Ain't life GRAND!!

I haven't shared any pictures of our grands for awhile, and after getting the latest batch of them from our son and daughter-in-law, I couldn't resist showing them off.  Look at that hair!  (Just like his Gramma and his Daddy at that age!)  He's 25 months old now.

And his ittle sister is so adorable, isn't she?  She's 4 months.  Wonder if she'll get the curly hair, too?  (He didn't until he was a year old).

I made them each a card recently, using some new Paper Smooches stamps I won a little while back.  I chose these just for the kids.  Here I added some googly eyes to the owls.

supplies: white cardstock, Paper Smooches Chubby Chums, October Afternoon "Fly a Kite" dps, Hero Arts CL309 Whoo Loves You, versafine onyx black ink, tumbled glass distress ink, colored pencil

And for her, this sweet little chickie, from the same set:

supplies: kraft and white cardstock, doodlebug designs petite prints, BoBunny  mellow yellow dot, colored pencils, Paper Smooches Chubby Chums, Hero Arts CL444 Sending Smiles (grass), versafine onyx black ink, green  and pink colored pencil

Shabby Tea Room "2 - 4 - 6"

I haven't played for awhile at the Shabby Tea Room.  Their fun challenge this week is  "2 - 4 - 6": create a card or project with TWO patterned papers (manufactured or handmade), FOUR buttons, and SIX layers!  Fun!  Here's my entry:

supplies: pink parchment cardstock, pinkpaislee "Butterfly Garden" dp, white, pale pink and pink vellum for flowers, Hero Arts stamps S5324 Simple Frame, CG291 Three Dotted Flowers, CL383 Antique Engravings (butterfly), CL272 All Occasion Messages, S5101 Raindrop Background, tattered rose and vintage photo distress inks, versamark ink and white embossing powder, hand-dyed seam binding, 1 medium and 3 tiny pink buttons, paper doily

I'm still not sure I understand about the 6 layers, so just to make sure,my flower is 6 layers, using 3 shades of vellum.  I stamped the base background using the Raindrop Background, and the 2nd is a printed dp from pinkpaislee.

Since this uses another of my favorite stamps, I'm also entering it into the Simon Says Stamp and Show "Your Favorite Stamp" challenge.

Play Date Cafe Challenge, take 2

The Play Date Cafe challenge this week is another splash of color: black and white and a splash of green, and the DT is saying farewell to one of their founders, Sarah Anderson.

I'm using the first design I submitted, but changing it up just a bit, substituting a stamped doily instead of the paper one.  I like the way the textured black paper shows through the doily:

supplies: white, black, Core'dinations lime cardstocks, Hero Arts K5329 Lace Frame, CL267 Card Messages, VersMark ink and white embossing powder, Martha Stewart butterfly punches, green gem

My Favorite Stamps

Simon Says Stamp and Show has a fun challenge I just had to enter; we're supposed to use our favorite stamp!    I guess for me it's still the Hero Arts Hydrangea, but I also threw in lots of other stamps that I love to pair it with.  You cannot make a mistake with the hydrangea stamp - you can color it, stamp it in colored inks, use it as a background - it always turns out right.  I think, though, that this is the first time I've done it all in pinks. Look at my flickr photostream to see how many times I've used this stamp.

supplies: parchment cardstock, digital image of a vintage postcard, sized down, Hero Arts stamps K5376 Hydrangea, CG168 Circle Doily, LL040 Woodland Ferns, H2141 Manuscript Background, CL383 Antique Engravings (butterfly), Papertrey tiny tags die and sentiment (Friendship Jar Spring Fillers), Prisma Watercolor pencils to color hydrangea, victorian velvet, worn lipstick, antique linen, and peeled paint distress inks, versafine onyx black ink, versamark ink and white embossing powder for doily, hand-dyed seam binding, twine, tiny pink button

Starting with an ivory parchment card, I white embossed the doily, then shaded the card with victorian velvet, worn lipstick and antique linen distress inks.  Then I overstamped the manuscript background, ferns and butterflies.  The hydrangea was stamped, watercolored and cut out, then popped above the postcard, adding some seam binding and my tiny tag.

