lagoon and white

A perfect card for summer weddings, or maybe even a graduation.  I love the Lagoon and White together!  I  used a stamp from Salutation Seals, stamped in Lagoon ink.  The ribbon is just Offray ribbon from JoAnn's.  To create the corners, just stick the corner of your cardstock into a small circle punch, with the corner pointed toward the center of the circle.  (Try it on a scrap piece first, to see how large of a corner you'd like!)

two for the price of one!

Sorry to trick you. . .no, there's no two-for-one deal going on, on stamps. . . .but do i have TWO cards to share with you today!  When the current catalog came out, I was SUPER EXCITED about this stamp set.  It's called Retro Tech, and it has very cool vintage looking images of phones, a television, record player, camera, etc.   I have been making some SUPER SIMPLE, clean and graphic cards with these stamps.  And I love them!  They are so quick and easy, I thought I'd better share two of them today!

On this first card, I cut some squares of cardstock (great way to use up scraps!) to create the bottom border.  And i stuck a rhinestone jewel over the camera flash.

I stamped the records in Cotton Candy, Pear, and (shhhh.. . .) Breeze (I keep trying not to use that color anymore, since it's gone, but I just can't help myself! WHY oh WHY they discontinued it, I have no idea. Sniff, sob. Gulp. Okay, I'm done now.)

Sometimes I get so bogged down trying to create an intricate masterpiece, that it is refreshing to just stamp something quick, simple, and to the point. No layers, no busyness - just a crisp clean image.

Have a fabulous week! I am off now to create a Father's Day card with my little men.  I won't be stamping on it, but if you want a sneak peek. . . .check out this link.  If you have a technology geek in your house, you might want to try it too!!! (It's ADORABLE!)

happiness is. . .a snazzy color combo!

A few weeks ago I made a similar card, (which you can see  HERE.) When I'm feeling stuck, and I don't know where to start on a project, sometimes I steal my own ideas.  So that's exactly what I did.  I loved the card I did a few weeks ago, so I just copied it using different paper, colors, and stamps.  

I used Sky, Sorbet, and Sunflower together on this card.  I think it's a really fun summery color combination.  I came up with it, because the stamp pads happened to be stacked next to each other, and I thought, "Oooh, that would be nice together!" And then I came up with a few other color combos to try, that same way.  (So I have a head start, the next time I sit down to create!)

The stamps are both from the Paper Lantern stamp set. (Swooon, I love that stamp set!) 

To create the card, I simply cut a bunch of  Sunflower and Sorbet strips, layered them onto a block of Sky cardstock, matted it with Sorbet, and adhered it to my Sky colored card base.  And then I added my sentiment and lantern. Super fun, and easy to do.  (My favorite things!)

Friday is FINALLY the last day of school.  (I swear, this has been the LONGEST week ever, even for ME!)  We're all looking forward to the lazy days of summer vacation! And I don't have a Kindergartener anymore!!! First grade!? YIKES!

Have a great weekend!!!!

XOXO

wishing you sunshine!

This 8x4 card was created with the Splendid Day stamp set, along with Miracle papers.  And the puffy cloud is from Over the Rainbow (you know, the stamp set I use - oh- every other day!) 

I have been working away on some cards to share with you in the upcoming weeks, and my trusty Close To My Heart consultant, (and fabulous mommy that she is) is about to send me a batch of new-to-me stamps to play with.  Hooray!!!!!  Nothing helps me accomplish  projects like NEW STAMPS to play with!

I hope your weekend has been FABULOUS! I'll be back in a few days with a card I did last night, and I really have to say, I love the way it turned out! My teaser is. . . .it uses no patterned paper.  But it LOOKS like it does.  And it's a fun new summery color palette! Okay - enough said! See you soon!

XOXO

Laura,

happy polka-dotty hearts!

Happy Memorial Day weekend!  I hope your weekend is off to a GREAT start! We've already been to the beach on Thursday afternoon, and tonight (although he doesn't know it yet) the hubby will be cooking hamburgers and corn on the cob, on the grill for dinner!  Bryce only has two more weeks of school, and then I will have to figure out what the heck to do with him all summer long!!!!!

