, too, so here are some cards I made to send out:

Is that sparkle paper awesome, or what?! I got it from a store called The Paper Source and it comes in a huge roll for $3.95. The only thing I could say I didn't like about it was that it was too big to fit my paper cutter, lol! I love how much it sparkles, though, so festive.

The numbers are PTI number dies. The New Year stamp is from SU. I used silver Encore ink and didn't have to emboss it...doesn't it show up nicely?

The library clips are from SU, and the ribbon is from the dollar bin. I ran out, so I had to use 3 different kinds of ribbon on the cards. I'm slowly going through my stash I've had for years and not letting myself buy anymore from the dollar bins, lol. Only PTI from here on out. I stamped this cute Amuse image on the inside and the envelopes of the cards:

And here's the group of them:

The cardstock is PTI and the pearls are Recollections. All other supplies are listed above. Here's wishing all of you a wonderful 2012!

A Year in Review

2011-12-31T17:07:00.007-05:00

One of my fellow Hambo Design Team members, Karin, is hosting A Year in Review Blog Hop. I'll admit that for some months it was easy peasy to pick the card I liked best, but other months it was a really difficult task! But here are the ones I chose that highlight my stamping year:

January:

February:

March:

April:

May:

June:

July:

August:

September:

October:

November:

December:

Some cards I chose more because of why I made them or who I made them for, but others I just love how they turned out. This was a great idea, Karin! As I was looking through my projects I forgot about making some of them, so it was fun to look back.

Hambo Hoedown #47

2011-12-28T07:51:00.003-05:00

This week's challenge at the Hambo Hoedown was to use this adorable new Reptile digi image that you can find here and create a card using something new (within the last 3 months). Want to give it a try yourself? Just head on over to the Hambo Hoedown challenge blog, here. There is a free digi waiting for you, if you do :) No on to my creation!

The new item I used are those cute little cloud dies. They are from My Favorite Things, and I just purchased them a couple of weeks ago when my parents were here and we went to this fabulous stamp store called Absolutely Everything.

This little reptile is so cute, and I love the sentiment that comes with him! And aren't the little raindrop rhinestones cool?

I pulled out my slit punch that I hadn't used in forever to create half circles to slip the corners of the Newt's paper into.

The cardstock and ribbon are from SU, the patterned paper is from DCWV, the newt was colored with Copics. Thanks for stopping by :)

December PTI Blog Hop

2011-12-26T15:35:00.003-05:00

This month's PTI blog hop challenge was to use wrapping paper, tissue paper, bows, tags, anything leftover from Christmas and create a project using them, and of course PTI products. Here is what I created using my brand new Rosey Posie set and the special limited edition Thank You set that came with my order.

The bow and ribbon were created from a gift bag's handle. Behind it is some snowflake tissue paper that I used for patterned paper.

I used the new Mat Stack 5 die for the background.

All cardstock is PTI. Ink is SU. The pearls are Q and Co. Thanks for stopping by :)

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T17:53:00.004-05:00

As you may have noticed, I haven't been around too much lately. But I was busy! So here are the Christmas cards that I sent out (and that all got there on time ;) this year.

This is my first Paper Smooches stamp set I purchased, and I will most definitely be a return customer! I got my use out of it with these 3 cards:

All my dog lover friends and family received this card, "fleas Navidad" :)

And this adorable santa! Its hard to tell but the snowflake was made from this really awesome glitter paper.

And here they are all. There is one more design that I forgot to take a close up of before I had them all in envelopes. its with PTI's Bells and Boughs that I won during the release and is in the front left corner of the bunch.

You can see it a little better here. They were the more serious cards, the rest were all cutsey :)

I hope you all had a wonderful day full of family and food, and that Santa filled your stockings full of crafty goodies :) Merry Christmas!

SC363

2011-12-19T19:07:00.004-05:00

Time for my monthly Splitcoast Sketch Challenge with Hambo! Here's this week's sketch:

And here's my card:

I used the new Elfgift digi that you can find here. Isn't he just adorable? See that cute sheet music paper underneath? Suzanne gave me a sheet of it :)

This card uses cardstock from SU and so is the diamond patterned paper (not sure where Suzanne got the sheet music from). The ribbon was from the dollar bin at Joanns...forever ago!

Because of the busyness of the holiday season, Hambo decided not to do a challenge at the Hoedown this week, that is why you're seeing my Hambo card early. But don't worry, I've got all my Christmas cards to show you that I've been diligently working on and FINALLY sent all of them out this morning at 6:30 on the way to the gym. I was shocked...I started a line of cars at the post office that early in the morning!