Edited to add that this card was published in CREATE: Stamping, February 2013.

CR84FN challenge #30

Today is my final card as a guest designer at CR84FN.  The month has flown by, and I've really enjoyed it!  Thanks to Mona, Suzanne, Deborah, Heather, Stephanie, Sue, Andrea, and Lisa  for making me feel so welcome.  Here are the colors for this week's challenge, compliments of Martha Stewart:

We are celebrating Deb's birthday this week, so here is a birthday card for her.  I decided to look back into my old archives of my past work, and did a version of a window card from 2009.  The original idea came from my friend Kathy Racoosin.  

supplies: kraft cardstock, scrap of old K&Company Tim Coffey dp for inside oval, Hero Arts Spring Art Flowers CH151, and spring buttons, CL497 Find Joy, CL380 Truly Appreciated, versafine onyx black ink, Martha Stewart butterfly punches, Nesties classic ovals large die, pearls


Here's what my card looks like inside:

Now, go on over to CR84FN and see what the Design Team has in store for you!

And since my flowers make a frame of sorts, I'd like to enter this into the City Crafter Challenge "I've Been Framed".

An intriguing challenge

I was blog-hopping this afternoon, and found this Less is More challenge on Rosemary's blog.  The challenge is called "Pick a Square".  This is a CAS challenge, and we are to use this sketch, but use ONLY ONE of the squares in it.

I chose to use the bottom right square and 2 digital images from Vinnie Pearce (her mini Dream Kit).  I used one of her digital papers, this impressionistic meadow, and added the butterfly.  After printing it out, I then stamped my sentiment, curving it to resemble the butterfly's trail.  

supplies: white cardstock, Vinnie Pearce digital Dream kit, My Sentiments Exactly M112 Sentiment Stems, versafine onyx black ink, clear gemstones

Really different, isn't it?  I would never have thought of doing anything like this, but that's why I love new challenges; they stretch us in ways we sometimes never imagine.  Go and look at the gallery for this challenge if you want to see some imaginative work!

Ivory and Lace

Mark's Finest Papers has the best challenges!  This week it's "Ivory and Lace".......such a romantic theme!  I knew immediately what I wanted to do:

supplies: ivory parchment cardstock, The Paper Studio music dp, K&Company "Floral Four Color Embossed Vellum" (long discontinued), scrap of crochet lace, gathered into a flower, Hero Arts ivory art flower, gold heart button, unknown gold-edged ivory ribbon from Yvonne, Nesties Labels Four die, computer-generated sentiment

I started by making this flower out of a gathered scrap of crocheted lace, then centering it with an ivory flower and a gold heart button.  I really liked the effect of layering this embossed vellum over some music dp, so there was my theme, and I just had to add this gorgeous gold-edged ivory ribbon and the computer generated sentiment from the movie "August Rush", on a die-cut label.  Here's a closer look at my flower:

With a change of sentiment, this would make a nice wedding card, don't you think?

Text Color Trends Challenge

Embellish Magazine has an interesting challenge this time, to incorporate text into our creation and use the colors in the color board below, greys, black and white.  Hero Arts is sponsoring this challenge!

Recently the Graphics Fairy shared a digital silhouettte and that led me to searching Karen's site for more.  I found this sweet one, sized it down and printed it, then overstamped this stamped text image from Hero Arts, and then added some framed dp panels and my sentiment to finish my card.

supplies: white, black, grey cardstock, dps from Basic Grey "Ambrosia" paper pad from Donna, digital silhouette image, Hero Arts G2991 Friends Background, CL377 Be Happy, Versafine onyx back ink, black dotted grosgrain ribbon from Fika, Hero Arts white art flower, Maya Road gingham flower from Clare

