Happiness Always

My mom bought me some beautiful ribbon yesterday and I just had to use it right away! Here it is in my DEEsign for the 2 Sketches 4 You challenge:

Here's the sketch:

And the DEEtails:

1. I chose the colors for this card based on the pretty ribbon. I'm using Bermuda Bay, Basic Gray, and Going Gray. I know the card looks more blue, but I promise, it's a teal color!

2. I stamped the bird cage image from my Happy Moments set in Basic Gray ink and cut it out. I also stamped a sentiment from my Whimsical Words set to go with the birdcage.

3. Then I created a layered mat with my three colors and adhered my images to it using dimensionals.

4. I also created a large mat with the grays for the card and tied my pretty ribbon onto it. I deviated a bit from the sketch here. I liked the ribbon so much and wanted to show it off a bit more, so I tied a bow on the side. Then I adhered the mat to the card.

5. I adhered my mat and images on top of the bow and there you have it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Butterflies

I'm visiting my family this week, so it was a bit of a challenge when I sat down to make a card yesterday. I brought a bag of supplies with me, with just a few basics, but I totally forgot a few key essentials. There are a lot of challenges this week that I want to do, but just don't have the supplies for! I managed to put together this card for i{heart}2stamp's Sketch For You To Try:

I thought the sketch this week was neat:

Here are the DEEtails:

1. I don't have all my circle punches with me, so I had to find something that I had that would work with this sketch. I decided on butterflies. I stamped two butterfly images from my Flight of the Butterfly set on Bordering Blue card stock and punched them out.

2. Then I took some DMC floss and tied some little antennae for my butterfly. That was the hardest part of my card!

3. I chose the color scheme based on the cute brown and blue polka dot ribbon that I had packed. I've been wanting to use it, so here it is!

4. I stamped the cute butterfly sentiment from the Flight of the Butterfly set onto a Kraft mat. Then I arranged my butterflies onto the card.

5. I adhered the mat onto a Chocolate Chip mat. The tiny bit of Chocolate Chip peeking out made a huge difference! Then I adhered it onto my Bordering Blue card.

Hope you like it!

Lacy Days

Here's my DEEsign for another fun challenge - Lacy Days at Caardvarks:


DEEtails:

1. Lace usually makes me think Victorian, but I wanted to make a card for this challenge that was fun and springy. So, I started off with ribbons from my stash- a cute lacy one paired with a fun color.

2. I took a piece of Naturals White card stock and added some Sticky Strip about and inch from the bottom. I took my fun grosgrain ribbon and ruffled it along the strip.

3. Then I took another piece of sticky strip, and cut it down the center. I laid this piece on top of my purple ribbon, pressing down on my ruffles. I added my lacy ribbon on top of the thin Sticky Strip. I loved the look!

4. I stamped the thank you image from my Say It With Scallops set. The I used my Scallop Square punch. I stamped the same image onto Lavender Lace card stock and cut out the center part. I layered it on top using dimensionals. I honestly wasn't thinking about how it looked lacy until after I punched it out and layered it! And I didn't even realize how the color name fit the challenge until just now! :)

5. I layered my Naturals White card stock onto a Lavender Lace mat, which I adhered onto a Lavender Lace card.

Hope you like it!

Pink Elephant Challenge

I thought this week's sketch for the Pink Elephant Challenge was so cute, that I had to play along! Here's my DEEsign:


I turned the sketch on its side for my card:


DEEtails:

1. I was really in the mood for a girly, pink birthday card. I stamped the cake image from my Blooming with Happiness set, using Basic Gray and Regal Rose Stampin' Write Markers. I also added two sets of candles, also from the Blooming with Happiness set, which I inked with Going Gray and Summer Sun Stampin' Write Markers.

2. I tied a cute little bow with some pink polka dot ribbon that I found in my stash.

3. I added a sentiment from my A Little Birthday Cheer set. I liked this one since I had so many candles on my cake. Again, I used my Stampin' Write Markers in Basic Gray and Regal Rose.

4. I punched the cake out and adhered it to a Regal Rose Mat. Then I layered it onto a Naturals White mat, which I adhered to my Regal Rose card.

5. For my final touch, I added some flowers from my stash. I forgot where I got these, but they were the perfect color with rhinestones already added.

Hope you like it!

i{heart}2stamp

Here's my DEESign for this week's i{heart}2stamp's Sketch For You To Try:

Here's the sketch:


And the DEEtails:

1. I've been wanting to use the cute butterfly patterned paper from the American Crafts Letterbox series. The pink and yellow with touches of glitter is just so cute! I cut three strips of the paper, being careful to highlight the glittery butterflies.

2. I took a piece of Barely Banana card stock, cut to size and used my scallop edge punch on the top and bottom. I mounted my strips of patterned paper onto the scalloped mat.