Today I'd like to share a sweet pink card with you.  It could certainly be a Valentine, but I think it would work for any other day of the year too.  I used Sweetheart papers, along with the coordinating Affection stamp set.

I stamped the hearts in Cotton Candy ink, and I stamped the stem in black - but second generation (meaning, i stamped it once on a piece of scrap paper, and then onto my white cardstock.  I used a piece of white ribbon from my stash, and used the Fiskars Threading Water punch for my scallops.

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a safe and relaxing weekend!
XOXO

Teachers Rule

Well, Mr. B is in the final countdown of Kindergarten.  I think we're down to 14 school days left. (Gulp!)

I thought it was a good time to come up with a teacher card idea, for end of the year thank-yous.  I used In The Month of August, along with Fanfare patterned paper.  The cardstock is Sky, and Pacifica.

This card is completely scraplifted from one of my favorite cardmakers, Julie Campbell.  I am so thankful that we have become friends online, and worked together from time to time.  She recently achieved one of her DREAMS, becoming one of the newest Go To Gals at Paper Crafts magazine! I was over the MOON thrilled for her!  The card I created is based on one of her cards featured in Paper Crafts Card Style special issue that came out last year.  (It's on page 21, if you happen to have the issue at home!)  Julie's card featured a bubble gum machine in the circle, and lots of repeating circles throughout the card.  And I LOVED the way she put the pearls along her rounded corner.  So THANK YOU, sweet Julie, for the fabulous inspiration!! Getting ideas from other cardmakers is a great way to become a more accomplished cardmaker, copying ideas from those you admire.  Plus it can be a great motivation to get some projects DONE!!! If you post your work online, just be sure to give credit where credit is due!

If you'd like to scraplift my card that I scraplifted from Julie, LOL, post it online and leave a link in the comments! I'd love to see what you create! :)

Card Ideas

The birdhouse card was inspired by a card sent to me by Karen Pederson. Karen created her card using the stamp set from the Mayberry WOTG.  My colors, papers, and basic format are the same as Karen's card, but I made some minor adjustments. Sharing ideas can inspire a lot of creativity! I always need that inspiration! (C1445 Bless  This Nest, Mayberry Paper Pack).


The second card is something I have used over and over but with different papers and ink colors. I LOVE THAT STAMP SET, A Little Of Everything!!! It's a great way to use paper scraps too.  (D1408 A Little Of Everything, Mayberry Paper Pack).

Chairs to YOU!! (and me!)

It's almost MAY!!! And do you remember what that means???? A new stamp of the month - it's one of my VERY favorite stamp sets.  I made this card AGES ago, and I've been waiting and waiting to share it, until it got closer to MAY.  (I didn't want to taunt you TOO much, before you could get this stamp set into your inky hands!)

I will admit, I REALLY wanted to cut out all those little areas in between the chair decorations.  But I just couldn't do it.  So I'm pretending I totally wanted it that way, and just rolling with it.  (We have to do that sometimes - just roll with it.)

I paired a little ribbon from my stash with the Watermelon and Kraft chair.  I am loving the color combination! (And I'm OBSESSED with Kraft, in case you hadn't noticed yet!)

So - chairs to YOU. . .it's the weekend!
chairs to ME. . .it's my birthday!
chairs to ME. . . it's my anniversary!
chairs to Prince William and Kate . . .they chose to get married on MY special day!
chairs to the astronauts about to take off this afternoon . . .it's a momentous day all over the world!

xoxo

pinwheels spinwheels. . .

Happy almost-Easter!!!!  This past weekend, we had an un-birthday party (it's a long story) at The Little Gym, where the boys have both taken gymnastics classes for pretty much their whole little lives!  I was trying to decide what fun thing I could decorate cupcakes with, since we didn't really have a theme, and there would be boys and girls of all ages there.  I decided on these cute little SUPER easy pinwheels.  I used Animal Crackers paper (which we are all sad isn't available anymore) but you could use any of Close To My Heart's two sided papers to create this fun project.

