Good morning!

Welcome to Tuesday! It's 4:30 am and I'm at the airport, leaving for the Bahamas!! No posts for me for the next couple of weeks....... I'll have to catch up on all my challenges when I get back!!!! :) See you in March!!!

Jingle Belles and Sketchy Thursdays : Two challenges -- one card!

Jingle Belles and Sketchy Thursdays

 This week the DT at Jingle Belles and Sketchy Thursdays are offering us two chances to win! With just one card!! Whoo-Hoo!!!

 Here's the sketch we have to play with.....

And here's my interpretation of the design........

I kept pretty true to the sketch,except I didn't use a ribbon/ stitching for this one. I used some more of my stash of retired DSP( from SU ) with Soft Suede, Very Vanilla and Cherry Cobbler cardstock.The DP is inked in SS and the red is distressed.... can you tell in the pic?? I used the 2.5" circle punch for the inside 1/2 circle and then traced a ribbon spool to make the outer layer! I need a 2.75 punch...is there on e available, I wonder?? Anyhooo..... I cut a small wreath( 1.79 inches) on my Cricut ( Seasons of Joy cart.) in Very Vanilla and the inside  layer in Soft Suede. I used Glimmer Mist on the wreath , although it doesn't show up all that great in this photo, and added a few mini pearls and a grosgrain bow to finish it up. All in all, a very quick card to make.

The sentiment just barely fit inside the modern label punch.... no room to spare!

I'm really liking these Christmas card challenges..... every year I scramble to get all my cards done and in the mail  before the 25th .... not this year!!! *** big smiles!!!***

Go check out all those fantastic entries.........

Until next time..... Happy Crafting!!

Cricut Cardz Challenge# 62 : Cup Card

Happy Wednesday! Iove Wednesdays 'cause the fabulous DT at Cricut Cardz Challenge has another challenge for us!!! Yay!! This week ,using any cartridge we have, we need to make a  card with a cup / mug on it. I used Joys Of The Season ( didn't know it had a cup, 'till I started searching!) for this one. I stiil have spring on the brain ( please, please soon arrive!!!!!) so I kept the colors bright and very springlike.

For my basic layout  I used an easel-style, which  you can find a great tutorial on Splitcoaststampers . I used quite a bit of my retired paper stash from Stampin' Up! ( Creamy Caramel, DSP) with the exception of the ribbon, which is actually the new seam binding from the winter mini,  and Baja Breeze and Blushing Bride cardstock. The sentiment is from Occasional Quotes. I purchased this set simply because I love quotes !! I have so many stamps with quirky, inspirational, birthday, and whatever else catches my eye!!

Here's a view of this particular quote....

So there you have, my card for this week's challenge.... now go check out all those other fantastic submissions!!

Until next time....... Happy Crafting!!

Two blog challenges:Mojo Monday 178 and Our Creative Corner

Happy Valentine's Day ! Today at Mojo Monday the DT has another great sketch for us! Check out the DT awesome cards.... how could you not be inspired???
 I'm also using this card for Our Creative Corner 's challenge this week : use anything to cut / tear /diecut your paper. Well, I did plenty of that for this one; there's diecutting, paper piercing, trimming and embossing all on the one card!!!


 Here's the sketch from Mojo Monday:

SU! Level 3 Hostess Set , Playful Pieces, has all these cute little shapes in which you could make anything from Christmas ornaments to butterflies: you're imagination is the limit. I made little shopping bags for this card and the sentiment is from the winter mini ,You're A Gem, which has adorable mini greetings. The DSP is the Sew Suite line, also from the mini and the cs/ ink is So Saffron and Baja Breeze , and Whisper White for the sentiment. The embossing folder and pearls are non-SU!.

Thanks for Looking..... check out all the other great entries at Mojo and at Creative Corner.

Until next time.....Happy Crafting!



Valentine Treat Holders: Chinese Takeout Box / Frybox

Hi, again!!! Yup, I'm back for my third, and final post of today!!! I spent most of the day making Valentine treat holders for my 3 kids and then for my son's class and finally, a couple more for his freinds! Whew! What a day!! But what else could I do??? It was snowing and very blustery outside.... perfect reason to stay in and craft the afternoon away!! Besides, I really wanted to post all my finished projects tonight, cause after tomorrow, I'm finished  with anything Valentine related!!!!  :-)   Yahoo!!!!

So, here is my last post of Valentine projects.......................

These Chinese Takeout boxes were created from a SVG file I purchased online and then cut out with my Cricut. They were a little tricky to get to stay together ( kept popping apart!!), so I glued them.

I experimented around with the size of the boxes so that the treats would fit easily inside! The flaps tuck neatly into each other for easy closure and access; perfect for little kids.