3. I stamped the butterfly from my Kind Thoughts set in VersaMark and embossed it with a glitter embossing powder.

4. I really like the look of a butterfly on a scallop circle with a button center. I found a button in my stash that was the right peachy pink and added it on top of my glittery butterfly, mounted on a scallop circle with dimensionals. The I mounted the flower onto my mat with more dimensionals to make it really pop.

5. I adhered my mat onto a Barely Banana card. Hope you like it!

Cinema Saturday

I'm so excited to participate in this week's Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge! Here's my DEEsign:


The challenge this week is 13 Going on 30:


I was so excited to participate since this is one of my favorite movies! I actually have the cream and brown Nanette Lepore jacket that Jennifer Garner wears in this movie!

Here are the DEEtails for my card inspired by Jenna's outfit in the photo above:

1. I wanted to take elements from her outfit - the nightie (lace trim and flowers) and jacket (brown polka dots and grosgrain ribbon trim) - mixed with a little bit of "Wishing Dust." I started off with a Rose Red card and layered the other elements.

2. I thought that the brown floral patterned paper from the American Crafts Letterbox series was perfect, even though it wasn't exactly polka dots. I cut a rectangle and trimmed it with some Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon.

3. I stamped the Wishes sentiment from my Heard from the Heart set on Rose Red Card stock and trimmed the rectangle to size. I'm pretty boring when it comes to geometric shapes. I opted for rectangles...

4. I used my Scallop Trim punch and Scallop Corner punch to create a lacy edge for the back of my Wishes sentiment.

5. For the final touch, I layered Chocolate Chip flowers, punched with my Martha Stewart Hydrangea blossom punch, with some flower confetti pieces from my stash, and a rhinestone to add a touch of sparkle - Wishing Dust!

What do you think?

There She Goes

Here's a card that I made for this week's There She Goes Sketch Challenge:


Here's the sketch:


And the DEEtails:

1. I just got my Butterfly punch, so I've been wanting to showcase it in a card. I thought this layout was a great opportunity to use it. I punched the butterfly on Kraft card stock and layered it on a Basic Gray flower from my Bigz Scallop Circle #2 die.

2. I love the Striped Grosgrain Ribbon - I with I had all the colors! I used Old Olive on this card and tied a section of it with Hemp Twine. Then I punched a hole in the scallop circle and butterfly and threaded the Hemp Twine through.

3. I added a Corduroy Button in Kiwi Kiss - another thing I wish I had in more colors! I threaded it with my Hemp Twine and tied a bow.

4. I cut a piece of polka dot Designer Series Paper from the Urban Oasis (retired) pack for the base of my Basic Gray Card.

5. I layered a piece of Kraft card stock stamped with the sentiment from my Very Thankful set. Then I adhered my ribbon and layered flower, butterfly, button piece onto the card. Fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sweet Sunday Sketch

I decided to participate in this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge. Here's my DEEsign:

I really liked the layout for this challenge:


Here are the DEEtails:

1. I am such a pack rat and I've been trying to clean up some of my scraps, so I was eager to use some of them in my card today. This card was made entirely from scraps! I had stamped these flowers from my Fall Flair set as a bit of a trial and error. I kept them in my scrap basket because I really liked how they turned out! I had exactly 3, so they were perfect for the card! I stamped them in ColorBox Frost White ink on Soft Suede card stock and embossed them with white powder.

2. I also had a strip of Striped Grosgrain ribbon in my scraps, and I thought the color looked great with the Soft Suede flowers.

3. I stamped an image from my Fall Flair set with VersaMark randomly on one side of a Soft Suede mat. Then I adhered my Striped Grosgrain ribbon to the card.

4. I stamped a sentiment from my Trendy Trees set with Close to Cocoa ink onto a small piece of Kiwi Kiss card stock. I trimmed it down and added a Soft Suede mat. I used dimensionals to mount my sentiment onto my card.

5. Then I arranged my flowers onto the ribbon, using dimensionals and overlapping them a bit. I adhered my Soft Suede mat onto a Kiwi Kiss card for an extra pop of color.

Thanks for looking!

One of a Kind

I love all things green, so of course I had to play along with this week's Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge. Here's my DEEsign:


I really love the color combination:

DEEtails:

1. I started out by punching out several hydrangea blossoms using my Martha Stewart punch. I cut one of the four petals off each Certainly Celery blossom to make 3 leaf clovers. I punched one in Garden Green to be my 4 leaf clover.

2. I really wanted a "lucky" sentiment. The closest I could find was one from my Flight of the Butterfly stamp set. I stamped the sentiment in Garden Green ink on my Kraft card stock.

3. To make stems, I drew them randomly with my Stampin' Write markers. I adhered my clovers randomly on the stems, using dimensions to make my 4 leaf clover stand out.

