Happy Birthday trio

Stamps: Numbers4Trains from The {Stamps} of Life

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Daffodil Delight

Inks: Crumb Cake, Ranger Archival ink in Jet Black

Embellishments: rhinestones

I had to create some birthday cards for my stash and what better way to do that then using the set Numbers4trains from The {Stamps} of Life.

For my first card, I stamped the crumb cake ink directly onto my cardstock.  I tried to keep it pretty simple and just added a few rhinestones.

Uses FTL263

Card details:

Stamps: Numbers4Trains from The {Stamps} of Life

Cardstock: Brilliant Blue, Whisper White

Inks: Blueberry ink and Blueberry, Strawberry and Banana sprays

Embellishments: Sizzix Rounded Tags

This card I was preparing ahead of time, my little guy's birthday is coming up and he loves bright colors.  I sprayed the background with the Strawberry, Blueberry and Banana sprays from Stephanie Barnard.  The Sizzix Rounded tags were the perfect addition to this card.

Uses STS#5 sketch

Stamps: Numbers4Trains and Labels4Cutting from The {Stamps} of Life

Cardstock:  Basic Black, Fancy Pants Memories Captured

Inks: Ranger Archival ink in Jet Black

Embellishments: Labels4Cutting, Sizzix Banners#2, My Mind's Eye Enamel Dots

This card already went out in the mail, a simple card for my BFF who turned 40 last month.

Loving these numbers and know they will work so well in my Project Life album as well.

SCS LOVE FEST

WOW, I have to say it's been awhile since I spent a few hours in my studio creating just for fun and this weekend I made it a point to work my way through some road blocks (mainly my mojo and time).  

I set out to create a lot for fun this weekend (I did get some design team projects completed as well).  I wrote out the list of the SCS challenges going on and then a list of other challenges I wanted to play in.

I hope you will bear with my LONG post today as I share an array of cards.  As I was telling my friend I was creating like crazy, I realized that almost ALL of my photos have a floral focal point.  What can I say?  I love the floral stamps!!!!

Hope your Monday is starting off well and that I might be able to spark a little creativity for you.  I know I've counted on all of you at one time or another to spark mine :-)

Challenges: FTL229 Sketch and CFC91 Silver

and LOVEFEST2013C Bring on the Bling sponsored by Stamping Bella

Card details:

Stamps: Good Times from Mama Elephant

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Cool Carribean

Inks: Perect Little Black Dress, Dylusions Spray

Embellishments: Mark Richards gems, Butterfly die from PTI

Challenges: Retro Sketches #26 sketch to celebrate Retro Sketches #52 Challenge

for LOVEFEST2013E- Die Crazy sponsored by Simon Says Stamps

Card details:

Stamps: Botanical Medallions & Banners from Just Rite 

Cardstock: Such a Gray-cious Host, Whisper White, Teresa Collins Tell Your Story

Inks: Perfect Little Black Dress

Embellishments: Seam Binding and Mini Tri-Fold 1 die cut from Clear & Simple Stamps

Challenges:

Deconstructed Sketch #90 and LOVEFEST2013F-Inspiration Photo sponsored by The Cat's Pajama's

Card details:

Stamps: Happy Bugs from Sweet Stamp Shop

Cardstock: Say Yellow to all your Fans, Whisper White, Basic Black, Teresa Collins-Carolina Breeze

Inks: Perfect Little Black Dress

Embellishments: Crystal Effects, twine from the Twinery

Challenges:

LOVEFEST2013G-Make My Day sponsored by My Favorite Things

This card was created for a friend going through a tough time and doubting herself and choices she's made.  Hoping this will help her to know to believe in those choices being the best for her.

Stamps: Phrases2Say from The {Stamps} of Life

 Cardstock: Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip from Stampin'Up! Patterned Paper: Sna@p Life from Simple Stories

Inks: Colorbox by Stephanie Barnard in Chocolate

Embellishments: Washi Tape from Freckled Fawn

Challenges:

LOVEFEST2013H-Inspiration Photo sponsored by Unity Stamp Co.