Aren't those little fryboxes so darn cute??? I just love 'em! Again, I played around with SCAL to get the right sizing . I think they would look fabulous embossed ( next time!!!!), but for now I kept things quick and easy!!! Instead of punching out the owl eyes, I used googly eyes ( I thought I had lost them and spent way too much time looking for them!!!), and a little glitter heart  on the DSP owl and that was about it! So simple .... that must be my favorite word these days!!!

So now I'm done with the hearts , and Val. DSP ..... time to move onto Spring projects!!! Who knows , it may actually stop snowing!!!

Until next time..... happy crafting!!!

Altered Tin: Valentine Treat containers

Hi again! Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and I have to finish up my  projects for my son's class ( thank goodness he has only 7 classmates!!!!!) and I'm almost done making little treat containers for my kids.


                                                              I started off with this..........

Embellished with these...............................

Filled  it with some of these yummies...........     

and got this..........................

Pretty simple, huh??

Now, I've gotta go and finish little boy's class treats!!!

Untill next time...... Happy crafting!!!

Chabby Chic/Vintage Friend Card: Asian Artistry

Good Sunday morning everyone!  Do you have a growing stash of leftover cardstock bits and pieces leftover from your crafting projects? Despite my best efforts , I can never seem to keep up with all those little scraps of paper, and odds'n'ends  that seem to take over my craft space!!! This card is made with mostly scraps of paper...

I never thought I would love the vintage style as much as I do! With all the great products availbale now , how could you not!!! Stampin' Up! certainly has some wonderful papers and stamps that seemed to be totally geared towards vintage / chabby chic. 

Jingle Belles challenge 07

Hello!!! Hope you're day is fan-tab-u-lous!!! With all this snow we've been having, it sure feels like winter is just starting - so why not make another Christmas card, right???? The DT at Jingle Belles  have provided us another fun challenge to keep our Christmas mojo going!!! This week , we are challenged to make a card using absolutely no red or green??? Sounds like fun doesn't it???

I made this card using some retired DP from SU! , which also happens to use my favorite color , Taken With Teal ( retired, too!!!) and Sahara Sand. Talk about nontraditional!! I love the bold color with a neutral background.... this card didn't need much. I just handcut some trees, added some bling ( oooh... I love bling!!!) , a strip of mini pearls and a simple sentiment! I think it took me longer to find my DP than to actually make the card!!!

Thanks so much for looking!!

Until next time..... Happy Crafting!!!

Cricut Cardz Challenge:Green, blue and white Valentine's card

Hello! I hope you're having a fabulous day! This week's challenge at Cricut Cardz Challenge is to make a Valentine card using non-traditional colors of white, green and blue. The design team sure came up with fab ideas, but I struggled with this one. After searching through my cartridge inventory, I pulled out an oldie. Walk In My Garden was one the first carts I purchased , and even though it doesn't see the use it once did, I can't seem to part with it. I'm glad I didn't , because it was the only cart I could use for this challenge. I kept this carrd fairly simple and although it is designed as a Valentine card , I could probably use it for another occasion as well.

I added pearls to the flowers for a little extra, but other than that, it's a pretty basic design. The sentiment is from Close To My Heart and the crochet ribbon is SU!.

Until next time.... happy crafting!

A few scrapbook layouts I finally finished!

Do you love to scrapbook?

I do , but I never to seem to find the time! I managed to get not one, not two but three pages done and I'm working on a couple of others!!! My craft room looks like an explosioin of paper, adhesive, sicssors and photos everywhere!! Oh well, it was worth to finally get these pages done and tucked away neatly in their albums!! * smilies*

This page started out with just the larger snowflake diecut paper on the striped DP , but I thought it was way too boring! I added a few more details to make it more interesting like some  stamped snowflakes, a fun title and some random satmping around the center. A few doodles with my white gel pen and this page is done ( only started this one last year!!).

I used a little bit of everything for this layout: from felt flowers to vintage tags and even my Cricut for the scallop rectangle and photo mats. The butterfly is also from my Cricut. I sprayed it with Smooch for a little shimmer as were the tags.I even stamped on the tag !

And for this page, I just kept it simple. I didn't want too many elements on the page as the background was busy enough. A title designed on my Gypsy and the basket is half of a die ( Baskets and Blooms) and the felt flowers are leftovers from the previuos layout ( Brenda Walton for K & Company). I'll add journalling later on!( famous last words!!!!)

Just getting these pages completed makes me want to tackle that growing pile of pics!

 Thanks for looking!

Until next time..... happy crafting!



Jingle Belles challenge 06

Baby, it's cold outside!