4. I then cut two 2" strip of Garden Green card stock and and used my Scallop Edge punch. I ran the strip through my Crimper several times, then adhered it to my card in a sort of crinkly way to make grass.

5. For a final touch, I used a bit of hemp twine and tied it around the grass.

Thanks for stopping by!

So Flattered!

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

-Charles Caleb Colton

I was so excited to learn that I had won the Color Dare challenge back in February with this DEEsign:

And tickled to find that it was featured on Nancy Riley's blog a few weeks ago. Okay, I'm sorry, but I have to be honest. I didn't even know who Nancy Riley was until I was featured on her blog. So, that was totally exciting to know that people who've made it big were looking at and admiring my work! Nancy's feature brought over 200 bloggers to my site in just a week! Thanks Nancy!

I was so flattered to receive a comment from Jenn over at Just for You by Jenn, sharing that my DEEsign and a pair of her pants inspired her to make a very cute card! I know, that may have sounded really weird, but trust me, the card is worth checking out. :)

So, I just wanted to say {THANK YOU!} to all my fans! I love you all so much! :)

A Gift For Darlene

My mom asked me to make a set of cards for her friend as a thank you gift. Darlene loves birds, so here's what I DEEsigned for her:

DEEtails:

1. I used Paper Source Chartreuse and SU! Chocolate Chip, Kraft, and Old Olive card stock for my color scheme. I tried to keep a lot of same elements, such as Chartreuse birds, Chocolate Chip backing the birds and Kraft cards.

2. To compliment these colors, I used 1" Double-Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon and 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon in Chocolate Chip along with some bits of Hemp Twine.

3. I love using the "Hello" sentiment from my Pendant Park stamp set for generic cards. I also used the flower from my Season of Friendship set to create a patterned background for these cards with VersaMark and clear embossing powder.

4. I thought scallops looked cute with the Season of Friendship flower, so I used lots of scallop circles, some scallop edges, and even a scallop oval.

5. You must know by now that I adore my bird punch, but this time, I did a creative twist. I first stamped half of the greenery from the Pendant Park stamp set in VersaMark, using clear embossing powder. Then I punched out the bird. This created the neat patterned bird. I kept his wing plain, so it's not over-the-top.

Hope you like it! And I hope Darlene does too!

Crafty Mama

I've mentioned that I come from a family of crafty ladies. My mom is one of them. She's done a variety of needlework crafts, including knitting, crochet, needlepoint and cross stitch, but her current love is sewing. She loves making one-of-a-kind bags. Here are a few of her fabulous creations!

I call her bags Sew Type A - every detail of every bag is absolutely perfect! She currently sells them only to family and friends (lucky for me!), but I think she should share her talent! Perhaps your comments would convince her!

Wishes

I decided to create a card for the Moxie Fab World Olympics of Stamping. Here's my DEEsign:

And the DEEtails:

1. I started off with a piece of Kraft cardstock and used a stamp from my Circle Circus set to create a grid pattern with Going Gray ink.

2. I took a piece of Going Gray cardstock and added a scalloped edge, then adhered my stamped Kraft mat to the side.

3. Then I tied a bow with some Riding Hood Red ribbon from the Dress Up Ribbon Originals set. I love the contrast and pop of color.

4. I stamped the Wishes sentiment from my Heard from the Heart set in Going Gray and Real Red, using my Stampin' Write markers on Naturals White card stock. I used some 3-dimensional adhesive to adhere it to the card.

5. I love this simple look and hope you like it too!

Flowerless Flower Card

Here's my DEEsign for this week's Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger:

Check out the beautiful inspiration board:

DEEtails:

1. I immediately fell in love with the flowers in water (middle row, far right), so I started off with Bermuda Bay for my mat. I originally thought that I wanted to soften the look and use some vellum, but I loved the striking contrast once I started selecting my buttons, so I stuck with the bright color for the background.

2. Surprise! No flowers on this card! Just lots and lots of buttons! All these came out of my stash. I selected a bunch of bright pinks, some cute little yellows, a few bright whites, and a couple of reds. Buttons make me so happy!

3. It took a lot of patience, but I finally got all of my buttons threaded with DMC needlepoint floss in the same colors as the buttons. I randomly adhered my buttons to my mat in an arc shape echoing the arrangement in the photo.

4. The stone peeking out around the edges in the photo made me think of the subtle flecks in the Neutrals White cardstock, so I decided to use it for both my card and my sentiment.

5. I used the simple "thinking of you" sentiment from my Trendy Trees stamp set and used Basic Gray ink on Neutrals White cardstock. I trimmed it down to a small rectangle and adhered it to my card.

I love some of those close up photos that I've seen on other blogs, so I decided to try it out for myself. I am so not a photographer, although I'd really love to get good at it! I was really impressed with this shot!