January 30, 2012

Hello Cupig!


So sorry for the delay! I've been home sick this weekend and didn't have a chance to post my card for this week's Cupcake Inspirations Challenge. Check out the cute inspiration for this week!


Here are the DEEtails:

I started off created a zebra print background at the bottom of my card. I simply drew my print onto some black card stock and cut out my pieces. I adhered them to my white card and added a strip of pink satin ribbon from my stash. Then I punched out some small Basic Black circles and adhered them to a strip of card stock to make a fun trim. I die cut a heart and added the Cupig image from DRS Designs, colored him in with a Blender Pen and some Stampin' Write markers. Isn't he cute?! I'd love to see what you come up with for this week's Cupcake Inspirations Challenge!

January 25, 2012

I {Heart} Metallic Ribbon Prize Package!

Have you played along with the current I {Heart} Ribbon Challenge? We still have about a week left to play along with the metallic ribbon challenge.


I don't have a card for you today, but I thought I'd share the fun prize package that I've put together for the lucky winner.


1 yard each of 5 metallic ribbons and trims
3 metal rimmed vellum tags
2 birthday ribbon slides
2 rhinestone ribbon slides
3 phrase clips (smile, bliss, and love)
2 circle clips

To play along, create a card that includes metallic ribbon and link up your card here. I can't wait to see what you create!

January 22, 2012

Let It Snow!


Good Morning! I'm back today with a card for this week's Cupcake Inspirations Challenge. It's quite appropriate for the weekend since it's been quite cold. We've even seen a few flakes! :)


DEEtails:

I started with a Baja Breeze card and added a strip of Brushed Silver card stock, punched with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch. Then I added some pretty pink ribbon from my stash. I centered a die cut tag with a pretty snowflake from my stash. To finish things off, I spritzed my card with some Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz for a little extra glimmer and shine (although it's really hard to see in the photo). Hope you'll play along with this week's challenge!

January 21, 2012

Simple Things

Hello Friends! I'm finally getting back into the swing of things... I know it has been a while since we've last "chatted." I've been able to squeeze in a bit of card making here and there, but I haven't had much time to tell you how things are going around these parts. :)

I've been longing to pop on here and reflect a bit my blog goals. But to be completely honest, I haven't had much time to think about it! So here I am with a reflection (and update) on my blog goals.

Last year, I wanted to Blog More. Success! In 2010, I averaged 16 posts a month. In 2011, I averaged 23 posts! And some months, I was even able to post daily - Wow! It's very clear that I work on a school schedule and that my busy months are at the beginning and end of the school year, with May/June and September/October being the months where I seemed to disappear a bit. :) Apparently this year hasn't started off too well with blogging... It's been crazy here, but I think things are starting to settle... I hope!

Last year I tried to Get Personal. And boy was this hard! I used to be scared to share details of my life, but I've been showered with nothing but kindess from all of you. THANK YOU! :) It's still hard for me to tell you about my life - mostly because my guess is that you probably don't care. Haha. So clearly, this is something I need to continue working on...

Another goal was to Challenge Myself. I told you that color and sketch challenges were not my forte. This is still very true. I'm "forced" to continue working on this with the new changes at Pals Paper Arts. Honestly, when I got accepted onto the design team, I was a little bit nervous about the fact that I'd HAVE to participate in these other types of challenges. But really, I'm thrilled to be a part of the team and to be pushed this way.

I was also wanting to Inspire Myself. But I've decided this one is not that important. The way I see it, the challenges that I play are what inspire me and if that's the way I inspire myself, then that works for me. Plus I'm hoping that the I {Heart} Ribbon challenge will continue to be another way I can inspire myself and others. :)

My last goal was to Find a Home for all my cards. Still working on that... :) But I have been better about mailing out my cards and I hope that continues.

So there's a recap of my goals. I've decided it makes sense to keep them as they are since I'm still working on many of them. And now, time for today's card...



