Simple Butterfly Card

When I first started making cards I didn't own very many stamps. My stamp collection consisted of mainly sentiments. My card designs were created using patterned paper and stickers. Over the last year I have rarely use stickers and relied on stamping, embossing and punches. This afternoon I was looking through my sticker draw and found several beautiful butterfly stickers by K & Company. I immediately decided to revert back to my old ways and I made this Simple Butterfly Card. The only tools you need is a trimmer and a decorative edge punch. Sometimes it's nice to keep things simple. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your weekend!



My Simple Butterfly Card is entered into the following challenges:

• CAS-ual Fridays: Kraft and Text
• My Craft Creations: Butterflies

Cute Bee Happy Birthday Card

The summer heat continues to beat down on us here in Oklahoma and I'm thankful that each day gets us closer to fall. I have a tendency to start making fall cards really early. Even though it's hot outside when I'm in my craft room I have to remind myself that it's still summer. When making this Cute Bee Happy Birthday Card the summery colors in the retired Sunshine & Sprinkles dsp by Stampin' Up! worked perfectly. The layout is from this weeks sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches. Their sponsor this week is Bugaboo Digi Stamps and I've used their Cute Bee Flower image and colored it with my Copic markers. For added detail I printed the image on polka dot melon mambo paper and fussy cut the flower. The wings of the bee were colored with a C3 marker and I added diamond Stickles for a glittery effect. The clouds were sponged on using Bashful Blue ink (retired). I added the sentiment circle and used a Hero Arts Happy Birthday stamp. The final addition were the three yellow polka dot brads by The Paper Studio. I hope this card helps to brighten your day. Thanks for stopping by!

My Cute Bee Happy Birthday Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Tuesday Morning Sketches: Sketch
• Just Add Ink: Just Add Colouring
•  Cute Card Thursday: Things with Wings
• Little Red Wagon: Pretty Polka Dots
• Get Inky: Bugs

Noble Deer Birthday Card

The challenge at Shopping Our Stash this week is to make a card for a boy/guy. That works out perfectly for me, one of my male cousins has a birthday coming up. He is a true country boy and the retired Noble Deer stamp by Stampin' Up! made the perfect image for his card. The layout comes from the Monday Lunchtime Sketch from Technostamper. I used a woodgrain embossing folder with Early Espresso sandable card stock. I love the look of sanded card stock and for this Noble Deer Birthday Card it gives it a nice rugged feel. The patterned paper is from the Hooked on Fishing collection by The Paper Loft. The sentiment stamp is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set by Stampin' Up! and the jute twine is by American Crafts. Thanks for stopping by!

My Noble Deer Birthday Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Technostamper: Sketch
• 'ABC' Challenges: No Flowers
• Shopping Our Stash: For the Boys
• Party Time Tuesdays: Anything Goes
• Oldie by A goodie Challenge: Embossing
• older supplies used: embossing folder, twine and patterned paper

 

Blooming Love Card

Hello! I hope you're having a fantastic day. Mine has been pretty good. I was sitting by myself at lunch and was approached by a lady who needed a hair model for a training class. I was brave enough to participate. She washed, trimmed and styled my hair for free. Plus she gave me a scalp and neck massage. I guess I was in the right place at the right time and it turned out terrific. It really made my day!

Onto my card.... this Blooming Love Card was made using the colors in the Sunday Stamps challenge. The colors are Black, Fuchsia and Red. The closest color I have to Fuchsia is Melon Mambo, so that's what I used. I went with a really simple layout and used a fun black and white patterned paper by Recollections. The sentiment stamp is by Print Works and the pansy flower was stamped using the Flower Shop stamp set by Stampin' Up!. I layered the punched pansy with a real red punched blossom flower and used a black glitter brad in the center. Feeling I needed a little more of a glam look, I added the strip of black glitter tape by Recollections. The corners of the white card stock were punched using the scroll corner punch by Fiskars and I punched a couple of pieces of Melon Mambo and inlayed them into the punched white card stock. (I hope that makes sense!) This card could be used for an anniversary or wedding and it was pretty easy to make. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

My Blooming Love Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Sunday Stamps: Colors
• Make It Monday: Anything Goes
• Tammy's Scrapin Corner: Anything Goes
• Victorine Stamps: Wedding or Love

Best of Halloween Card

This morning I went and had some stamping fun with other local Stampin' Up! demonstrators. We bring our own projects and share tips about current products. For my project I made this Best of Halloween Card using the Best of Halloween stamp set (134381). The design comes from the Create with Connie and Mary sketch challenge. I loved playing with the Witches' Brew Designer Series Paper (132185) and I finished it off with three pumpkin pie colored candy dots. Thanks for stopping by and have a spectacular Saturday!