Hambo Hoedown #46

2011-12-14T07:39:00.003-05:00

This week's challenge at the Hambo Hoedown was to use Santa Monster (which you can find here) and to use rounded corners (because Santa doesn't cut corners ;) I wanted to make sure there were a lot of rounded corners, so I used circles, the Top Note die, and of course rounded the corners of my card. It turned out like this:

Santa Monster is colored with Copics and the circles are cut with Nestabilities and various sized circle punches.

The sentiment comes with this digi (there are two included). I cut it out with one of my SU label punches and added some red pearls for color.

All cardstock is a mixture of SU and PTI. The ribbon and button are SU. The pearls are Q and Company. If you would like the chance to earn your own free digital image from Hambo, go on over to the Hoedown, here, and give it a try for yourself!

Hambo Hoedown #45

2011-12-07T06:08:00.004-05:00

It's that time again...time for my Hambo Hoedown post! This week's challenge was to use this cute "Anty Claus" image (which you can find here) and to use an extra fold in your card. Well, I decided to add more than one!

I made my ant red because I grew up in FL where we had a TON of red ants.

And here are my extra folds. I took a piece of card stock and scored it many times. I folded it on the score lines and got a ripple/pleating effect. Then I tied some twine from the Twinery on top and added some awesome bling that Christina gave me on Saturday at our Christmas card making get-together. It is from Recollections and called bling on a roll.

All the cardstock is a mixture of SU and PTI. The image was colored with Copics. The button is from SU. So go on over to the Hoedown blog, here, and give this challenge a shot for yourself! It means earning a free Hambo digi image for yourself :) Who could resist??

The Ornament Exchange

2011-12-01T07:26:00.004-05:00

Right before Thanksgiving I posted that I needed to get my 24 handmade ornaments done. Well, I did, and tonight's the night! My mom's annual ornament exchange.

It was actually Phillip's idea for me to make a mini card this year. Afterall, I do spend most of my free time in my craft room and I also had the wonderful achievement of being on my first Design Team! I like to try to make my ornament tell a story from my life that particular year, so the card worked nicely for that.

I made five different ones, but made the most of the penguin because I thought he'd probably be everyone's favorite.

The stamps are all PTI. They're from Tiny Treats Christmas. The circle is actually from one of the Tag sets, though. The label punch and ribbon are from SU and the rhinestones from recollections. The cardstock is all PTI.

And then to make it seem more like a card and not just a little tag, I made the inside for each one, too :)

My mom has been doing this ornament exchange since 1987! Every year she invited 24 of her friends to come over to her house for a fun evening. Each attendee brings a basket full of her 24 ornaments, and first enjoys the 3 signature desserts that mom makes each year (coconut pound cake, apple dump cake, and mexican chocolate cake...all delicious!) and gets to make 3 different ornaments that my mom has set out at different stations. After everyone has made their ornaments and is full, they all gather in a big circle in the living room with their baskets. Each person tells how they got the idea for their ornament and any story that may go along with it. Then the baskets are passed around so that when it comes back to you, your basket is now full of 24 different handmade ornaments! As a child, my grandpa and dad would take my brother, sister, and I out to eat and then we'd get to come back and fill up on desserts. It was always fun to look at the ornaments the next day and figure out which ones we liked best. The year I got married is the year I joined in on the fun. This will be my 8th year and although I've only actually attended one or two (because I've always lived somewhere else since we got married) I still participate by mailing my ornaments and my mom is my "stand-in." Because she has so many ornaments, I was raised that on the Christmas tree, if you can see green, then you haven't put enough ornaments on ;) But now her collection spreads not only to her huge tree, but to garlands that she hangs all in the living room and entry way, and to at least 3 other trees she has in the house as well. I am up to two now! Anyway, its a wonderful tradition that I look forward to every year and I may even start one myself someday, although I don't think I could fit 24 ladies in my living room!

Hambo Hoedown #44

2011-11-30T05:49:00.004-05:00

It's time for another Hoedown at Hambo! This week's challenge was to use the digital image Snowball Fight (which you can find here) and to use dry embossing on your card (don't you love their "punny" challenges? Snow is wet, so use something dry...). If you'd like to give this challenge a shot yourself, head on over to the Hambo Hoedown page, here. It will mean a free digi stamp for you!

I used this cute Sizzix embossing folder as my dry embossing. It reminds me of snow, so it went well with this stamp. I also tied the bells on to my sheer blue ribbon with some twine to give the card a festive appeal.

