AUGUST SIMPLY PAPER DESIGN CHALLENGE....

I'm late, I'm late, I'm late for an important date..... That date being when I was suppose to have my card ready for the August Simply Paper Design Challenge. I have plenty of excuses, but they really mean very little, so I shall move on.....

First, see what Cindy, Regina and Debbie came up with over on Cindy's blog, which will also show you the sketch and colors. Boy, they all did a great job. You can see by the post that I received the one Debbie submitted as my birthday card from her --- loved it!!!! Pictures do not do justice to these cards, they are so much more gorgeous in real life. Regina's is so cute, using the twine around the top of the jar. I haven't bought this stamp set --- yet. And Cindy's --- did you see the leaf border around the bird? I love how she did the colors on that. I am so not worthy....

For my card, I wanted to use the For the Birds stamp set, but wasn't sure where to go from there. I stamped the wagon image (you know, little red wagon...) with Stazon ink and colored it with my stamp pads and blender pens. I added Gumball Green and Marina Mist to the challenge colors, so I could have green leaves and a little blue bird. I punched this out with the 2-1/2" punch (I love my punches!!!). Then, I had planned to border it with the largest stamp from the Daydream Medallions set, but, alas, I did not have a block large enough to mount it on (added to my list for my next order). So, I settled with using the Floral Frames Framelit dies (which coordinate with the Daydream Medallion set) to cut out flowers with my Big Shot in the Cherry Cobbler and Daffodil Delight. This was all mounted on a piece of Early Espresso that had been embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots folder, also using the Big Shot. I attached a piece of Cherry Cobbler ribbon from corner to corner and added a sentiment from the On Your Birthday set (retired) punched out with the small oval punch layered over the modern label punched from Cherry Cobbler. The finishing touch was pearls placed around the largest flower.

 

Hope it was worth the wait and I will try to be on time with the next challenge. It should be posted on Cindy's blog this weekend. Please join us!!!

 

Thanks for stopping by!!!!

IT'S BEEN A WHILE, BUT............

For our Little Debbies meeting, we were able to sign up for the gift exchange. The only requirements were it had to be at least $10 and in had to be hand crafted. I copied the gifts I made for my son's teachers.

Close up.....

The other side.....

 

Thanks for stopping by!!!!

JULY SWAP FOR THE SIMPLY PAPER DESIGN CHALLENGE.....

Is it the end of July already?!?!?!?!? Time for another Simply Paper Design Challenge. This is the challenge. How can you not do red, white and blue for a July challenge? So it is Riding Hood Red, Whisper White and Not Quite Navy.  Cindy really outdid herself on this sketch. So much so that I came up with 3 cards.
This first one uses the Need for Speed stamp set for the car and Teeny Tiny Wishes for the sentiment. Red, white and blue are great for a masculine card.

Card No. 2 uses the Reason to Smile set, which I really, really love. The sentiment is from Something to Celebrate and the DSP is Summer Smooches. I strayed from the color combo and instead used one from the Color Coach --- Island Indigo, Baja Breeze and Rich Razzleberry. I wasn't real sure about it as I was working on it, but I really like how it turned out.

For the third card, I inked up the Up, Up and Away set.  For the popped up clouds, I used the cupcake punch. Don't they look nice and fluffy?

 So, there you go. This sketch is one I still have ideas for, so keep an eye out in the future --- you will probably see it again. Check out what Cindy came up with here. What an awesome challenge!!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!!!

LITTLE DEBBIES SUMMER SHOEBOX SWAP...

We had the summer meeting of my Stampin' Up group, the Little Debbies, this past Saturday. There is something about a bunch of ladies who love stamping getting together and stamping (and eating) that is like no other. It was a shoebox swap, which is where you cut supplies for everyone and throw it all in a shoebox (hence the name, huh?). Then you just pass the boxes around and complete one of each of the projects. We had 15 ladies attend this year. 15!!! So, we had 14 cards to make in a short space of time. Not being the quickest stamper on the plant, I worked diligently until 1:30, but then I had to head to my DD's soccer game. Luckily, several of my friends (Hey, Cindy, Sherri & Debbie W.!!!!) finished some of the cards for me.

My card was a CASE of a Pinwheel Card done by Gretchen Barron. Her tutorial for it is here. I used the Summer Smooches DSP and the background is from the Polka Dot Parade DSP. The card here has the Real Red paper, but I also had some using the Rich Razzleberry because I only had so many of the Glimmer Brads (did I mention there were 15 people there???). The sentiment is tied up with a couple of pieces of Lucky Limeade Baker's Twine.