My Best of Halloween Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Create with Connie and Mary: Sketch
• An Inky Situation: Scallops
• Happy Campers: Use a Stamp
• A.R.T. Card: Anything Goes
• Sister Act: Anything Goes

All supplies by Stampin' Up!.

Kind Words Card

Good afternoon! I hope you are having a wonderful day. I spent some time in my craft room and made this Kind Words Card. The layout comes from this weeks sketch at Freshly Made Sketches by Lesley Croghan. I love the angled panel and had a lot of fun putting this card together. This card contains a couple of new supplies to my stash. The Venetian Romance patterned paper by Stampin' Up! and the sentiment stamp by Verve Stamps are part of my newest purchases. The colors in this Kind Words Card are:

• Island Indigo
• Crisp Cantaloupe
• Very Vanilla
• Soft Suede
• Pistachio Pudding

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

My Kind Words Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Freshly Made Sketches: Sketch
• Craft-Room Challenge: Something New
• Through the Craft Room Door: Anything Goes
• Our Creative Corner: Words, Words, Words

Kind Word Card Supplies*:

• Paper: Island Indigo, Crisp Cantaloupe, Very Vanilla and Soft Suede card stock and Venetian Romance Designer Series Paper.
• Stamps: Kind Words stamp set by Verve Stamps and Flower Shop stamp set by Stampin' Up!.
• Inks: Classic stampin' pads in Soft Suede and Pistachio Pudding.
• Other Stuff: Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder, Pansy punch, champagne brad and stampin' dimensionals.

*All supplies by Stampin' Up! unless noted. 

You Make Me Laugh Card

Hello and good morning! I have a quick post to share before I get busy today. This You Make Me Laugh Card was made for my hubby. He has always been able to make me laugh, one of the many reasons I LOVE him. The happy birdie is a digital image by Doodle Pantry. It comes colored which made this card super easy to put together. The layout comes from the current sketch at Feeling Sketchy. I love the clean layers of this sketch. I've added blue stitching around the bottom layer for added detail. Well, that's all I have time for. Thanks for stopping by and have a fantastic day!

My You Make Me Laugh Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Feeling Sketchy: Sketch
• 'ABC' Challenges: Lots of Layers
• 613 Avenue Create: Anything Goes, optional Stitching
• The Craft Place: Stitch Real of Faux
• Card Crafter's Circle: Winged Things
• Doodle Pantry: Use Image from Doodle Pantry 

You Make Me Laugh Card Supplies:

• Paper: Whisper White and Pumpkin Pie card stock by Stampin' Up!, Apple Crush card stock by Bazzill Basics, Blue card stock by The Paper Company, green polka dot patterned paper from the Springtime 6 x 6 paper pad by MME, cloud patterned paper from the Sunshine & Sprinkles dsp (retired) by Stampin' Up!.
• Stamps: Happy Birdie digital stamp set by Doodle Pantry.
• Other Stuff: Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder, sewing machine, blue thread, computer, printer, oval punch and scalloped oval punch, twine and stampin' dimensionals.

Need some more cute inspiration? Check out my friend Jessi Fogan's card using another fun Doodle Pantry image.