Notice the nice, straight, pinking shears line? Well, that was made with my new PTI pinking shears die that I got in my last release package. The pearls are from Recollections.

I got a lot of use out of my BG10 Cool Shadow Copic marker on this digi stamp to make the snow stand out on the white background. If you don't own Copics but want to get started, make sure to get this marker first...I use it the most of them all!

All cardstock is PTI, and other supplies were listed above. It has been unusually warm up here in Massachusetts, this year. We're still getting in the 60s in the afternoons and we've only seen snow on Halloween when we had that huge storm that caused so much damage. Most people up here are really thankful that it is so warm and hasn't snowed yet. To me, it just doesn't quite seem like its going to be December tomorrow without the cold.

SC360

2011-11-28T05:54:00.003-05:00

Each month with Hambo, I get to choose a challenge from the Splitcoast Stampers forum to use one of the Hambo digi images. I enjoy sketch challenges, so I decided to play along with this one:

And this is what I made with this funny Blind Mice Hambo digi that you can find here.

This stamp cracks me up ;)

I felt like it was too empty on the left side of the card, so I added a big pink bow that was repurposed from a gift and now it looks like a big birthday present :) Sorry about the yellow tone to the pictures, for some reason the camera was really picking up on that and I couldn't find an angle to make it stop.

The border punch is from Martha Stewart. The cardstock is a mixture of PTI and SU. The circle was cut with a Nestabilities circle die.

I don't have anyone in particular in mind to receive this card, so I'll stick it in my stash, but when they do I think it will definitely get a laugh out of the recipient ;)

November PTI Blog Hop

2011-11-25T21:05:00.004-05:00

For the November PTI Blog Hop, we were given this photo for inspiration:

There was SO much to go by in this picture, I couldn't fit it all in! So here is what I was able to create with it:

I didn't have a tin bucket, but I thought that this pitcher from Iconic Images would work. The plants inside are also from Iconic Images.

The "wrapping paper" is made with the medallion images from Iconic Images, the bow is from Bells and Boughs. I took the design from the couch and used my Half and Half dies and stamps on the bottom left corner. The sentiment seemed perfect for this photo. It is from Home for the Holidays.

The garland was a lot of fun to make. It was the first time I had used the pine bough dies that I won in the release a couple of months ago :) And I know that the stair railing was straight in the picture, but I couldn't resist using my new quartrefoil die from this release!

Everything on my card today is PTI except for the ribbon which is SU. At first, I wasn't thrilled about this inspiration photo, I thought it had too much in it, but I ended up enjoying making this card, and it really got me into the Christmas spirit. Now to go finish putting up the tree :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T13:46:00.005-05:00

I just had to share a picture that I woke up to this morning of my niece, Autumn :) Look at her cute little "first Thanksgiving" shirt! I will miss the usual family traditions, but I have pumpkin bread in the oven now, and will make a smaller scale meal for me and Phillip this afternoon. Then on Saturday we were invited to a coworker's house to celebrate Thanksgiving there. Both years we have been here in MA for Thanksgiving, new friends have invited us to share it with them, to which I am ever so grateful.

And I can't post with out cards! This is the first Thanksgiving card I created with PTI's Gobble Gobble set, but it was too complex to make for everyone, so only one of these was made.

The tags are the two SU tag punches. The circle was cut with Nestabilities. The patterned paper is from two PTI fall packs, and the cardstock is all PTI. The large button and ribbon are SU.

I just LOVE this turkey and matching dies. Thanks so much, mom for surprising me with them!! :)

And here is the simpler card that I made to send to my family for Thanksgiving:

Even though its simple, I think it turned out nicely. I had grand plans to make about 25, but I ended at 10. After I did all those tags and pumpkin breads the other day, I was sorta "Thanksgiving-ed Out."

I hope that you all have special plans for today. I hope you are with family and/or friends, and I hope you are all able to reflect on the many things we have to be thankful for. I am so thankful for the new additions to my family this year, for reliable jobs, for new hobbies (knitting and canning), for the chance to be on a Design Team, for new friends, for our new camper, for my furry "children," for celebrating my 8th year of marriage to Phillip, for our wonderful home, for parents that I am truly close to even though we live so far apart, for weekly stamping nights with Suzanne, and for this blog (Suzanne, I'm so glad you convinced me to start it!). Because of blogging I have met so many awesome people who share my passion. I have even been fortunate to meet several of them in person, and I look forward to meeting even more in the future. Thank you all for viewing my projects and offering words of encouragement and support throughout the year. I love doing this and hope to continue for many years in the future. Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Hambo Hoedown #43

2011-11-23T05:56:00.003-05:00

At the Hoedown this week, the challenge was to use the digital image Computer, which you can find here. They had a cute play on words for the challenge....use our SOFTwares, and put something soft on our cards. You can try it out yourself and be eligible for a free digi image here.