Card details:

Stamps: Fantastical Floral from Unity Stamp Co.

Cardstock: Green Galore, Brown Leather Satchel, Whisper White, patterned paper

Inks: Memento Rich Cocoa

Embellishments: Orange You Fabulous ribbon, perfect pearls

Challenges:

CTS16 and LOVEFESTI-A Little Love sponsored by Taylored Expressions

Card details: 

Stamps: Poppy Patch from Flourishes, Hello from Studio G

Cardstock: mini cards from my stash, Basic Black, Whisper White, Real Rose, So Saffron, VIP Purple, patterned paper scraps- Basic Grey

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Perfect Little Black Dress, 

Embellishments: rhinestones from SU

Challenges:

VLVFEB2013 Week 4 Sketch and LOVEFESTJ-In Love with Color sponsored by Verve Stamps

The Playdate Cafe Challenge #170

Card details: 

Stamps: Feel the Sun from Verve Stamps

Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Going Gray, Whisper White, So Saffron

Inks: You're Such a Gray-cious Host

Embellishments: washi tape, Flower Framelits from Sizzix, Want2Scrap-Gun Metal pearls, Clearsnap Smooch Spritz-Sunkissed

Winter, Winter Everywhere

So my panel on this Christmas card was a little bit larger than I had intended it to be, but I think it sill works for the sketch and for using up some fun papers that I have.

I love this color combination for Christmas cards, so much that my personal ones are along the same color scheme.

I am at a loss sometimes of what to do with some of 6 x 6 paper in the paper packs I've bought and if I'm not using them in a scrapbook page, I will cut them down to make them fit on a card.

I punched out the snowflake from one of the scraps of paper and added a colored pearl to it.

This uses the FTL layout #219.

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Card details:

Stamps: Trees4Christmas from The {Stamps} of Life

Cardstock: Brown Leather Satchel, Not Quite Navy, Carta Bella Winter Fun

Inks: Not Quite Navy

Embellishments: Kaiser Craft Dec. 25th jewels, dimensionals

Merry Christmas

Can you believe that there are only a few more weeks until Christmas?  Are you ready yet?  I'm NOT!!!

I have done quite a few Christmas cards, but none of them for myself to mail out.  Most of them have been for hubby's co-workers.

Here's one I made a few weeks ago, simple layout using the FTL208 sketch.  I think if I were to do it again I'd change the poinsettia and not put the glitter all over it but maybe just a little.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Card details:

Stamps: Sea2Flower from The {Stamps} of Life, Mini Messages from PaperTrey Ink

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler, Simple Stories Handmade Holiday

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, copics

Embellishments: Gold cord from SU!, Crystal Art Glitter, Old Olive Brad

GGSC139: Giving Thanks

Today over at Going Grey with Scrap-Creations we are Giving Thanks.  

For my card I used the FTL214 layout and was using this color scheme on some other cards I was creating (to be shared later in the week) so kept with using up some of my scraps.

The flowers were created by cutting out a few various size circles and distressing the edges.  The leaves are created by using the Happy Holly-days set from Our Craft Lounge and cutting them out and using my dry embossing tool to create an indent.

I received this awesome woven burlap in natural tan from I {Heart} Papers (the burlap is May Arts) and thought it would be perfect on this card.  Gives it a nice fall feel.

Finishing off the card are the pearl centers and the sentiment from Treasured Words (Verve).

Hope you will join us at Going Grey with Scrap-Creations and make sure to check out the design team creations here.

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Card details:

Stamps: Treasured Words from Verve Stamps and Happy Holly-days from Our Craft Lounge

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery, Kraft Like a Rockstar Ivory

Inks: Crumb Cake

Embellishments: Spellbinders circle die, Want2scrap White Pearls, May Arts Woven Burlap-Natural Tan

Happy Birthday

Today over at Going Grey with Scrap-Creations were were to create with Fall Flowers.  I had some Mums I could have used, but I loved this blue dryer sheet flower and I love the dark masculine colors which always make me think of fall.