Lily Pad Inspirational Challenge for May

This week we're being inspired by anything we've seen on Lily Pad Cards: posts, entries for challenges, links, and so on.  I was inspired by Deborah's post here where she encourages us to use pre-made pieces, like chipboard or stickers, when we need a quick card.  Here is Deborah's card:

She used a chipboard dog.  Here is mine, using a K&Company Grand Adhesions bird sticker:

supplies: kraft cardstock, dps from My Mind's Eye Mabel paper pad, TPC Studio stamp from Vintage Birdcages cling set, Memories Artprint Brown, ink, K&Company Susan Winget Botanical Robin Grand Adhesion stickers, aqua pearls

It was a nice change of pace to use Deborah's card recipe and one of these lovely stickers - the card went together in minutes, and I like the way it turned out!  I hope this encourages YOU to use some of those impulse buys that we all make and then never use!  Please visit this week's Lily Pad Cards challenge, and you'll have a chance to win a gift certificate for $25.00 from Simon Says Stamp!  Just choose something that's inspired you anywhere on Lily Pad Cards, and create something.

Farewell to Sarah

This week at the Play Date Cafe, they are saying goodbye to Sarah Anderson, one of the founders of that challenge.  Since Sarah's favorite challenges were color splashes, our challenge this week is to make something black and white with a splash of green.  The color splashes have been a surprise favorite of mine, too, so here is my simple entry, wishing Sarah lots of happiness in her new endeavor, as she spreads her wings.

supplies: black and Core'dinations lime card stock, doily, Hero Arts CL267 Card Messages, versafine black onyx ink, 3 Martha Stewart butterfly punches, printed paper from an old book, green flower gem, green gingham ribbon

Sarah will most definitely be missed!

Hero Arts flickr ATC swap

Over at the flickr discussion area, our Hero Arts group recently had an ATC swap, organized by former Hostess Heather Maria. I was paired with Marcy, and we decided to make 2 ATCs each.  I just received her sweet ATCs:

 She and I share a love of gardening, and her accompanying card and a special goody reflected that. Thanks, Marcy!  I love them!

Here are the ATCs I sent to Marcy:

The clear one on the left is a CASE of one I have from Jennifer McGuire, and the one on the right is a take on a card I recently made.

Tuesday Trigger - the Pyrex Effect

I had to play when I saw this fun Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab World!

Pyrex bowls!!  We had various Pyrex but in the blue and white Cornflower pattern. The birds on these bowls look remarkably like this Hero Arts stamp and I found another which mimics the flower between them, too.  So this went together very quickly:

supplies: white cardstock, BoBunny orange and red dot dps, Hero Arts LP140 Just a Note Bird, CL131 Buds and Stems, CL498 Live Life, barn door distress ink

CASE Study #40

I haven't been able to play at CASE Study lately, but I'm sneaking this one in at the last minute, because I loved the example.  I'm also entering this card into THE Ribbon Reel "Shabby Strawberries and Cream challenge.

supplies: pink and parchment cardstock, Paper Studio music paper, K&Company Floral Embossed Vellum as an overlay, Hobby Lobby lace, pink embroidered ribbon, silk flower, ribbon flower from Mary Anne, Martha Stewart paper rose, Hero Arts CL181 SparkleClear Messages, versafine onyx black ink, punched tag, Kaiser pink pearls


I overlaid a music dp with a piece of embossed vellum.  My flower is layered using part of a silk flower as the base, then a ribbon flower that my friend Mary Anne gave me this weekend (they come sewed onto a strip of netting, which you then trim out).  The final layer is a Martha Stewart paper rose.  I've had this pretty embroidered ribbon forever; have no idea where it came from.  I added a few pink pearls along the embossed flourish.

