Warm and Cozy

Heeelllllo! Happy Wednesday, my friends! Hope you are all doing well on this fine wintery day. I am feeling like quite the old lady with my wrenched back this week. But I’m planning on cheering myself up with a crafty play date with the girlies today. There’s nothing like a bit of crafting to ease all pains.

Recently, I came across an old card while digging through my scrappy stash. After resisting my initial urge to toss it, I gave it a make-over, instead. seemed a shame to let all that hand-stitching go to waste. Now it’s a fun mix of old and new, that makes me smile.

Did you all have any of those sets of Fancy Pants felt embellishments way back in the day? Mercy….talk about your oldies! Or how about that old Basic Grey paper? Now hopefully they look a bit fresher mixed with some Little Yellow Bicycle Winterings goodies.

Or one could hope, anyway.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Wishing you all a wonderful day!

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Maya Road & Epiphany Crafts

Hiya Sweetie Peas! Happy Wednesday! I hope your weeks are going well so far. We are still trying to adjust to being back on a school schedule, and I have to say that so far, I’m not doing too well. It’s extremely hard to get back to a strict routine after a lazy summer of being a slug-a-bug. Sigh……..how I miss summer vacation already!

It’s Maya Road week on the Epiphany Crafts blog.  And talk about a fun match-up, right? Maya Road has so many awesome products to play with. Paired up with Epiphany’s great shapes and tools, there’s just no end to creative inspiration.

I,  in my attempts to beat the back-to-school blues, have made another Halloween card using lots of Maya Road goodies like their kraft envelopes, round kraft typography numbers, and scalloped chipboard. And of course I dressed it up with custom button and bubble caps made with the Round 14 and Round 25 Shape Studio Tools.

There’s nothing like a little Halloween to cheer me right up!

For a complete supply list and full photo step-by-steps for creating this card, please visit the Epiphany Crafts blog. And if you’d like the chance to win a free seat in Cathy Zielske’s 10 Tips for Type! Class (Class starts September 6th!), be sure to leave a comment while you are there. The winner will be drawn and announced this Friday. Good luck everyone!

And before I go, I have one last photo to share with you. It’s my two munchies on their first day of school.

Love that Nik has her big brother to show her the ropes at high school. Love that they have this one last year together. Just love them both to pieces!

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Flying By

We are down to our very last week of summer vacation. Next Monday morning my kiddos will be heading off on that little yellow school bus to start a brand new year. Although I will certainly miss summer, I am looking forward to the Fall. Sigh…..my favorite season!

Couldn’t wait to get started on this year’s Halloween decorations with the adorable Fall collection of stamps from Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. This is the brand new Bats Clear Stamps Set and matching Bat Die, that I am so excited to be previewing for you this week. I have a feeling you will be seeing a lot of this set from me.

Isn’t that bat just sooo cute? He is die cut and stamped in black and colored with Copics. I couldn’t resist giving him some facial details with black pearls, and check out those fangs. Made those from a grain of rice.

Created a little diorama for my bat complete with a spooky moon and clouds. Stamped a sentiment from the set and trimmed it into a waving banner. All the papers are from Basic Grey’s Eerie collection. I used the lid from a balsa wood box that was leftover from a previous project for the base. I knew someday I would find a good use for that old lid.

For more inspiration using Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps, be sure to visit the blog. The rest of the team has some fabulous things to share with you today. Thanks so much for stopping by, my friends! Wishing you all a wonderful day!

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It’s Just Like You

Hi everyone! Happy, happy Friday to you all! Do you have some fun plans for the weekend? We are entering our last few days of vacation in California. I hope to make the most of every moment. We’ve got our sweet little friend, Meggie, with us, and we’re going to do some shopping today. Tonight I’m doing dinner with some girls I went to elementary school with. Too fun, huh? But most of all, I plan to enjoy the beautiful weather here before heading back to the intense heat and humidity of North Carolina. From the looks of the weather report, it seems that most of the country is suffering right now. Hope you all find a way to beat the heat in your neck of the woods.

Before we headed out on vacation, I gave myself a challenge to use stamps and a paper pad that hasn’t seen much action in recent times. I planned on making just one project, but had so much fun with my self-imposed challenge that I ended up with three cards. I’ve shared the first card before here, and today, I have the second card for you.