I kept the card very simple, the base are some pre-scored cards I bought and I just added a few layers to it.  For my flower I used a used drier sheet and used glimmer mist to give my flower color.  I used a silver Viva pen to outline each of the "petals" to give it a little more dimension.

This card uses an older FTL194 Sketch.

Hope you will join us over at Going Grey with Scrap-Creations this wee-can't wait to see what you create.

Card details:

Stamps: Sweet Pea from There She Goes

Cardstock: Savvy Stamps Premade cards, Confetti White

Inks: Dish All the Dirt Brown

Embellishments: dryer sheet flower using Carribean Blue Glimmer Mist and Viva Pearl Pen-Silver, Dish all the Dirt Brown Ribbon, Scallop Border punch

Floral Orchid & Turtles2Love

Have you seen the new release over at The {Stamps} of Life?  If not, hop on over there and check out the Turtle2love-how cute is it??

For my first card, can you tell what stamp I used from the new set?  When I first saw this set I imagined the shells would make some great leaves.  So I stamped the solid shell and the turtle and cut it out to create the leaves on this orchid.  The orchid background paper is embossed with the Sizzix flowers embossing folder.

This card uses the MTMEPPS60 Sketch which I came across on someone else's blog and saved-like this sketch a lot!

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Card Details:

Stamps: petals are using the shell in Turtle2Love and Flower2Doodle from The {Stamps} of Life

Cardstock: Old Olive, Orchid Opulence, Basic Black, Whisper White

Inks: Orchid Opulence, Colorbox by Stephanie Barnard in Artichoke

Embellishments: Sizzix Textured Embossing Folder (Flowers), rhinestone brad, dimensionals

Oh how I love this sketch from Retro Sketches, think I've used it about 10 times already.   I love that you can use any shape or flower or animal to make this sketch work.

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Card details:

Stamps: Turtle2Love from The {Stamps} of Life

Cardstock: Gable Green, Basic Black, Whisper White, Cool Carribean

Inks: Cool Carribean, Perfect Little Black Dress

Embellishments: Doodlebug Design Mini Jewels-welcome home assortment, dimensionals, twine

For this last card I went with a favorite color combination of mine, artichoke and hot pink, just love the contrast between the two colors.  I also used another sketch favorite on this one, the FTL190.

So many wonderful patterns to use on the turtles and love that I can create some backgrounds with the baby turtles.  

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Card details:

Stamps: Turtle2Love from The {Stamps} of Life

Cardstock: Whisper White, Paint the Town Pink, Old Olive

Inks: Color Box by Stephanie Barnard in Guava and Artichoke

Embellishments: dimensionals

You're Special

Yeah, I love this challenge at Going Grey with Scrap-Creations which is Cute Critters today.  I had a HARD time choosing which cute critter to pick, but decided to go with this cute new image from Stampotique-Catepillar 9234.  I just think he/she is the cutest thing!

I combined this challenge with the current FTL sketch and while my panel seems so much bigger than what the sketch showed, it is the same size.

I love this color combination, which is the current one over at Play Date Cafe.  My little border strip in the back is also a new one from Stampotique called Scalloped Lace Border 2405.   I didn't have a great sentiment from Stampotique that quite fit this image, so I pulled out the Sentiment Sampler from Paper Smooches.

I added some black soot distress stickles in the scalloped border and some crystal effects to the little catepillar eyes.

Hope you will join us over at Going Grey with Scrap-Creations today and show us your cute critters.