My "soft" item was fabric. The plaid part of the card is actually fabric that I adhered behind my Terracotta Tile Frame that was left over from the turkey tags that I cut for my coworkers (thrifty, huh?) I colored the computer with Copics and then popped it off the page with foam tape.

There was no sentiment given this week, so I used some cool typewriter looking letters off a piece of patterned paper that I've had so long I can't remember where I got it from ;)

The ribbon and clip are both from Michaels. The frame was cut out with PTI's Mega Mat Stack #3 die.

I hope you all have some wonderful Thanksgiving plans! Enjoy yourselves :)

Tags for Thanksgiving

2011-11-20T20:53:00.003-05:00

Turkey Tags for Coworker Gifts:

Last year after Thanksgiving at Michaels, these cute mini ceramic loaf pans were on sale for like .10 each! I bought 10 with my fellow management team at work in mind. Last night I had to experiment since I have never baked in such small pans. I doubled my pumpkin bread recipe and then just filled them about 1/3 full because I know when I usually make pumpkin bread it has a tendency to overflow. Then I just kept an eye on them checking after 20 minutes, then 10, then 5 and they looked pretty done to me. The little pans are microwave and dishwasher safe, so I baked the bread right in them. And then, of course, I had to make a tag. I used my new (to me) PTI Gobble Gobble set that my mom gave me as a little Thanksgiving gift :) The Gratitude paper is from the First Fruits patterned paper pack, the cardstock is kraft for the turkey and Terracotta Tile on the Mega Mat Stack 3 base. The punch around the sentiment is from SU and the sentiment itself is from the fall tag set that PTI came out with. The ribbon is from Michaels.

Hambo Hoedown #42

2011-11-16T05:51:00.004-05:00

This week's challenge at the Hoedown was to use this cute Wee Henry Turkey image and to use a tag anywhere on our project. Head on over to the Hambo Hoedown to try the challenge out yourself and be eligible for a FREE Hambo digital image.

I colored Wee Henry with Copics and then cut him out and stuck him to an SU Old Olive piece of cardstock that I cut with a SU circle punch. Then I stuck that on to one of PTI's tag sale dies that I cut from the fall patterned paper pack.

The neat wooden button I actually won in a blog-o-versary contest with a bunch of other great do-dads, too. I tied twine from the Twinery in it. I punched the Hambo sentiment out with the SU curly label punch and layered cardstock and more PTI fall patterned paper to get the whole effect of the card.

So what are your plans for the big day next week? I asked for Friday off, too, so I am really looking forward to an extremely rare 4 day weekend! Plenty of time to get some crafting done, which is good because I have to make 24 handmade ornaments for my mom's yearly ornament exchange which is always the first Thursday in December. We're going to stick around the house, but on Saturday one of my friends/coworkers invited us over to her house for a Thanksgiving feast, so that should be fun. This weekend I just have to get to work finishing up all my Thanksgiving cards, then on to Christmas! Whatever you've got planned, I hope you get some nice, delicious, relaxing family time :)

Proud Aunt

2011-11-11T06:08:00.004-05:00

As promised, here are some photos from my quick trip to FL. Here is baby Autumn Grace wearing the hat and booties I made her. Yes, the booties fit! Although it took her dad, Alex, about ten minutes to get them on and I think that will be the last time she can wear them, lol

I love this totally relaxed picture. She almost doesn't even look real!

These are the very first shots of me holding my niece:

I just LOVE the face she's making in this one, hehe :) And if you notice in the background on the wall is one of the cupcake frames I made for her that I showed on the blog awhile back. After I passed Autumn to my dad, I was thrilled when she held on to my shirt and smiled as she was passed :)

Here we are as we went out to breakfast...where I also got to see my 6 month old nephew, Liam.

Can you believe the difference?! I just LOVE how expressive he is now. Each time you take a photo he has a different facial expression, so its so fun to look at each one :)

Here he is with my dad:

And here's another of the many faces of Liam :)

His bear hat that I made him at the beginning of this year no longer fits his head as he now weighs 20 pounds and has the cutest chunky legs, and of course has to have a big head to hold all those brains :) So while I was at the airport, I started making him a new one...a dinosaur this time! This day was wonderful. I got to see both kids, siblings, their spouses, and my parents. We had fun, played games, and ate...a lot, which is why when I woke up that night feeling queasy at midnight I figured I just ate too many sweets. I soon realized, however, that that was not the case.