That's the challenge for this week at Jingle Belles. ( it sure is cold out there!!!) . This week we need to make a card that has mittens, hats , felt, anything to make you feel all cozy and warm. Well, my card does the opposite! I look at all this snow and think BRRR!!! This card echoes my sentiment!!!!

I used my Gypdsy to weld the snowflake and the letters to two rectangle strips and then added a few felt snowfalkes with a red gemstone for a little bling. A strip of DP ( also has bling on it!!!) for a bit of color and I'm done.  So easy!!!!!

By the way...... I just love those Jingle Belles challenges, I actually may have enough cards this December!!!!

Until next time , thanks for looking and have a great day!!

Stacey's Stampin Stage: Curtain Call 68

Hello everyone! I must tell you , I am so glad to see sun again! What snow we got ( in a few short hours!!) yesterday.... over 5 inches of the white stuff!! Today is just sunny and balmy , well, compared to yesterday it sure is!!! :-)
So today, I thought I'd post for a challenge to a site that I often visit for inspiration! Stacey's Stampin Stage  has terrific color challenges! This one reminds me of spring ,which according to the groundhog, is a mere six weeks away! Let's hope he's right!!!
So, the colors are Melon Mambo, Wid Wasibi ( don't you just love those cool names!!!),Pink Piroutte,and Whisper White.

Here's my card:

The DP is  a DCWV paperpad and the pearls are from Michaels, the rest is SU! I really don't like how the butterfly from Punched Posies stamp set is so much smaller than the actual punch, so I trimmed it and layered it on another punched butterfly. I made the random dots on the Wild Wasibi base using my Big Bite ( Crop-A-Dile's big brother!!) by just lightly pressing the eyelet setter onto the paper. You can adjust the dot sizes by using the different eyelet sizes .... so easy!!! Just don't press super hard or you'll make holes instead of dots!!!!

Thanks for looking!

Until next time...... Happy Crafting!!!



Wall Decor: Altered Canvas - Vintage style

Happy Saturday everyone!

 I was working on this project for a friend and I am super pleased with how it turned out! She wanted something to be feminine, and immediately I decided on a vintage style . I played around with color combos and really liked the dark  orange ( this cardstock has a shimmer to it!!!) and blues together.

I used my Cricut for the scallop rectangle and trimmed an inch off the DP to make it fit nicely inside this 12X12 canvas. The phot mat is cut just slightly bigger than a 4X6 pic and I distressed the edges after I sponged the edges. I added a mini paper clip, which I could've added another piece of ribbon or charm to it , but I thought I'd keep it fairly simple.

I started off simply inking the edges of the canvas , but then I added Glimmer Mist and it ran all the color!!!  * yikes!* , but then I had a lightbulb moment!!!! * ding*    I sanded the edges and then added a little Baja Breeze to it, as well as to the DP to balance the color scheme.

I had a this lovely flower from a package of vintage flowers ( could be Prima, but I'm not sure anymore) and the tags are odds 'n ends I had lying around. I just add some Glimmer Mist and inked the edges for an aged look. The Define Your Life  and coordinating alphabet set are amoung my favorite  sets from SU! - so perfect for scrapbooking! The bling flourish is ,again, leftover remnants from a larger set. The DP is retired SU!  and the ribbon is actually seam binding from the new winter mini ( I just love Baja Breeze).The Friends sentiment is from Vintage Vogue set.  My SU antique brads are sure getting a lot of use these days , would you believe I had them for months????

This is what it looks like with a pic ( just put one on for effect- it's not staying!!!).

Until next time..... happy crafting!!!!



Cricut Valentine : Indie Art & Mickey Font cartridges

Hi again! I'm back with my project for this weeks' Cricut Cardz  Challenge : make a  masculine Valentine card. Well, this one had me stumped as I don't have many cartridges that make masculine cards... I tend to buy those cutsey ones with lots of animals and flowers!!! Yikes, no good for this challenge! I even tried SCAL, but didn't like what I had on file. So, I made my own. I once again used my Gypsy and made a custom sized card with  the word "Love"  ( used Mickey Font cartridge) welded  to the side and just jazzed it up with some patterend paper from my current SU! DSP stash. I received the Indie Art cartridge free when I updated my Gypsy last fall. I used it to make the heart and I traced it out in black and cut it slightly bigger and distressed it a little . More Glimmer Mist ( I had it out anyways!!!) , a brad and some stitching and it's done! I'm not sure how masculine this is, but it's what I came up with!!!

Thanks for looking.!

Until next time........ happy crafting!