We also had a gift exchange, where all of the gifts had to be homemade. I will show the gift I gave and the one I received next time.

You can see everyone's projects & gifts on Debbie Naylor's (my upline) blog.

Thanks for stopping by!!!! Have a great day!!!!

GRADUATION CARDS.......

Ahhhh, high school graduation. A new chapter in life. The theshold of adulthood. They do not know how much they are going to miss being kids.......

The first card I did was for my husband's cousin's daughter. She actually had a dual graduation --- from high school and from the local community college. You go girl!!!! That had to be alot of hard work. I CASEd a gift card holder from our Stampin' Success magazine, which is a monthly demo magazine from Stampin' Up. Her school colors are maroon and gold (I hope). This is the card closed:

And here it is opened with a little treat stuck inside:

I loved the cap so much, I used the design for the front of my nephew's card. The colors for his school are red and black. The template used for the gift card had to be downsized to fit on the card front.

The inside sentiment:

My nephew's girlfriend also graduated and I CASEd a card from Stampin' Pretty with Mary Fish for her. Isn't this the cuteset little owl, armed with his degree? She attends the same high school as my nephew, so it was red and black again.

The inside:

Good luck to all of this years graduates!!!!!

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES - PART 3......

The last of the teachers stuff is the cards to go with the gifts. I used the same DSP as used for their framed word apples from my last post. I did not put anything on the inside so that my son could write his own words of thanks.

This one features the fabric brad that matches the DSP and is no longer available. I CASEd this, but the picture I printed has no identifying items whatsoever. If you know where I saw it, please let me know and I will update this with a link.

 I added a pumpkin pie button and ribbon on this one. It was CASEd from an email for classes from Jill Hilliard. Check out her blog Jill's Card Creations.

Stay tuned --- I am going to show you the graduation cards I did next time. Have a great day!!!

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES --- PART 2....

The second gift I did for the teachers this year was inspired by my friend Beverly Cole. She found this really cool website that will fill in shapes with words of your choice. See the details on her post. My take on them is much more simple (mostly because I did not have any of that wide ribbon to match and, let's face it, I can't make the gorgeous bows that she has on hers).

The first one is the one made for Ms. Witt and it uses the Summer Smooches DSP.

The other one is for Ms. Beyrau and uses the long retired Jersey Shore DSP (no relation to Snooki or the Situation --- this paper came and went long before them).

Are they not the cutest idea for teachers???? Thanks so much, Beverly!!!!

Have a great day, everyone!!!!

CON"GRAD"ULATIONS, LOGAN......

I watched my son graduate from 5th grade today. If I am so emotional for this, I can only imagine how bad I will be when he graduates from High School. I really didn't think I was going to get emotional, but then one of the teachers started crying when she was giving out awards. And then, to really add to it all, three of the 5th grade girls sang the most beautiful song in remembrance of a teacher who passed away this year. Then, there was the slide show that showed all of the kids going from babies to now. It got to me. I am so not tough. Here is my little man with his cap (they did not wear gowns) and "diploma":

Way to go, Logan!!! Your dad and I are so proud of all of your accomplishments. We love you!!!!

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES - PART ONE......

Tomorrow my son will graduate from 5th grade. This means that --- other than the fact that he is growing up way too fast and I am rapidly getting older --- I will no longer have any kids in elementary school. I will only have middle schoolers. What the heck happened???? Where did all of that time go????

So, in order not to beat my head against a wall over how fast everything is moving, I occupied myself with making gifts for his teachers. The first things I thought to make is an altered picture frame turned message center. This one is for Ms. Witt, his homeroom teacher:

A couple of closer views:

I used the now retired Cheerful Treats DSP. For the "notes" label, I used the Sweet Shoppe Alphabet Lower and added the vine at the bottom from the Borderlines stamp set (both retired). The verse is from Pursuit of Happiness and is cut out using the Labels Framelits. I added corkboard to the center with a few push pins all in a row and tied a dry erase marker to the side using a length of baker's twine.

This one is for Ms. Beyrau, who is the other 5th grade teacher:

The close ups:

This one uses the new Floral District DSP. The "Details" is from Notes & Details (retired). This one uses the Apothecary Accents Framelits to cut out the sentiment. The Rich Razzleberry border is made of two of the labels cut and attached a little off up and down. Ditto from the first message center on the other details.

These are only half of what I made for the teachers, but since this post is getting a bit long, I will save the other part for another day. So until then............