I became sick as a dog! I got up 5 times that night, and by morning I had lost 3 pounds....it was the most unpleasant thing. And we did not know if I had the flu, or food poisoning, so in the morning, I was immediately quarantined from the biggest reason I came to Florida....the babies. We had such big plans on Monday, too. It was my mom's birthday, and the girls were going on a shopping trip and to lunch at Olive Garden, then to my brother's for games and dinner. I spent almost all day in bed (completely exhausted from not sleeping the night before). Then when we decided that we should definitely go to their house, because we thought I was better and I wanted to see everyone again before I left the next day, I got up to get in the car, and got sick again :( I was okay enough the next day to fly home, which is good because I had to be at work on Wednesday, but even today I still don't feel like Jessica, although I'm so much closer to normal. The thing is, I NEVER get sick! And the one time I do is when I'm trying to visit my family. So my trip was not as planned at all. I'm still so thankful that I got to see everyone for one day, at least.

Hambo Hoedown #41

2011-11-09T07:16:00.003-05:00

This week's challenge was to use the Camera Guy digi stamp and to use a frame somewhere on your card. The challenges at the Hambo Hoedown are a lot of fun, and you get a free digi stamp out of them! You should definitely try playing along. Check it out here.

I knew right away when I saw a person behind the camera that I wanted to give this card to my mom for her birthday, because she is always attached to her camera! I colored the camera guy with Copics, and made the frame with four thin sheets of cardstock glued together and popped off the page with foam tape.

These arrows are from a SU punch. The patterned paper is from PTI's Men of Life pack. The twine is from the Twinery. When she read the sentiment, she totally loved it!

I made this card larger than my usual A2 size. Its actually 5 1/2 by 5 1/2. When she opened it, it was funny, she was like "this is big!" She really liked it, though. I just got back last night from my trip to FL to meet my niece, so check back tomorrow to see pics and to hear how my trip did not turn out at all as planned.

Happy Birthday Timbo Blog Hop

2011-11-08T08:00:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday to Timbo, the man behind the pen at Hambo Stamps!

The Bacon Bits are surprising Tim with a little birthday fun today and we would love to have you join us in celebrating!

If you arrived from Stephanie's Blog, you are in the right place. If you just happened by, be sure to start at Karin's blog for the whole story and to have a chance at winning the birthday prize!

Each of the DT members were assigned a different animal from the Farm Animals pack, and asked to write a little story to tell what that animal was doing on their way to Timbo's party

On the way to the Hambo Farm for Timbo's birthday bash, Farm dog got to ride in the family spaceship, called Jeep. It is blue, and huge, and only opens when mom presses the remote control button. He loves riding in it because the smells are 1000x better than they are in his backyard. And they all come at him at 25 miles an hour! When the spaceship is going faster, and the windows are closed, he still likes to sniff the air coming out of the vents. Who knew the ride could get more exciting, until they stopped and they were at PetCo! Talk about smell Heaven! Every corner has the glorious scent of another dog. Farm dog could spend hours here! After getting his fill of smells, Farm dog headed to the raw hide aisle to get his favorites for Timbo. Then back into spaceship and wait...SQUIRREL! Farm dog must always stop and bark at squirrels. As they finally pulled up to the farm, Farm dog smelled even better smells than PetCo! There were new, bigger, stinkier smells. As he followed the scent trail, it lead him to the man of the hour, the owner of the Pig Pen, himself, Timbo! And from then on, the "shower" of kisses (licks) commenced. Happy Birthday, Tim :)

This card uses Farm dog from Hambo. Isn't he just adorable? I colored him with Copics, and then punched him out with a SU circle punch. I layered that on PTI's Mega Mat Stack 3, cut from SU DSP. Then layered that on PTI's Men of Life patterned paper, on top of PTI Aqua Mist cardstock.

The "woof" is from a pack of chipboard letters and the cute dog bone paper clip is from Recollections. The twine is from the Twinery.

I am very pleased with this card, I think it is adorable!

Now off to Michele's blog, where you can see what happens next at Timbo's Birthday Bash! If you get lost, here is the order of birthday fun:

Me!

Thanks for stopping by to help celebrate Tim's birthday! Don't forget to leave some "hogwash" in the comments section.

Pumpkins for Autumn

2011-11-04T20:26:00.003-04:00

The time has finally arrived that I get to meet my niece Autumn! And of course I will come bearing gifts... a knitted hat. And what would be more perfect for Autumn than a pumpkin? :) Check it out!