Vintage style scrappage

Helo everyone! Hope you're all having a great day so far! Today is the first in a  long while that it isn't snowing heavily and I think the sun may be actually peeking out !! I should be out shovelling all that snow , but I 'd rather post the scarppage that I worked on for the better part of yesterday afternoon. It wasn't that the layout was super complex or anything, it's just that I started with an idea in my mind and when I began I tweaked it a bit, and I was actually pleased with the result!

Just about everything is from Stampin' Up! , with the exception of the bracket stamp ( a bargain at a local doller store!!) and the cardstock base is from an unknown source. I used the I{Heart} Hearts stamp set for the custom stamped background ( so easy!!!!) and for the cut out hearts. The heart on the left was actully stamped in Cherry Cobbler but when I sprayed it with Glimmer Mist, the color faded! Very vintage, if I do say so! The heart on the right was stamped in Crumb Cake and sprayed with gold Smooch, it's color stayed crisp with a nice golden shimmer.I then inked the edges again with Crumb Cake.  I distressed and inked everything I could... so simple , yet it looks amazing!! (Now , if I only had those adorable vintge trinket keys from the new mini , I should've ordered them sooner!!!! ) I haven't used my sewing machine in ages , but I'm glad I did! I love the scrunched ribbon, and especially now that it's stitched on! A  SU! antique brad and button with linen thread , and this page is done!

Here's another view of the  details:

I used the Define Your Life set for the accent stamp ( left side) and mounted it on a piece of chipboard covered in Love Letter DSP, which I also used for the torn strip above the ribbon. The DSP behind the photo is the DSP from the winter mini, Love Impressions, sponged in Crumb Cake.

So there's my layout..... now I'm off to complete another one !!!

Until next time..... happy crafting!!

Jingle Belles challenge

Good morning everybody!! Have you heard of this blogsite Jingle Belles? I discovered on a friend's blog ( thanks Emma ) , and the whole point of this blog is to make a card each week so that you don't have to scramble to get 'em done during all the hustle and bustle of Christmas! Sounds good, doesn't it? Well, to help you along the ladies provide you with challenges to get your fabulous ideas flowing. Check it out!
This is my first time participating .... here`s the sketch:

 

and here`s my take on it........

Nothing fancy here, just some patterned paper from My Mind`s Eye , cardstock, ribbon, and punches from Stampin`Up! ( and sentiment,too) and the skaters are from Cosmo Cricket`s winter line last year ( cut out form paper).Embossing folder is  Sizzix.

Until next time...... happy crafting!!!

My Digita Studio:l Valentines scrappage

Hello again! I think I made enough Valentines cards for my kids and hubby , so I thought I'd play around with some of the MDS downloads I recently purchased. I didn't buy the Valentine's Defined stamp set , because I just don't make many Valentine cards, but I think I may get it anyway... it's very cute. But I did get it as a download and I love it!! ( It figures!!) I made a layout of me and DH ... the pic is from our vacation last year. With all thi snow we've been getting, just looking at the picture makes me wanna pack up and go somewhere sunny and warm!!

When I scrap with paper I like to add lots of layers and embellishments but when I digi scrap I tend to keep my style more clean and simple. I haven't figured out to make those complex digi pages that I've seen on the web ( oh, how I envy those talented digi scrappers!!!), Still, I like the results I get.... I get my layouts completed and if I feel like making cahnges later, well, it's so simple to do so!!

Mojo Monday 176

Hi everyone! Mojo Monday's sketch this week is round or square. I keep meaning to try to make a round card but I always seem to end up with a square one! Actually, I made my card for this challenge last night but was just too tired to post and when I went to the site today I saw that another card almost identical to mine was already posted!!! I really liked hers  better I have to admit , as I think mine didn't flow the way I had envisioned!!

So back to the drawing board , and here's what I came up with.....

the  Mojo sketch.......

and now my take on this week's sketch......................................                

I just cut out the X's and O's from the DSP ( winter mini) and used dimensionals to pop them up. The rest is super simple, just embossed Real Red cardstock and the sentiment  ( Teeny Tiny Wishes) is stamped in Real Red... it looks a little blurred because I'm having issues with my inkpad.It's kinda weird looking, so I think a new one will be in my future! The DSP on the top half of the card is the other side of the X's & O's paper. Pretty easy, huh?

Here's my original card:

Even the pic didn't turn out as good!!!!  I need to play around with my lighting!!!

Anyhoo..... I used the I { Heart} Hearts set for this one and punched them out with the oh-so - handy-dandy trio heart punch! Same DSP, sentiment and embossing as the other one , just a super big heart on the bottom and a heart border with itty bitty glimmer hearts .

Oh, and the cardbase for both cards is Basic Grey.

Anyway, there's my cards! Until next time...... happy crafting!!!!!