Masked Stripes Card

Do you ever wake up thinking about a card design? Before I went to bed last night I read this weeks challenge at The Paper Players is for a One Layer Card. Since I've only made a few one layer cards, I can use all the dream power I can get. When I woke up this morning I had a card idea using masked stripes. I decided to put a nice frame around my sentiment to play along with the Robyn's Fetish challenge to Put a Frame Around It. I'm also entering my Masked Stripes Card into the Anything Goes challenge at Make It Monday. It took a little time to measure and cut the masking strips of tape. Once I had my masks in place I sponged on Coastal Cabana ink. Before I removed my sentiment mask, I used a basic black Stampin' Write marker to outline my framed box. The Sassy Salutations sentiment is stamped using Raspberry Ripple ink and I added four punched black circles to anchor the corners of the sentiment frame. I think this card will work well as a masculine thank you card or you could adds some frills and make it girly too. Thanks for stopping by and have a terrific day!

Truly Grateful Card

In case you haven't looked at the calendar, there is five weeks left until the beginning of Autumn. I don't know about you but I'm ready for Autumn to arrive. I LOVE the rich colors of the turning leaves and the crisp Autumn air.

Today I played with a couple of my new stamps and created this Truly Grateful Card. Before placing my last order I debated about buying the Magnificent Maple stamp because I have a ton of leaf stamps already, but I'm really glad I did. It's a wonderful size and it stamps beautifully.

This card was made with NO special tools. All I used was Stamps, Ink and Paper to participate at 'ABC' Challenges. When I first starting making cards I didn't have a lot of tools to use. This challenge took me back to the basics. The Natural Composition background paper has a woodgrain glossy finish and I sponged on whisper white craft ink to give it a whitewash finish. The other colors are: Early Espresso, So Saffron, Cajun Craze, Soft Suede, and Whisper White. The sentiment and acorn are from the new Truly Grateful stamp set from the Holiday Stampin' Up! catalog. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!!!

My Truly Grateful Card is entered into the following challenges:

• 'ABC' Challenges: Stamps, Ink and Paper
• Alphabet Challenge: Newest Stamp or Decoupage
• Creative Corner: Anything Goes
• Sister Act: Anything Goes
• Flourishes Timeless Tuesday: Autumn Color 

All supplies by Stampin' Up!.

Neon Embossed Card

This Neon Embossed Card was made for my teenage niece. I find it challenging to make a card for a teenager. I'm always worried it won't be "cool" enough. Well... whether it's cool or not, I had a lot of fun using my heat gun and neon embossing powders to make it. I do have a TIP to share- when heat embossing I use a silicone pinch grip to keep from heating my fingers. It works really well and you can find them in the kitchen section of most big box stores.

The design for this card is based off this weeks sketch at Freshly Made Sketches. I love using circles and knew this sketch would make a fun card for my niece. When selecting the colors I went with her favorite Neon Pink and then played around until I settled on Tempting Turquoise, Neon Green, White and Black. The black panel was in my scrap bin and only needed a little trimming. I love it when I find a scrap that fits! The final touch was three white brads that I heat embossed with Neon Pink embossing powder. Thanks for stopping by and have a fantastic Friday!!!

My Neon Embossed Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Freshly Made Sketches: Sketch
• Top Tip Tuesday: Embossing
• Craftin' Boutique: Anything Goes

Silicone Pinch Grip

 

Back to School Card

It's really hard to believe that it's time for school to start. My nieces start tomorrow. I'm pretty sure they are ready to go back. Summer is fun but it can be really boring at home. There are a lot of back to school card challenges going on. To participate I made this Back to School Card for my youngest niece. The cute sock monkey image is by Bugaboo digital stamps. I colored the image with my Copic markers and made the sentiment on the computer. The patterned papers are from the Anthologie 6 x 6 collection by We R Memory Keepers and I used kraft card stock for the base. I sponged antique linen distress ink around the image and sentiment panels and added three Candy Dots by Stampin' Up! for the finishing touch. When I was making the sentiment, I wondered if they even use the word arithmetic anymore? I figured if my niece doesn't know the meaning, then it's a good learning moment. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful evening and a pleasant tomorrow!