Yes, I even made booties!!! Now, I'm not sure they'll fit her, lol (there was a debate among my coworkers today) but at least they're cute and can be a keepsake. They weren't that difficult, either.

I can't wait to see what she looks like wearing it! I will definitely share a picture when I get back.

Hambo Howedown #40

2011-11-02T05:48:00.004-04:00

This week at the Hambo Hoedown the challenge was to use this Snail Rake image and a technique from Splitcoast Stampers. I chose to try out the Faux Stitching technique. You can find it here.

Here's a close up of the snail and the "stitching" it almost looks real, huh? And it was simple, just punch the holes and then draw a line between each hole to look like the thread.

I wanted the stitching theme to continue throughout the card, so I made it look like I sewed the sentiment right on the card, too ;)

The patterned paper is from PTI, the cardstock is a mixture between SU and PTI, the snail was colored with Copics. The punches are both SU, and the ribbon was actually repurposed from a gift I received recently.

Well, hopefully you are all enjoying the nice fall and the leaves that you see in this pic. Here in MA, we had a snowstorm over the weekend, and because the trees still had leaves on them, they couldn't handle the weight. Trees fell down everywhere, including right on our new camper :( Power is STILL out a lot of places, and school has been closed all week so far. Trick or Treating was rescheduled to this coming weekend, so its all been screwed up around here. Apparently we haven't had snow this early in the year in New England since the Civil War time!

Hambo Halloween!

2011-10-29T15:14:00.004-04:00

This will be my last Halloween card you will be seeing this year...and I'm glad, I'm over it now haha! But I definitely wanted to put this little Hambo digi bat to use, so I decided I could stand one more card ;) I originally made this card for a case challenge, but I didn't link up in time.

This digi is called "Fat Bat" and you can find him here.

The clouds were cut using PTI dies and I cut them twice, once with grey cardstock and then once on velum to make them look more cloud-like. The moon was cut with a SU circle punch. The background is from PTI's tin types background set.

The bat paper is from Making memories, the cardstock is a mixture between PTI and SU. Copics were used to color the bat. I hope you all have something exciting to do for Halloween! We don't get any Trick-or-Treaters since we live on a busy road, but here's hoping you get some cute ones :)

SC356

2011-10-27T20:22:00.004-04:00

One of the requirements of being on the Hambo Design Team is to do at least one challenge from Splitcoast Stampers a month. I chose to do this week's sketch challenge. It looks like this:

And this is the card that I created using the Hambo digital chess set:

I used to play chess with my dad growing up, and then when Phillip and I started dating, we used to play chess a lot. In fact, for his first Christmas gift as a couple, I bought him a cool Michael Graves chess set.

The patterned paper is from PTI, its called Men of Life. I actually got it in my Stamp-a-Faire gift bag, and have just now gotten around to using it. The sentiment is from PTI, too. I colored the chess pieces with Copics. This card will work for a masculine birthday card which is good because I don't usually have many of those! You can find the chess set here.

Halloween Treats

2011-10-27T07:36:00.003-04:00

I found this great, easy Halloween treat idea through my mom's boards on Pinterest. They were easy and definitely turned out cute. Oh and did I mention that they are delicious?

In the Wilton aisle at Michaels they sell the sticks, and the little bags with ribbons, too.

My mom gave me the cute PTI tag set as a little October gift, it was great to get some use out of them :)

This recipe was really easy. It is one sleeve of Oreos and one 8 oz. pkg of softened cream cheese mixed together in the food processor then chilled. Next roll it into balls and chill again. Then put the sticks in and then dip them in the melted candy chocolates (you can get those at Michaels, too) add the eyes and let dry. You can also change it up and do orange to make them look like pumpkins. They were definitely a hit!

Hambo Hoedown #39

2011-10-26T05:45:00.003-04:00

This week's Hambo digital image is this cute little newscaster. You can check him out here. The challenge to use with this digi was to use newsprint on your card, which is the perfect combination with a newscaster, if you ask me ;)

I lucked out in this one, because I own a newsprint background stamp set that PTI makes! I wanted him to look like he was sitting at one of those desks in the news studio, so I made the small white mat go off the page.

I colored him with Copics, edged the sentiments so they'd stand out, and then added a little library clip and three red pearls at the bottom to finish it off.

I like that this card turned out so cute, yet masculine at the same time. My dad's birthday is coming up next month, so I think I'll save it to give to him :) The cardstock is a mix between SU and PTI. The library clip is SU. Go on over to the Hambo Hoedown here to check out what everyone else created with this great image :) Also, make sure to go check out the HOGtoberfest sale that's going on on the Hambo site! You can get 30% off all regular priced items throughout the store, but only through midnight tonight. Make sure to check it out now, because this will be Hambo's last sale of the year.