CR84FN challenge

Such pretty colors this week at CR84FN!  My mind identified the flowers on that beautiful cake as pansies or violets and off I went!  Here is my card using these colors:

supplies: kraft cardstock, digital image of an old postcard, overstamped with Flourishes Violets,  watercolored with Prismacolor pencils, then overstamped with Hero Arts S5507 Envelope Pattern in antique linen distress ink, also distressing the edges, scrap of lace also touched with antique linen ink, plastic raffia for bow, Hero Arts lavender spring button, sentiment from Papertrey Ink "Embellishments", stamped in versafine onyx black ink on lavender cardstock, Martha Stewart pansy border punch on Bazzill lavendar dotted swiss cardstock


Please visit the CR84FN blog to see the amazing cards by the design team: Mona, Suzanne, Deborah, Heather, Stephanie, Sue, Andrea, and Lisa .

Bring the Bling

The fun challenge this week at CAS-ual Fridays is called "Bring the Bling". I started looking through my stamps for something to bling up and stopped dead at this one.  I've never inked it up before, but it seemed perfect for the challenge this week:

supplies: white cardstock, Hero Arts CL303  High Heels, AR137 Script Messages, versafine onyx black ink and clear embossing powder, a la mode turquoise glitter, Sakura Quickie Glue glue pen, clear rhinestones

I simply stamped and clear embossed both the shoe and the sentiment, then went in with my glue pen and filled in the shoe, promptly dusting it with turquoise glitter.  After it was dry I added the clear rhinestones.  I love how it turned out; I'd buy these, only I'd probably break an ankle wearing them now  :))

Lily Pad sketch challenge

Lucy has given us another fun sketch this week at Lily Pad Cards:

We got to choose a set of Lawn Fawn stamps, and I chose the one called Bannerific.  I have loved it from the minute I saw it - I love that the banners and birds are simple designs, easy to cut out when I need just a little somethin' to hold my sentiment. 

Here is what I came up with for the challenge:

I wanted to use papers as much as possible rather that other stamps, so I started with this pastel background paper to give a garden effect, added a die-cut trellis over it (thanks Yvonne!), and then made a little climbing rose to go up towards the banner.  Our gardens make me smile, so that's my sentiment.

supplies: white, green, pink, yellow and blue cardstock, background dp from K&Company Watercolor Bouquet Mat Pad, Cheery Lynn die-cut trellis: "lattice 2", Die-namics rolled rose die-cuts, Lawn Fawn "Bannerific", Hero Arts CL272 All Occasion Messages, CG108 Special Moments (rose leaves), versafine onyx black ink


Don't forget to hop on over to Lily Pad Cards to see what the rest of the Design Team made this week!  Wait 'til you see - they are real stunners!

Papercrafts Color Inspiration challenge

Papercrafts is having a color challenge here.  We are to use the colors black, white, pink and tangelo. Here is my entry:

supplies: white and black cardstock, digital image (see below) and papers , Hero Arts S4878 Old Letter Writing, CL491 Made With Love, versafine onyx black ink

I used a digital flower from a Hero Arts set called Poetic Petals, along with 2 Hero Arts stamps for the background and the sentiment.  

Just for fun - stripes and polka dots

I love the Girls' Paperie design papers.....sigh. So I decided to make a card that showcased the papers mainly.  All I did was add some die-cut felt roses and some pretty crochet lace.  I love the way the felt roses turned out - they went together like butter!

supplies: ivory cardbase, Girls' Paperie dps from the "Vintage Whimsey" and "Jubilee" collections, a strip of light blue cs, white crochet lace from Carole, leaves from some old fabric flower stems, Die-namics rolled rose dies, pink and blue felt scraps, Hero Arts CL490 Sending Smiles Messages, versafine onyx black ink

As I was reading my dashboard this morning, I came across Suzanne's post, where she mentioned a new (to me) challenge blog called City Crafter.  They are certainly NOT new - this is their 57th week!  The challenge there this week is "Stripes and Polka Dots" - what a coincidence!  So I'm entering this card into the challenge there.  Here is the lovely inspiration picture:

Monochromatic Blues

Here's a card that I'm entering into several challenges this week:

supplies: 2 shades of blue and an ivory cardstock, Cuttlebug "Victoria" embossing folder, Hero Arts CG291 Three Dotted Flowers, F5042 Leaf Flourish, Verve VS-0144 Bloom & Grow, versamark ink and white embossing powder, Adirondack Stonewashed ink, Nesties Labels Four, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, pearls

Joan's Gardens is a new challenge for me, and I loved making this according to her specifications, to use an embossed background, and to incorporate flowers, flourishes and butterflies, all things that work nicely together.  