Basic Grey Oliver 6×6 paper and Stampin’Up Best Blossoms stamp set. Mixed with my favorite Lunch Bag Kraft cardstock. This time, I stamped the flower in gray ink and colored in the center with green.

I used just three sheets of paper for all three cards, so this is pieced from scraps. The bit of doily is scrap, too, that I recycled from one of my favorite local restaurants. I have to say that I was kinda thrifty with this card, and it feels really good.

Thanks so much for stopping by everyone! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

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With You By My Side

Hello everyone! Happy Tuesday! Yesterday started a second week of U Cut It foam adhesive inspiration on the GlueArts blog.  So far, I’ve shared a couple of projects using the foam in the traditional way of adding height and dimension, and today I have a fun card that uses the foam in a whole new way.

Since the foam comes in large 8.5 x 11 sheets, you are not limited by its size or shape, opening up a whole world of possibilities. You can cut it to any size you wish, including die cutting it, like I did here. Now not only does the foam give some depth to my project, it also becomes a focal feature as well.

Too fun, right? And so easy! Just run the foam through your die cutting system several times to make sure it cuts all the way through, and you are good to go. Peel off the top coating and add micro-beads, foil, flocking, or in my case, glitter. Then peel off the backing and adhere to your project. And be sure to save the extra little bits to use another time, as there is no waste with U Cut It foam.

Added a hand-stamped banner sentiment to the top of the foam and a stamped chipboard frame underneath. I painted the chipboard white and inked it with light blue to match the pretty Girls’ Paperie paper I finally cut into. I do tend to hoard at times.

For more fabulous U Cut It foam projects, be sure to check out the GlueArts blog this week. And leave a comment while you are there for your chance to win some U Cut It for yourself, along with a whole assortment of other adhesives, as well.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope you have a wonderful day.

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The Kraft Journal- Oh Baby, it’s Spring

Happy Monday, friends! It’s time for a new challenge at The Kraft Journal. This week’s theme is Oh, Baby, it’s Spring.

For this week’s challenge, I made a recycled framed art project using a thrift store funky junk frame, corrugated cardboard, and lots of fun new products from The Kraft Outlet.

A bit of paint and snippets of Vintage Dictionary Pages dress a background panel of recycled cardboard.

Pretty patterned paper and a Buff Postcard Tag frame a Large Grungy Prim Tag, drawing your eye to the center of the piece and the sweet baby chick from The Graphics Fairy that’s the star of the show.

I added detailing to the tag with Steampunk Victoriana Rubbings, more Vintage Dictionary Pages, and ATC Label Rubber Stamps, along with a dictionary pages flower, a bit of stamping, and a X-Small Grungy Prim Tag spring sentiment.

I hope you will come and play along with us this week.  You have until Sunday, March 27 at 6 pm EST to upload your spring themed projects featuring kraft cardstock or products from the Kraft Outlet. The winner of our March drawing will receive a $15 voucher to shop in the store.

Can’t wait to see what YOU create!

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Dream Believe

Hello everyone!  Yippee…….another weekend is here!  Love Friday!  Think it’s the best day of the week.  Anyone have big plans for the weekend? I’m working my real job tomorrow, participating in our town’s 1st annual Herbfest.  For all you local folks, it’s at the Page Walker in downtown Cary from 9-2.  Festivities include cooking demonstrations, crafts, live music, and activities for the kiddos.  I’ll be there with Garden Supply, selling fresh potted herbs at a great deal.  And it’s supposed to be fiercely hot and humid, too, so wish me luck!!

Today I have a card to share featuring the current challenge over at the Cardalicious blog. This week’s challenge is to make a card using the colors teal, pink, and yellow.

I have to say that this is one of my absolute favorite color combos these days.  Perhaps because these are the predominant colors in one of my absolute favorite paper lines, Lullaby Lane from Webster’s Pages.  I used  the 6×6 Petite Paper Pad,  6×6 designer vellum, Journaling Cards, and Die-Cut Cardstock stickers from that line to create my card.