Color Throwdown #164 & CAS-ual Fridays #25

2011-10-25T05:42:00.004-04:00

Is this cute or what??

The number die and "st" stamp are from PTI. The "October 31" came out of the PTI Halloween Sweets and Treats set.

My friend Christina has been using these adorable little stamps that she found in the Michael's dollar bin, so when I was there the other day, I had to check it out! They didn't have the exact ones she has been using, but they did have these 3 little guys. I just couldn't resist! The cardstock is all SU and the paper with the text is from Making Memories. This card is for my niece, Autumn, for her very first Halloween! Unfortunately I'm too late to link up for the Color Throwdown challenge, but the colors still turned out nicely together :)

Make It Monday #37: Layered Mats & Frames

2011-10-24T05:49:00.003-04:00

This week's Make It Monday was to use PTI dies together to create custom mats and frames.

Here's what I created using the new Mega Mat Stack #3 and Mat Stack #4.

I'm so pleased with how this card turned out! First I cut out two Mega Mat Stack #3 dies, and then cut a Mat Stack #4 into one of them. I stamped the SU woodgrain background over the full one, and PTI polka dot basics on the one with the Mat Stack #4 cut out of it.

I stamped and cut the little bucket spider out of PTI's Halloween Sweets and Treats stamp set and dies. The sentiment is also from that set. I tied the bucket on with baker's twine from The Twinery.

The cardstock is SU Perfect Plum, and the patterned paper came in that Making Memories Halloween pack that I've been using a lot of lately ;)

I made two of these cards, one for each of my PTI pen pals. One of them, Dana, actually was the one to give me the Sweets and Treats set for my birthday. Thanks, Dana! I have one more Halloween card to show you tomorrow, but I'm finally done making them. I may make a few tags for coworkers for some little treats I'm making them, but otherwise, gone is Halloween for me this year...on to Thanksgiving!

Freshly Made Sketch #7 and Market Street Block Party Challenge

2011-10-23T14:12:00.003-04:00

This is my second post of the day. I decided to combine two challenges for this one. Freshly Made Sketches and the Market Street Stamps Block Party Challenge. Here is the sketch:

The Market Street Stamps Block Party Challenge was to make a birthday or anniversary card, so I made this one for my friend and PTI pen pal, Dana:

The papers and stamp set were from a prize package that I won on Sarah Jay's blog! She's one of the Market Street Stamps DT members, and I was thrilled to win :)

Isn't this pot just adorable? It is from the Comfort Food set. There are a lot of other cute images in that set, too, so you'll definitely be seeing more of it!

The paper is from a Pink Paislee set called Nantucket. I used to go there weekly when I was working on American Cruise Lines, and they got it down with this paper. I definitely reminds me of Nantucket.

The border punch, circle punch, and corduroy buttons are from SU. The aqua mist button is from PTI. I was just introduced to this sketch site and to Market Street Stamps through Suzanne. She is also the one who introduced me to PTI...and we all know how that went ;)

Color Q #107

2011-10-23T12:33:00.003-04:00

Geeze, its been forever since I've done one of these! Its mostly because I do the majority of my cardmaking on Sunday afternoons...when the challenge is already past due! But I'm making it this week...with 20 minutes to spare, hehe. Anyway, here are the colors for this week's Color Q challenge:

You can check out the challenge here, too. And my card:

Isn't this little owl cute? He's a punch from SU. The witch hat came from a Halloween SU set from last year. The tag is Amuse and so is the sentiment. The clouds are PTI, borrowed from Suzanne (thanks, Suzanne!).

Here is the inside:

The fence is a Martha Stewart punch. The cardstock is a mixture between PTI and SU. The patterned paper is Making Memories (fence) and SU (owl's belly). The sentiment on the inside is from the JoAnns dollar bin and the bats from SU. This card is actually for my nephew, Liam. It turned out a little more feminine than I planned, but I think that it's still cute. He is going to be an owl for Halloween this year and my mom is making his costume, so I knew I wanted to use the owl punch for his card. I can't wait to see how cute he looks in his little costume!

Hambo Hoedown #38

2011-10-19T05:44:00.004-04:00

It's time for my third Hambo Hoedown post! This week they sent us the zombie bunny digi stamp to use and a sketch. Check it out here if you'd like to play along.

Here is the card I created with this sketch and Zombie Bunny. You can get him here if you'd like to give him a whirl yourself.