Jay Gee's Nook always has the best challenges! I couldn't wait to play along with this one! There is so much that you can pull from the inspiration below:



Here are the DEEtails:


I started with the Lattice die cut from Stampin' Up!, which I adhered onto Whisper White card stock and matted with Crumb Cake card stock. I placed some strips of So Saffron DSP before attaching my die cut. Then I added a bunch of fun embellishments - a book print heart (from the Hearts dies), a die cut tag (from Lots of Tags) stamped with the sentiment from SU!'s Touch of Kindness, some punched leaves (from the SU! Bird punch), some Victoria Lace, a stamped bird cage from SU!'s Aviary (embellished with a piece of brown ribbon and a Rhinestone Jewel), and a layered butterfly (from the MS butterfly punch). I'm loving all those little goodies piled on top of each other. What do you think?

January 19, 2012

Pals Paper Arts Sketch Challenge


Hello there! It's time for another wonderful Pals Paper Arts Challenge! This time, we have a fun sketch challenge, created by our own Margaret Moody. She's quite the talented one when it comes to creative sketches.

Here are the DEEtails:


I started with some Designer Series Paper in Soft Suede and Baja Breeze. I tucked some Soft Suede Striped Grosgrain ribbon over the top of the Soft Suede piece to create a nice little hanging banner for my focal point. Then I embossed the oval Designer Frame onto some Very Vanilla card stock and tore it out. I stamped the image from SU!'s Have a Seat in Soft Suede ink. I added a little Itty Bitty Punch flower, embellished with a Pearl Jewel on the chair. Then I finished things off with a simple banner, stamped with the sentiment from SU!'s Curly Cute in Baja Breeze.


Hope you'll play along with us at Pals Paper Arts! Remember, you can use any of your favorite products and have plenty of time to link up! I can't wait to see what you create! :)


January 18, 2012

I {Heart} Metallic Ribbon


Today I'm sharing a simple card that I whipped up for the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger Challenge. Aren't these tissue paper pom poms just gorgeous?!


I love this color combination so much and I decided to add a bit of gold ribbon and use it as my inspiration for my I {Heart} Metallic Ribbon Challenge.


DEEtails, DEEtails, DEEtails:

I started with a shimmery MS doily from my stash and tied on some pretty gold ribbon. Then I got to work with my pom pom flowers, using my punches and card stock. I punched out the flowers, then rolled them between my fingers until the paper fibers began to peel. I carefully peeled apart the layers to create these tissue-like flowers. It's a simple technique, really, and makes beautiful flowers. Then I stamped my sentiment from PTI's Think Big Favorites. I'm lovin' it... How about you? :)

Don't forget to link up to my I {Heart} Ribbon Challenge. We're celebrating this month with some metallic ribbon! Come join in on the fun!

January 15, 2012

All That Glitters Is...


Silver! You betcha! I was inspired by these gorgeous cupcakes to create a card with silver on silver! I'm loving this shimmer without being too sparkly! I hope you'll play along with us at this week's Cupcake Inspirations Challenge!


DEEtails:

This card was so simple to make. I grabbed some Brushed Silver card stock and stamped some Delicate Doilies from SU! with VersaMark ink. Then I added my sentiment from SU!'s Curly Cute set. I heat embossed the doilies and sentiment with silver embossing powder to create the beautiful tone on tone look. Easy Peasy!

Psst! This Cupcake Inspiration might be the perfect inspiration to use some metallic ribbon and play along with my I {Heart} Ribbon Challenge too! I can't wait to see what you create! :)

January 11, 2012

Winner Wednesday!

Here's the winner of the Red Ribbon Challenge! Congratulations to Mynette and her fabulous holiday card!




Are you playing along with the I {Heart} Ribbon Metallic Ribbon Challenge this month? Remember that the new challenge format gives you more time to play! Click here for DEEtails :)

January 10, 2012

January Pals Blog Hop


Love is in the air as the Stampin' Pretty Pals share the love with cards and projects for today's Pals Blog Hop!

You've probably hopped over from Susan Lankford at Stampin' Crafty Corner, I'm stop number 9 on the Pals Hop and I'm glad you hopped in! I'll help you "hop along" from blog to blog where you'll find great ideas for love themed paper projects from the Stampin' Pretty Pals! Should you hop off course, simply click on any of the links in the Pals Hop Line-up below and you'll be back on track.