Paired a single aqua Bloomer with a Petaloo teal blossom for my focal flower and added a simple hemp bow and a tie of vintage seam binding ribbon.  The 6×6 designer vellum added another layer of teal color to the card design. The little fairy girl was hand-cut from one of the Journaling Cards and the greeting was formed from tiny word strips on the new Die-Cut Cardstock Stickers.

Thanks so much for stopping by everyone!  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

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Meowy Messenger

Good morning everyone!  Is it just me, or is this week zooming by more quickly than usual?  I had to stop and think was it truly Wednesday today,or only Tuesday?  Somehow, I feel like I’ve lost a day somewhere.

Hope you don’t mind if I take a moment to share some fun news with you all.  I’ve had a few projects picked up for the May issue of ScrapStreet Magazine, a wonderful online publication featuring lots of cool articles.  You can find me here, here, and here.  Thank you, thank you, ScrapStreet!

And today I have a fun card featuring this week’s Digital Doodles stamp release over at 2Peas called Meowy Messenger.

This adorable digital stamp is the perfect framework for greeting card sentiments or journaling blocks on scrapbook layouts.

I printed Meowy Messenger onto white patterned paper and using my craft blade, cut away the inside of the frame image.  I colored the cat and bird with my watercolor pencils and used my blending pen to add spots to kitty.  Layered the frame on yellow paper, added a double row of scallops, and machine stitched the panel in place.

Papers are from Basic Grey’s new Max & Whiskers line, which I thought were a perfect match for this fun stamp.  Finished the project with a bit of tight zig-zag stitching in the corners, gold adhesive pearls on the frame scrolls, vintage seam binding and a Prima Cameo Rose.  The sentiment is a combination of rub-ons from a Creative Cafe SwatchBook.

Thanks so much for stopping by everyone!  Hope your weeks are going well!

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Life’s a Party!

hello everyone!  Woo Hoo, it’s Friday!  SO love Fridays! Love having a couple of days off to stay up late and sleep in late, forget about a schedule, and just relax.  What bliss!  I’ll be so happy to hit that cancel button on the alarm clock tonight.

We have been looking forward to this weekend all week.  Tonight we celebrate my little peanut’s birthday with a bit of pizza, a movie, a batch of brownies that are cooking in the oven as I type, and a sleepover.  We are going to see Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and I am seriously giddy with excitement. I think this old mom needs to get out more, but that’s neither here nor there.

Today I have a card to share with you that I made for the current sketch over at Sketch This.

I fell in love with the bright and bold color palette of these Basic Grey Green at Heart papers the moment I saw them.  Broke down and bought the Bloomers, too. They are just tooooo adorable to resist.  Paired these goodies with some vintage trim from my stash and a rub-on sentiment from Imaginisce.  Sweet and simple.

Here is sketch #99 for you all to play along with.

Hope you take a moment to check out the blog and see what the other designers did with this fun sketch.  And how about you??  Would you like to be a Sketch This designer?  Janelle is holding a design team search right now!  you can see all the info here.

Thanks so much for stopping by everyone!  I hope you have a fabulous Friday!

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2Sketches4You Play

Hello everyone! Hope you’re having a wonderful day so far.  I’ve had a rather peaceful morning with my sweet pup and my little birdie friend.  That bird is still trying to get in through my office window, although he’s giving it a rather half-hearted effort today.  Perhaps he’s realizing my stuff isn’t so good in here, after all.;)

I’ve had such a busy week, that I’ve truly enjoyed having a few quiet moments to myself.  Spent a bit of time putzing and playing in my scraproom, just for fun.  Fell in love with Laura’s sketch over at 2Sketches4You earlier, and knew it would be absolutely perfect for a birthday card I needed to create for my daughter’s friend.

The birthday sentiment comes from a sheet of Around the Block paper that I’ve had in my stash forever.  It’s really old, but I like the bright and bold look of it for kids cards.  Thought it was a fabulous match with these Basic Grey Green at Heart papers and Bloomer.

What do you think?  Do you think a 12-year-old girl will like it?

Here is Laura’s wonderful sketch for you to play along with.

In other scrappy news, I was SO excited yesterday to find my card has been  spotted on the Jillibean Soup blog.  That was a first for me.  Thank you, Jillibean ladies!

Thanks for stopping by everyone!  Have a great day!

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