Simply cut a 3x3 square. Gently crease the paper from corner to corner on both sides, to find the center point.  Then cut from each corner to ALMOST the middle, being careful not to cut the whole thing up into triangles! Then pull one side of each section down towards the center.  Use your piercing tool to poke a hole (make sure to go through each layer) and stick a brad in the center.  I hot glued the pinwheels to short kabob sticks, and stuck them in the cupcakes.  I really should have done a tutorial to share with you, but if you google it. . .I promise you'll find a lot of them, if you need more help.

Totally un-paper related but equally fun, are the rainbow cupcakes.  These are quickly becoming a kid-party tradition in our household.  Use yellow or white cake mix, prepare it as directed.  Then divide it into separate bowls - however many colors you want, and just add food coloring to each dish.  Blend it until you have the colors as you like them.  Then just spoon each color into your cake pan.  If you're doing a regular size cake, just distribute the spoonfuls evenly.  If doing cupcakes, just do a small (really small) scoop of each color.  After they bake, they look sort of tie-died.  You can try to smooth out the layers and make them truly rainbow-like, but I sort of like the splotchiness of it!

 I also used a new-to-me frosting recipe for these cupcakes.  Wilton's Fluffy Boiled Frosting.  It came out pretty nice! Not as super-sweet as buttercream, and there's no butter or shortening in it. (So it's fat free! Does that count as healthy??? Perhaps not so much!)  It is the consistency of marshmallow fluff.  Pretty fun stuff!

I totally forgot to take a picture, but we also made favors.  We made rice krispie treats with Froot Loops in them.  (Here's the recipe I used!) I wrapped each individually in plastic wrap, and then wrapped a 1 inch band of patterned paper around it, finishing it off with some baker's twine.  It coordinated with the pinwheels, and it was pretty adorable!

The pinwheel cupcake toppers would be perfect for Easter!!!  I bet a tray of pinwheel cupcakes would be a fabulous centerpiece!

HAPPY EASTER!

new stamps! hooray!

May is almost here! Have you checked out the May Stamp of the Month yet?????
Chairs.
Oh my CHAIRS!
Chairs to color.  Chairs to paper-piece.  Chairs to leave just as-is.
"Chairs to YOU!"
(But since it isn't quite May yet, here's the link to April's lovely Stamp of the Month set. . .maybe you need both sets, so place an order NOW, and then again in May!) 

I left two chairs as is, and then cut the comfy big chair from Vineyard Berry cardstock.
I think I want to do this card again, and use some crazy funky paper (or maybe even fabric!) because I have some "one of a kind friends" who are WAY more one of a kind than just Vineyard Berry!
Or here's another idea.  Stamp a pattern onto cardstock, and THEN stamp the chair over it.  Hmmmm. I think I might try that today! :)  Thanks for inspiring me!

And have you seen?  There's another new stamp set - with a fabulous cause.  It's called Hope For Japan, and you can purchase it HERE for only FIVE dollars! Even better - 100% of the proceeds will go to the American Red Cross to help Japan.

Happy Thursday! The weekend is almost here.  Doing any stamping this weekend???
XOXO

happy birthday!!!!!

Hello, hello!!! April is upon us! It is the season of birthdays - I think half of the people I know and love seem to have a birthday in April (oh, including ME!)

I created this card using Sunny Yellow, Sunflower, and Sky paper and ink.  And the stamp set, called Candlelight is one of those "super-practical-adorable-must-have" sets.  You'll use it all the time, I promise! The sentiments are terrific and you can use the candles as firecrackers, menorah candles, or birthday candles!!! I've even used the outline candle as a tag or tiny journaling block.  HELLO double-duty stamps! (LOVE THAT!)

Little design note: The three blue dots that look sort of like brads (but they aren't) were simply dots that I cut from a second stamped image of that polka dotted candle!

I rattled on, at my blog today, about a dear friend of mine whose birthday is TODAY!!! Her name is Karisse, and she is super creative, and has quite an amazing story.  Head on over to my blog to find the links and read all about her inspiring story!

I hope you are having a beautiful Spring day!
See you next week!

a true friend remembers. . .