Have a great day!!!!!

BIRTHDAY BIRDIE...........

This is a card I made for a friend here at work, although she has since retired (lucky dog!!!). I just adore the Aviary stamp set (and, luckily, it did not retire in the new catalog). To think I was not going to buy it. On this card, I mixed it with the now retired Nursery Nest DSP (it's not just for babies, you know) and the retired Hostess set Swirls and Curls Verses for the sentiment. I blinged it up with a little bow at the top of the cage and  a row of pearls along the bottom of the cage, as well as a couple on either side of the sentiment. Very simple, but eye catching (I think, anyway).

The inside:

Have an awesome day!!!!!

SWIRLS & FLOWERS.....

This is another birthday card that should have been posted months ago. It is the card I made for my friend and fellow Simply Paper Design team member, Cindy. The stamp set is Button Buddies. It is a really cool (and still current) set that you can replace certain spots with buttons. Of course, the images are great without embellishing them, too. On this card, I glue-dotted flower buttons where the stamped flowers were and popped up the cut out vase. The bottom layer was all glued together and then ran through the Big Shot to get the swirlys on it. The "Happy" circle is from the retired set It's All Good and I added a little loop of ribbon out to the side. The bottom corners were rounded off with my corner punch. I really loved this color combo, which I copied from the Ice Cream Parlor DSP -- Pink Pirouette, Bashful Blue, Melon Mambo, Old Olive and Concord Crush.

The inside:

Luckily, even though I am slow as a snail on posting this, the card arrived on time for Cindy's birthday in November. Actually, she and my daughter share a birthday --- so I had better not forget sending her card, huh?

Have a great weekend!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEBBIE....

My last post was showing you the card I made for my hubby's birthday. His birthday is in September. That shows how far behind I am in posting. Today I have the birthday card I did for my friend and upline, Debbie Naylor. Guess when her birthday was. Go ahead, guess.... Give up? It was yesterday. That's right --- I am actually posting the day after the event. The only thing better would have been posting yesterday on her birthday like her sister and my Simply Paper Design team cohort Cindy did. Oh, well, on to the card......

I was clicking through my Favorites list for the web one day and I saw a cool card that Dawn Griffith did with folds and Framelits for the Big Shot. I loved the look of it and Dawn even had a video that shows how to do it here. Good thing, too, because I would never have figured it out on my own. Here is how it turned out..........

Partially opened:

Fully opened:

Isn't it the most awesomest? Of course, it was not as easy for me to handle the Big Shotting as Dawn makes it look in her video, but I finally managed it. The flowers are from Field Flowers and are stamped in Rich Razzleberry on Rich Razzleberry cardstock. The DSP is the new Floral District, coming out in the new catalog tomorrow. The front sentiment is from Pursuit of Happiness and the "Happy Birthday" on the inside is from Bring on the Cake.

I hope Debbie enjoyed her day yesterday and was properly spoiled!!!

Happy Birthday, Debbie!!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!!!! Have a great day!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JIMMY........

I never make cards for my husband. Not sure why. I guess he just never really seems impressed with my projects, or he is there when I can work on it, or I just can't come up with what I want to say to him for the inside sentiment, or I just don't know why. However, for his birthday last year (September --- sad to take so long to post the card, I know), I actually made him one. I was inspired by this Simply Paper Design challenge. When it comes to "manly" cards, I think harware --- brads, eyelets, anything metal --- and the hemp twine (in place of ribbon). So this is what I came up with for him. It uses the long ago retired Wildlife Reserve stamp set and the very soon to be retired Well Worn DSP. It is all layered on a Crumb Cake base.

Thanks for visiting!!!! Have a great day!!!!

MAY SIMPLY PAPER DESIGN CHALLENGE....

Another month, another challenge.......
For May, the team decided to give a fond farewell to the retiring In-Colors - Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait, Blushing Bride and Concord Crush. Teamed with one of Cindy's awesome sketches --- well, you just can't go wrong. Here is the challenge and Cindy's card can be seen here. Also, check out what Regina came up with here.

For my card, I started with the Just Add Cake DSP. The patterns I chose used the Poppy Parade and Peach Parfait. For a color to compliment those, I used the Pear Pizzazz. The stamp set used is the soon to be retired Not So Seriously. The gift bag was stamped with black StazOn and colored with my Stampin' markers. The sentiment was stamped with the Poppy Parade. I then punched it out with the small tag punch and layered it with peach parfait cardstock punched with the large tag punch. To add a little bling, I attached a piece of white ribbon with a rhinestone brad.