Today I'm sharing a fun card that I made featuring a stamp from the Holiday Mini Catalog that I haven't been able to use yet. Although this stamp is no longer available through Stampin' Up!, you could substitute the center image with any fun stamp to make this card work for any occasion or theme.

Here are the DEEtails:

I started with a piece of Whisper White card stock and punched the top with the Spiral Punch (available on the SU! Clearance Rack) and stamped my image from SU!'s Festive and Fun and colored the letters in with my Stampin' Write Markers (Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, and Melon Mambo. I die cut a doily with Regal Rose card stock, using the Perfect Pennants die and adhered it to a Pretty in Pink card. Then I used a stapler to attach a small piece of Pretty in Pink Dotted Scallop Ribbon to my "note" and layered it on my card along with a strip of Melon Mambo card stock punched with the Scallop Edge Border punch. I embellished the card with a few Designer Buttons (Rose Red and Pretty in Pink) and a Bitty Button threaded with some Baker's Twine. Hope you like it!

Now hop along for more inspiring ideas from >Kim Czenszak at Live Love Stamp, stop number {X} on the Love Is In The Air Pals Blog Hop! Thanks for "hopping" by!



January 8, 2012

Fun and Colorful Birthday!


After a nice long break, I'm excited to share this week's card for the Cupcake Inspirations Challenge! Check out this fun and colorful inspiration cuppy! :)


DEEtails:

It's been a while since I made my last layered border punch card (one of my favorite techniques, by the way), so I was eager to create one for this week's challenge. I simply punched out strips of Lucky Limeade, Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, Island Indigo, and Early Espresso card stock using various border punches (Scallop Edge, Scallop Trim, Dotted Scallop Ribbon, Pinking Hearts, and Eyelet Border). Then I layered them over each other. I die cut a PTI Fillable Frames die in Melon Mambo and stamped the cute sentiment from SU!'s A Word for You. Then I punched out the cute little cuppy using the Cupcake Builder punch and Create a Cupckae stamp from Stampin' Up! and tied a little bit of Baker's Twine around the cupcake liner. What do you think?

Come play along with the sweeties over at the Cupcake Inspirations Challenge. Hope to see you there!

January 5, 2012

Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge!

Hello dears! Today I'm here to share my card for the newest Pals Paper Arts Challenge!


This week's challenge is a Color Challenge and I'm certainly not singing the blues about this one :)


Be sure to pop over to Pals Paper Arts to check out some more inspirational cards by the PPA DT. Plus, we have two new Design Team Members, so be sure to say hello!

Here are the DEEtails:

I stamped the beautiful clock image from SU!'s Forever Young in Not Quite Navy on Very Vanilla card stock. I matted it with Baja Breeze card stock and tucked some Not Quite Navy striped Grosgrain ribbon underneath. I adhered it to a Not Quite Navy card and embellished the stamped image. I added some Designer buttons, threaded with Linen Thread, some Itty Bitty Punched flowers adorned with a Rhinestone Jewel, and a Jewelry Tag stamped with the sentiment from SU!'s Tiny Tags.

There are some changes with the Pals Paper Arts Challenges and you'll definitely want to be in the know. We have even extended the deadline for participation to one week so there's more time to join in the fun. We can't wait to see what you have created! And remember that the Pals Paper Arts Challenges welcome all products and players. Hope you'll play along!

January 4, 2012

I {Heart} Ribbon Challenge 14

I hate having to change up the ribbon challenge rules, but I'm trying to find the format that works the best, so I'm changing things up yet again...

Here's how it will go... I'll be posting a new challenge on the 1st of each month. Each challenge will go down the end of the day on the last day of the month, which will hopefully give you lots of time to play (and play again). I'll only be hosting one challenge each month, which will allow me to give out prizes (which I know you love). Monthly prizes will consist of ribbon (of course) and possibly other goodies if I'm feeling generous! Winners will be announced on the 1st Wednesday of each month (because I just like the sound of Winner Wednesday!). I'm hoping to post a card (and reminder) for the challenge on each Wednesday that follows. Did you get all that?

So now, without futher ado, here's our challenge!


Let's ring in the new year with some metallic ribbon! Gold, silver, bronze, something with sparkles... Anything will do!

You'll have until Tuesday, January 31st to link up your card or project featuring metallic ribbon!