Finally a break in the rain so I could photograph this card to share with you today! I used Treetops, in Pear and Chocolate ink, along with some red jewel apples.  The sentiment (inside and out) is from the Card Chatter - Birthday set.  I wasn't sure I liked the way the chocolate ink showed through, underneath the green part of my tree (I popped that up on foam tap) but now that I'm looking at it in the photo, I really like it because it makes a great shadow effect.

As a quick finishing touch, I added some baker's twine top the top of this card.  Easy peasy!  

We are enjoying Spring Break  . .although it's rained for half the week, we've managed to have a pretty good time, and it's been nice to have the wacky and wonderful 6 year old home all week.  And we started off vacation with my parents here for a quick visit (which is why you didn't see me here last week! I was playin' with my parents!)

I hope you have a terrific weekend! Back to the grind, next week!

XOXO

Top 'O the Mornin' to Ya!

Have you been pinched today, or did you remember to wear green today?  Thankfully, the toddler boy doesn't know about such traditions, because so far, I am green-less today.

It doesn't get much more quick and simple than THIS clean white card.  But you may be a little surprised about the stamp I used. . . it's the cute Affection stamp set, with all the sweet hearts and flowers.  The heart flower makes a perfect clover, and the dotted stem can be bent to fit right in it.  (Gotta love clear stamps, that you can curve and bend!)

I am obsessed with twine right now.  A few friends and I split a GIANT (and I mean SERIOUSLY GIANT . . .3400 yards) roll of twine (well, we actually split three rolls of twine: red, green, and brown, but who has to know that?)  So I will be making cards, and wrapping gifts with twine for the next 5 years.  Hopefully it will stay in style for a LONG time.

I hope you have a lucky day today! Bryce was super excited to go to school, because he was pretty sure that some leprechauns were going to have made some trouble in the classroom overnight!  I can't wait to see if he was right!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

happy trees!

Hello, hello! Today I have a card to share with you, featuring Treetops and Over the Rainbow.  The trees in the Treetops set are quite versatile. . .they are bright and springy on this card, but envision them stamped in Vineyard Berry, and Autumn Terracotta, for a beautiful autumn card.  I stamped the trees in Pear ink, and stamped and trimmed some on Pear cardstock, popping them up on foam tape. 

I chose a white background for this card, but I sort of want to do it again, and put it on blue cardstock, just to see how it turns out.

Next week I'll be back. . .with a St. Patrick's Day card - using a NON-St. Patrick's Day stamp set! Fun, fun, fun!

Have a terrific weekend.  Go make something pretty!
XOXO

Don't scrap the scraps!

It's a quick and SCRAPPY card today - I sat down to create, with two goals. #1 - Make a QUICK card (because I could only contain the 18 month old at my feet, for a short time!) #2 Use up the scraps of Mayberry paper, that I couldn't bear to throw out!

So here's what I came up with. I loosely based this card on a sketch from Paper Crafts Magazine. But it took on a life of its own, as cards so often do! I inked the edges of all of my paper in Gray Wool ink. Inking the edges always makes it look more finished to me. If I had a sewing machine, I would have stitched it - sort of a patchwork quilt sort of deal. And the kraft color-ready border was the perfect finishing touch, along with some Opaques stuck on!

And once Tanner got busy playing with adhesive tubes (sealed of course!) and ribbon at my feet I had another two minutes to embellish a matching envelope!

Success. And a quick cute card to send out for a special someone's birthday!

So go sit down with some scraps, and see what you can create! Have a terrific weekend!

XOXO

have a splendid day!

Spring is REALLY springing around here. . ..pollen is covering EVERYTHING, the grass is on it's way to GREEN, and the weather is getting quite warm all the sudden. (It IS still February, isn't it?)

This springy little card features Mayberry papers, and the oh-so-cute stamp set called Splendid Day. Here are a few of the sneaky little techniques I used:

-to create the grass, I inked the edge of my cardstock in green. Depending on how you brush the cardstock over the ink, you can get a lot of different effects. I just brushed it straight up and across - and came up with this grassy look. (Love that!!!)