The inside of the card:

I love that sentiment. Luckily, my niece (who was the lucky one to receive this card) has a great sense of humor......

However, this was not my first try on this challenge. I made this card first (sorry for the blurry photo):

It uses the cake from the Voila stamp set, the sentiment from the Whimsical Words stamp set and the center label is from Punch Bunch, all retired. Same DSP and colors used as the other one. I punched the flowers with the Boho Blossoms and added rhinestones in the centers. I really liked this card, but the idea for the other one got into my head (mostly using the tag punch in the center) and I just had to try it, too. So, how about a 2 for 1 deal???

Thanks for checking in..........

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY.............

To all of you mom's out there ---- HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!! I hope you are all being pampered and showered with love today.
I have the cards that I made for my mom and mom-in-law to show you today. They were both CASEd and not much was changed from the originals. This first one is for my Mom-in-law and was on an email where Jill Hilliard was offering classes. I do not have a link to the card, but you can find Jill's blog here. Using the summer smooches DSP (love, love love it!!!) and Bright Blossoms stamp set, it was all layered on a whisper white base. I used a strip of crushed curry ribbon (retired) and accented the flowers with some rhinestones. The sentiment is from the Curvy Verses stamp set.

The inside, using the retired Something to Celebrate stamp set for the sentiment:

The one for my mom was CASEd from a Stampin' Addicts post by Deb Currier that was sent to my group from my upline, Debbie (her blog is here). You can find the orginal post on Deb's blog here. It is so simple, yet packs quite a punch. It, too, was layered on a whisper white base. The first layer is the white ran through the Big Shot with the Stripes embossing folder. Then, I just cut a circle of white and covered the bottom half with a piece of DSP from the Cheerful Treat pack (retiring this month). The sentiment is from Well Scripted (retired) and the butterfly was made with the Beautiful Wings embosslit die.

The inside of it, using the same sentiment as above:

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day!!!!

APRIL SIMPLY PAPER DESIGN CHALLENGE......

I must say, I was very excited about this month's challenge --- a quilt card. See the challenge info here. You see, I used to sew and I love quilts. I have only made two very simple ones for my kids, but I love checking out the different patterns every now and then. So, in my very simple mind, this was right up my alley. Right? Oh, so not right. Let me just say this --- fabric is much more forgiving than paper (even on the super small scale that I was working with). So after two very sad tries of one pattern, I looked again for an easier block to use and finally came up with this card.

It uses the new Summer Smooches DSP. I absolutely love the bright colors and cute little patterns with this paper. It will be available in the new catalog coming out on June 1st. In the center is a bow tacked down by a Summer Smooches fabric brad, which was only available for a limited time and is now retired. I made this with my sister-in-law's birthday in mind. I also needed something small to place her gift in and, as luck would have it, the new Petite Purse Big Shot Die (also coming out in the new catalog) just fit the bill.

Isn't that purse the cutest little thing? And so, so easy, even I can make one..... What is a birthday without a little cake? So, inside looks like this:

As it would turn out, Cindy said that she also had a hard time with this challenge. But I guess it wouldn't be a challenge if it were easy, huh? Even so, I think we both are very happy to have this one done and over with. Kathy also joined in the challenge again this month. Check out both of their cards here. I love how Cindy stitched her ribbon on the top and bottom of her block. Notice how she and I pretty much used the same block design. Kathy and I used the same DSP, but she used a different block design. Man, I cannot believe the amount of piecing she did on this. Regina also joined in on the fun and went above and beyond by making 2 cards here. Aren't they gorgeous??!!!?? Thanks to Kathy and Regina for taking on this challenge with us.

Now onto May..... Keep an eye out on Cindy's blog here for details and play along......

CUPCAKES AND PARTY HATS...........

Again, a very quick post. This card uses a sketch and color combo found here. It was the June 2011 Simply Paper Design Challenge. The only thing I did different was that I flipped the sketch upside down. The stamp set is Party Hearty and was colored up with my markers. Easy peasy............

Thanks!!!! Have a great day!!!!

QUICK & EASY......

This was a quick and easy birthday card that I CASEd from somewhere, but it has been so long ago I am not sure where I found it. I used the Watercolor Trio stamp set (retired), coloring up the flowers with my markers. The eyelet border punch was used to trim the bottom of the pink layer and a piece of Rich Razzleberry satin ribbon was wrapped around with a bow attached to it. Not real sure that I like this bow very much, it's just a knot placed on top of the ribbon strip with a glue dot, but you need to experiment with different things just to find out.