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Card details:

Stamps: Catepillar 9234 and Scalloped Lace Border 2405 from Stampotique Originals, Sentiment Sampler from Paper Smooches

Cardstock: Basic Black, Paint the Town Pink, Neenah White

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, copic markers

Embellishments: Black Soot Distress Stickles, Crystal Effects, dimensionals

BC251: In Bloom

Today I'm sharing a very simple card using a bloom, which is our current Blogger's Challenge.  I love flowers and use them quite frequently on my cards.  They are one stamp I can't seem to get enough of!

I used a new set from The {Stamps} of Life called umbrella4you.  My flower is a prima flower which I have a ton of and need to start using them up.

I decorated the inside of the card, which I don't do a lot of, but love how it looks.

Want to join us for blogger's challenge this week, you can link up at any of the blogs participating in the blog hop or over at Lisa's blog here.

Here is another card I created using the same set and creating my own background strip for it.  This uses the FTL174 sketch, I love their clean & simple sketches! 

Love the color combination on this card!  If you haven't seen the Design Seeds blog, it's a great source for color inspiration.

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Card details #1:

Stamps: umbrella4you from The{Stamps}of Life

Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Basic Grey-Hello Luscious

Inks: Perfect Little Black Dress

Embellishments: scallop border punch, prima flower, basic grey button, black twine

Card details #2:

Stamps: umbrella4you from The{Stamps}of Life

Cardstock: Purpilicious, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla

Inks: Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Purple Crushed Velvet

Embellishments: Spiral notebook punch, circle spellbinders

Hope you can Cling To Challenges

 

 Card details:

Stamps: Taste of Christmas from Clear & Simple Stamps (retired)

Cardstock: Kraft Like a Rockstar, Confetti Cream, Dish All the Dirt Brown

Inks: Dish All the Dirt Brown, copics

Embellishments: Paint the Town Pink Ribbon, circle Spellbinders Nestabilities, Doodlebug Designs jewels

Going to post a few cards I've done over the last few weeks for the Hope You Can Cling to Challenges over at SCS.  If you haven't done any, it's a great opportunity to send some cards to a great cause and at a chance to win some great prizes.

This first one was for the HYCCT1128 hosted by Jami to make a Holiday card with pink.  I combined it with the CAS-ual Friday challenge which was a sketch.

Card details:

Stamps: Butterfly Dreams and Handwritten Notes from PTI

Cardstock: Neenah White

Inks: Color Box by Stephanie Barnard-Bubble Gum, Perfect Little Black Dress

Embellishments: Butterfly die from PTI

I made a set of these cards for my friend who just got done crewing the Susan G Komen 3 Day walk and will also be walking in another 2 weeks in San Diego.  She has been awesome, walking my dog when I travel and I knew she could use some thank you cards for those who have donated.  This was an extra one I kept to send for challenge which was Butterfly Thanks hosted by wendybell using the FTL163 sketch.

 

Card details:

Stamps: Just Chicken in on you and Bold Birds from Stampotique, Borders4me from The {Stamps}of Life

Cardstock: Kraft Like a Rockstar

Inks: Dish all the Dirt Brown, copics

I love this little chicken, it always cracks me up with the sentiment.  This card was for the Pickled Tink challenge sponsored by lisalara to make a Humorous CAS card with a splash of pink and I used the SCS353 sketch for this card.

These cards are a little hard for me as they were one layer cards which are a little out of my comfort zone, but I wanted to participate in as many of the challenges as I could.  There are still a few more days to upload, so I may squeeze in a few more and I have a lot more to share.

See the Flowers Smiling

It's Tag Time over at Going Grey with Scrap-Creations.  I decided this week to make a tag card instead of just a plain tag.  

This tag is based off the FTL162 sketch this week along with the CR84FN40 which is to use Brown, Kraft and Red this week.  I used an image from Verve Stamps and layered it several times to give it some dimension.  For the middle of the flower I used the Viva Pearl Pen in gold.