My Back to School Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Party Time Tuesdays: Back to School
• Make It Monday: Anything Goes
• Craftin Desert Diva's: Back to School
• Crafting By Designs: Anything Goes
• Crazy 4 Challenges: Back to School

 

Secret Garden Birthday Card

Do you ever case your own cards? The design for this Secret Garden Birthday Card is from a thank you card I made last fall. I've used the Top Note die cut out as a frame around the sentiment and popped it up using dimensionals. The framelits that coordinate with the Secret Garden Stamp Set make it easy to create the floral cut outs using a Big Shot. The Happy Birthday sentiment is from the Sassy Salutations stamp set and I stamped the sentiment using Raspberry Ripple ink. The little butterfly was made using the Papillon Potpourri stamp set and Bitty Butterfly punch accented with three small pearls. The colors used are Very Vanilla, Gumball Green, Crushed Curry and Raspberry Ripple. Thanks for stopping by my blog. Wishing you a great night and a pleasant tomorrow!

My Secret Garden Birthday Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Crafty Boots: Die Cuts
• Delightful Challenges: Make it Pop!
• Make It Monday: Anything Goes
• Lady Anne's: Anything Goes, must use digi or rubber stamp

All supplies by Stampin' Up!. 

Green Butterfly Birthday Card

Hello! Last week my new boss asked me to make his wife a birthday card. When I asked him what her favorite colours were, he said green. Well, I don't know if monochromatic green is what he had in mind, but I decided to make three cards and let him choose. This Green Butterfly Birthday Card is the first one I made. I LOVE green and I've used one of my favorite butterfly stamps that I heat embossed using three different colors of embossing powder. The design comes from this weeks sketch at the Just Us Girls challenge blog. For a little extra detail I stitched around the edge of the patterned paper to give it that nice handmade feel. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

My Green Butterfly Birthday Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Just Us Girls: Sketch
• 'ABC' Challenge: Monochromatic 
• Top Tip Tuesday: Embossing
• Flutter By Wednesday: Any Winged Creature
• Creative Creations: Monochromatic
• The Crafty Bloggers: Favourite Things

Green Butterfly Birthday Card Supplies*:

• Paper: Very Vanilla, Gumball Green, Certainly Celery and Garden Green card stock and Willow Path patterned paper from the Woodland Park collection by October Afternoon.
• Stamps: Butterfly Trail stamp by Inkadinkado and sentiment stamp from the Simply Sketched hostess stamp set by Stampin' Up!
• Inks & Colouring: Classic stampin' pad in Garden Green and VersaMark stamp pad. Embossing powders in Gumball Green by Stampin' Up! and Stampendous! Pearlustre in Emerald and Jade.
• Other Stuff: Big Shot, Heat Tool, Fancy Fan embossing folder, oval punch and scalloped oval punch, sewing machine, thread, ivory gemstones by The Paper Studio, and stampin' dimensionals.

*Unless noted supplies by Stampin' Up!

Ready to Succeed Hanging

Success is a funny thing! It's a hard word to define because it means something different to everyone. Success could be landing that first job out of college or maybe just paying the bills this month. Then there is the pitfall of measuring yourself to others and feeling success will never be yours. I believe success is within each of us and it's up to us to find the success we are looking for. When I was teaching I used to tell me students that success is part motivation, part inspiration and part perspiration. If you want something, you have to go after it. You can't wait around for others to do it for you. Success is not easy. I made this Ready to Succeed Hanging for my cubical at work as a motivational tool and a reminder to keep reaching for my dreams. I found this motivational reminder from the May 27, 2013 issue of Woman's World magazine. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week!

My Ready to Succeed Hanging is entered into the following challenges:

• The Paper Players: Fall, Anything but a Card
• Make It Monday: Anything Goes
• Our Creative Corner: Words, Words, Words

Ready to Succeed Hanging Supplies*:

• Paper: Elegant Eggplant and More Mustard patterned paper from the Regals retired designer series paper stack, Pear Pizzazz and Very Vanilla card stock and a comic book board.
• Stamps: Gently Falling and Flower Shop.
• Inks: Classic stampin' pads in Summer Starfruit, More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Wisteria Wonder, Perfectly Plum, Elegant Eggplant, and Soft Suede.
• Other Stuff: Big Shot, Top Note die, Pansy punch, Adorning Accents Edgelit, Boho Blossom punch, colored brads from unknown source, Offray ribbon, personal computer and printer and stampin' dimensionals.

*All supplies by Stampin' Up! unless noted.