Thanks for stopping by today!!! Have a great one!!!

MARCH SIMPLY PAPER DESIGN CHALLENGE....

This post will catch me up with showing my cards for our team's challenges. The challenge is here and the groups projects are here. We also have a couple of extras thrown in there --- thanks for joining us, Debbie & Regina!!! You guys did an awesome job!!!
I love this Turtle & Co. set. It's not only because it is so darn cute, but it is the Ronald McDonald House set for Stampin' Up this catalog. This means that with every set sold, Stampin' Up donates $3.00 to the charity. What could be easier to help those with loved ones in hospitals far from home?

This is an absolutely horrible picture, but the card was really cute in real life. Really --- I mean it. (Actually, the picture on Cindy's blog looks much better, so she must have waved her magic wand over it or something.) Anyway, I colored Mr. Turtle using my blender pen and my stamping pads (using the top with some color squeezed on it). I used my Scoring Tool to make a little frame on the layer under the image. The flower was made using my Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer punch and adding a button all tied up with hemp twine. A small piece of Pacific Point ribbon creates a little faux tab on the right.

Thanks so much for stopping by!!!! Have a great weekend!!!!

FEBRUARY SIMPLY PAPER DESIGN CHALLENGE....

Almost there....... I am up to posting the February Simply Paper Design Challenge. Check out the challenge here and the finished cards here. Debbie N., my upline and Cindy's sister, played along using the sketch only. She is the best upline you could ask for. Check out her blog, Unfrogettable Stamping, here.

So, here is the card I came up with. I used the Circle Circus stamp set to make my own designer paper. I layered a couple of pieces of ribbon and added buttons. The button "ties" are just really thin strips of paper that was very, very carefully tied (after several failed attempts). Very simple, but not a card to mail --- too lumpy and bumpy with the buttons on there.

Have a great day!!! Check back soon......

LOOKIE, LOOKIE..............

I feel soooo guilty!!!! I have been such an extreme slacker and yet my good friend Beverly chose to honor my blog with this award.

And the weird thing is that it is for people whose blogs inspire her. Me??? Inspire her??? Beverly is an awesome stamper that I met through my Stampin' Up group. She is one who was born with the creative gene. Check out her blog, Beestamper, and see what I mean.

This is what I have to do:

Pass on the award to five other people, who's blogs have inspired me. It also needs to be someone who has less than 200 followers.

Put a comment on their blog, so that they know about it.

Link back to the person who gave me the award and thank them.

Post the award on my blog.

Now, I have several blogs that I check all the time, so here goes my inspiration:

1. Cindy @ Simply Cindy Crafts - I know she is on Beverly's list, too, but that just means you should really check her out.....

2. Debbie @ Unfrogettable Stamping - My friend and upline --- it is all her fault that I fell in love with stamping.....

3. Judi @ Judi's Cuties - She has such a clean and simple style which just suits me...

4. Monica @ Paper Cottage - She hasn't posted for a while (kind of like me), but she also has a clean and simple style that calls out to me.....

5. Nancy @ Paper Dreams & Creative Wishes - She is the queen of recycling stuff the rest of us just throw away. Love her ideas.....

So, there are my choices. Hope you guys enjoy them as much as I do. And a great big THANKS to Beverly for including me on her list. Have a great day!!!!

JANUARY SIMPLY PAPER DESIGN CHALLENGE....

For January, I was the one to pick the colors and come up with a sketch. I have seen this color combo for winter cards before and just love it!!! See the challenge here and the cards from the group here.

This image is from the retired Holiday Tag Team set. The sentiment is from A Word for You. The snowflakes are cut out with the Big Shot and the Northern Frost decorative strip die. All layered together and tied up with a simple piece of ribbon.

Thanks, again, for stopping by. See you on the flip side......

DECEMBER SIMPLY PAPER DESIGN CHALLENGE....

I may get caught up yet. Probably not, but hope springs eternal. This was my card for the December Simply Paper Challenge. Check out the challenge here and the group's cards here.

I used the Delightful Decorations set for my ornament, Snow Swirled for my tree and Word Play for my sentiment. To break up the white space, I spritzed it with my markers and Color Spritzer Tool. The ornament is raised up on dimensionals and is hanging on a piece of baker's twine. This one is an easy mailer, no big lumps or bumps.

Thanks for stopping by!!! Hope to get more stuff posted this week, so keep checking in.........