Join us over at Going Grey with your tag creations here.  If you need some more inspiration, make sure to check out the design team creations:

• Frances Rodriguez
• Jackie Randolph
• Jovita Torres
• Kristen Catalano- Going Grey Hostess
• Mary Castonquay
• Peggy Regan
• Tonya Sarnowski

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Tag Details:

Stamps: Great Friends from Verve Stamps, Sentiment from Hero Arts

Cardstock: Kraft Like a Rockstar, Dish all the Dirt Brown, Neenah White

Inks: Dish All the Dirt Brown, Perfect Little Black Dress, copic markers

Embellishments: dimensionals, rivet, Kaiser Craft December 25th Jewels, dimensionals, Polka Dots embossing folder from QuicKutz

Happy Birthday!

This is a great color combination that took me a few tries to get it the way I envisioned.  I wanted to participate in the Embellish Magazine Circles Color Trends Challenge and hopefully I interpreted the colors correctly as the one color didn't look like red but more a deep coral color.

I also played along with CAS-ual Friday this week to use ribbon tab or loop.  I think I used some ribbon tab loops :-) with the Fall To Layout sketch for the week.

 It's not too often I get to play in some of my favorite challenges in time, I'm always playing WAY after the challenge has ended.  I'm so excited to have gotten to play a bit this weekend and create a bunch of cards.  I spent yesterday (my vacation day which I was sick for) catching up on a lot of blogging.  

Hope your hump day is going well!

Card details:

Stamps: Daisies2Garden, Spiros2Stamp and Back2Basics from The {Stamps}of Life

Cardstock: Coral Necklace, Glamazon Green, Brown Leather Satchel, A Blanc Check (all from Clear & Simple Stamps)

Inks: same as above

Embellishments: A Blanc Check ribbon colored with R22 copic, Glamazon Green ribbon

Challenge Fun

Oh, I'm so bad today not pre-posting but we had a busy weekend and I wasn't feeling so hot this morning.  It was my day off so I ended up staying in bed WAY too LONG this morning and am just getting around to editing and posting.

I had a blast this weekend with my friend Libby Hickson stamping for WCMD.  I got a few things completed, but more importantly got to spend some time with a friend having fun.  And her studio is to die for!  So nice and big and organized.  Loved being able to explore in her studio and use some things I didn't have.  Thanks for having me over!

So onto my creations (which were not from this weekend).  First up I wanted to create something for the October MFT Guest Designer Contest which was to create Get Gifty and create a Perfect Package.  With 3 kids I am always looking for some fun packaging for a kiddo.

I chose to use Maria's Treat Box with some of the GCD Studios Material Girl for the treat box.  My daughter loves the leopard print papers and the Little Loveosaurus set.  I packaged up some of her favorite treats, fruit snacks, in the treat box.

My little loveosaraus was paper pieced with the patterned paper, love how it turned out!

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 My next one is for the Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge which was to use this photo as inspiration:

This was EASY as I needed a baby card for my friend...she just had twins (girl/boy) last week.  So, for my first card I used one of my all time favorite sets, Baby Love from The Kim Hughes Collection at Cornish Heritage Farms.  I used this set to make her baby shower invites almost 3 years ago for her son which are here.

I used the color scheme on the inspiration photo as my starting point.  The sketch is the Unscripted Sketches #125 from last week for this.

Card details:

Stamps: Baby Love from Cornish Heritage Farms and Sentiment Sampler from Paper Smooches

Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Neenah White

Inks: Dish All the Dirt Brown, Copics RV11, VR17, G12, W1, 0

Embellishments: Webster's Pages Designer Trims, Square and Scalloped Square spellbinders nestabilities, Janome sewing, Cuttlebug Stylized Flowers folder

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And because she had twins, I couldn't go without making a cute little baby boy card as well.  This uses the FTL158 sketch.

Card details:

Stamps: Rock-a-Bye from Clear & Simple Stamps

Cardstock: Simple Stories Baby Steps, Certainly Celery, So Saffron

Inks: Dish All the Dirt Brown

Embellishments: Janome Sewing, Corner Rounder punch