-If you look at the stamp set, you'll see that the banner I used for my sentiment has a triangle and string on the end, where you can attach it to the airplane stamp. But if you trim carefully, you can trim that end right off, and use it on it's own, without the plane. (Love that!)

I hope it's starting to feel like spring (and not winter, OR summer) where you are! Enjoy it while it lasts!!!! See you next week! :)

One card, three ways

One stamp set. One card layout.

And a variety of paper bits, and embellishments.

I used the Card Chatter - Birthday stamps for all three of these cards. And the same layout. Pennant flags are so trendy right now! CTMH has an adorable pennant alphabet stamp set, and the Party Pennants set (also completely adorable!) But just in case you don't have those sets (yet) here's a way to tide you over. I created these pennants by cutting a rectangle of patterned paper, 1x2.5 inches. Lay the rectangle on your paper trimmer, lining up the opposite corners on the cutting line. (To cut two obtuse triangles.) Then, lay the two pieces back together, and cut from the opposite side, corner to corner. You'll have FOUR pieces - two of them will be the pennant shape. Cut a couple in different papers, and you can mix them up a bit! Or just use the front and back side of the paper, for some variation. (I hope that made sense, I seem to have a 17 month old screaming at my feet.)

Using Fanfare paper, and jewels. I inked the pennant's edges in coordinating ink.

Using Sophia paper, and pearls.
Love how this card can be totally girly, kid-friendly, or masculine. Just change up the embellies and papers. And you can play around with the measurements of your pennants to adjust them for a 12x12 layout, or a smaller card. Have fun!!!!!

it's your birthday. . .celebrate!

I have more NEW goodies to share with you today! This card features the new Fanfare paper. Perfect for birthdays, 4th of July, and summertime (among many other occasions, I'm sure!) I hand cut some of the stars from the paper to use as embellishments around my sentiment. Remember the rule of THREE when you create. The three stars, placed in a loose triangle shape cause your eye to continue roaming around the card. It's a good trick to turn to, if you feel like there's no focus to your project. Three elements - even if they aren't the same, to move your eye around the card, layout, painting - WHATEVER you're working on. Trust me, it will work! :)

I purposefully tried to keep this card FLAT, so it would be easier to mail, but I really want to go back and add some buttons or brads to the star's centers! I inked the edges of all my papers, in their matching color of ink, just to accentuate their edges. I think this really makes elements on a card POP! (And I love POP!)

The stamps are from the set, Card Chatter - Birthdays. If you create a lot of birthday cards, this might be a stamp set you NEED!!!! It has a great array of sentiments, just perfect for card-making.

Have a terrific weekend! I'll be back next week. . .with SOMETHING (hopefully something fabulous!) to share with you!!! XOXO

Hilton Garden Inn February CROP

We had a wonderful weekend at the Hilton Garden Inn cropping away.  New friends, new projects, new techniques, and new ideas!!!!

Want to join us the next time?  Save the first weekend in April!  We'll be back to the Hilton Garden Inn the first weekend in April!  Watch for the specific details (We may begin on Friday afternoon), and make sure you contact Kim (scrapnstik@aol.com) to join her mailing list.  Space will be limited!

A great big thank you to Kim of Scraptique, Inc. for ogranzing our incredible weekend!

Making New Friends

Making lots of scrapbook pages, cards, and projects

Learning to stamp

Discovering new techniques and products

Sharing the moment



Paper Lanterns!

Paper Lantern. My new favorite stamp set. (I say that all the time, don't I?!) But seriously, I have been using this set non-stop since I got it! The two sentiments are fabulous, and the paper lanterns are versatile, easy to stamp, and fun to play with.

You may have already seen this card, if you saw the sneak peek of it on my blog a few days ago. It was also on the Card Positioning Systems blog last week. It's clean and simple, and I love the way it turned out. Just the way I had envisioned it in my head. (That doesn't always happen, so it's always a pleasant treat when it does!)

I used Tulip, Sunny Yellow, and Lagoon for this card. Love these bright cheery colors together!!! Have a terrific weekend! I'll see you next week!