Zombie bunny comes with 3 cute sentiments, but I couldn't resist this one. The little spider web is from Recollections. The patterned paper is from Making Memories. The cardstock is from SU. I used the PTI tea dyes to edge the paper. And I colored the bunny with Copics.

It's hard to tell in this picture, but the inside of the pumpkin sparkles. I used one of my Spica markers for that.

This sketch was easy and had a great look to it. The tilt went especially well with the zombie aspect ;) Hopefully tonight when I meet with Suzanne for our weekly stamping get together, I can get finished with my Halloween cards and get them sent out this weekend. It will be here before we know it!

Quite the Pear

2011-10-17T16:29:00.004-04:00

My niece, Autumn Grace Bryant, was born one week ago (on October 10th) at 9:35am weighing 8 pounds 6 ounces. This is a picture of my sister, Jamie, her husband, Alex, and Autumn. As you probably have realized I'm super happy she's here! (I've been making cards for her and my family like crazy ;)

Speaking of cards, here's one that I made for my mom a.k.a. Grandma ;)

How sweet is this mother and baby image (or in my case, grandmother/grandbaby)? It's from Hambo, and I couldn't resist its cuteness ;) I know my mom will appreciate it!

This cute saying is actually from the dollar bin at Michaels from g and company. The background paper I bought one sheet of quite some time ago at a local stamp store, so I can't recall who makes it. The button is from SU and twine from the Twinery.

The green rhinestones came with the stamp set, and the rickrack was cut with a PTI die. All the cardstock is SU and PTI.

I got to "meet" Autumn on Skype today, but I can't wait until I can actually hold her :) Only a couple more weeks and I'll be doing just that!

Hambo Hoedown #2

2011-10-12T05:57:00.003-04:00

Hi everybody! Back with my second Hoedown post. This week we were to use this cute little mummy and the colors black, green, orange, and purple for our challenge.

Isn't the little mummy adorable? Behind him is a doily cut with one of PTI's doily dies.

The paper in the background is again that Making Memories Halloween paper I've been using lately. Can you tell what is sitting out on my desktop?? ;) He comes with two sentiments. I chose this one:

The twine is from The Twinery and the glitter brads are from SU.

The cardstock is all SU and the scallop oval punch is SU as well. Go on over to the Hoedown Blog to check out what the other Bacon Bits have created and give the challenge a shot, yourself! Have a great day :)

Make It Monday #32 & Color Throwdown #162

2011-10-09T19:32:00.003-04:00

This week's Make It Monday was to make your own Washi tape.

And here are the colors from this week's Color Throwdown Challenge:

And with those two together, I made this card for my dad :)

A close up of the Washi tape that I made. I didn't have any score tape, but I did have the really sticky red tape that I used instead. The pattern is from Background Basics Retro.

I received this adorable Tiny Treats birthday set for my birthday in August, and just haven't had a chance to use it yet, I'm so glad I did, today, it turned out so cute!

So I made a little rhyme: "Hip Hippo Hooray, You became a Grandpa Today!" In case you've missed my past blog posts, my sister is scheduled to have a C-section tomorrow morning!

The cardstock is a mixture of PTI and SU. The stamp sets are mentioned above. The ribbon is from the dollar bin at Michaels, and the buttons are PTI. The border punch and punches inside the card are SU. I had a really productive card making weekend....and I can't even show them all to you (which is killing me!) because one is for my Hambo post on Wednesday, and the other two I decided to submit to try to get published! It's the first time I've ever done it and I'm super excited about it. The funny thing is that I made them both for my sister as welcome new baby cards, but I thought they turned out so unique and cute that I thought they could be publishing worthy. And because of that I can't send them to her LOL I should just make a duplicate so I can send it and hang on to the other just in case. This is an exciting new step for me, and I will make SURE to share it with all my blogger friends if I ever make it in :)

CASE Study #60

2011-10-08T15:38:00.005-04:00

This is the beautiful card that CASE Study has for us to use as inspiration this week:

And this is what I created for my niece who will be here this coming Monday:

So I realize that there is a butterfly, not an elephant on the inspiration card, but I knew I wanted to use this little Hambo party elephant, so I substituted him instead ;)

The music is from PTI's Background Basics Sheet Music Set, and the notebook punch is from SU.

I think this card turned out so sweet, and one day, my niece, Autumn will love it. For now, I know her mom will! The cardstock is all from PTI, the ribbon is all from SU. The patterned paper is from AMuse. The punches are all from SU. The party elephant was colored with Copics, and the edges were inked with PTI's tea dye duo ink.