The Shabby Tea Room's current challenge is to go monochromatic: only one color with a neutral.

At Mark's Finest Papers, we are to use monochromatic blues.

And finally, I'm also entering this into Hero Arts Fabulous Flowers challenge, running all month long.  This is my current favorite flower, and the leaf flourish is an old favorite - I like them paired up!  

Red, yellow and neutral

Look at this fun graphic that Mona put together for us this week at CR84FN, and I love her quote this week, too!

I was drawn to that red gingham and the canning jars first and also the daisies.  Here is what I came up with this week:

supplies:  kraft cardstock, October Afternoon Modern Homemaker "cherry pie" dp, various yellow/gold dps from Cosmo Cricket, My Mind's Eye, and October Afternoon, Papertrey Ink Friendship Jar, Friendship Jar Spring Fillers, Vintage Picnic Sentiments, Hero Arts CL304 A Million Thanks (daisy), versafine onyx black ink, vellum, paper doily, red gingham ribbon, Hobby Lobby lace, twine, red ribbon, punched tag from Judy, tiny red button

I recently got the PTI Friendship Jar set and the accompanying Spring Fillers.  My flowers are actually the tulip bunch from that set, covered over with these Hero Arts daisies, stamped on lots of yellow or gold patterned papers.  I added a layer of vellum over the stems to give the effect of an opaque canning jar, a bit of red gingham ribbon and some lace around the top of the jar, and the doily seemed a good backdrop.

Don't forget to visit the CR84FN Design Team's blogs: Mona, Suzanne, Deborah, Heather, Stephanie, Sue, Andrea, and Lisa.  I can't wait to see what they did with these fun colors!

Play Date Cafe Challenge #81

If you are here for my Lily Pad Cards post, please click HERE.

Here are our colors for this week's Play Date Cafe Challenge:

I'm calling these eggplant, olive green and grey.  I was a little unsure about them, but I really like them together!  Here is my entry, using my new Verve stamps that I just won, a set called "Bloom and Grow"!

I found both a little bit of this pale grey cardstock and some of the eggplant in my stash.  One of the reasons I loved this new stamp set so much was the leaf sprigs; they are a nice size (actually there are 4 different sizes) and there are a variety of flowers to go with them.  See the set HERE.  I used distress inks for my stamping.

supplies:  white cardbase, covered with grey dp from Basic Grey's "Ambrosia" paper pad, the Paper Company "Plum Tree" cardstock, embossed with the cuttlebug "Victoria" folder, Core'dinations "Asparagus" cardstock as frame for unknown pale grey panel, stamped with peeled paint distress ink, Verve "Bloom and Grow" stamp set, flowers stamped on unknown pale lavendar/grey cardstock in dusty concord distress ink, and sentiment in versafine onyx black ink

Flourishes Sketch Challenge

I was just about to do this post yesterday when Blogger went down - "did I do that?" (said in my Urkel voice)  Anyway, let's try this again!  If you are here to see my Lily Pad Cards post, please go HERE.

At the Flourishes blog, they are about to reveal FOUR new sets this month, and to get a chance to win all of them, they encouraged us to use this sketch to make something:

Here's my take on it:

supplies: white and aqua cardstock, Amuse tiny gingham, Flourishes "Spring Has Sprung" and "Strips and Stripes" sets, versacraft cerulean blue and versafine onyx black inks, watercolor pencils and Tombo blending marker, Martha Stewart double loop border punch, nesties circles and labels one dies, pearls

The Craft's Meow at Lily Pad Cards

Welcome to another challenge at Lily Pad Cards!  We were given this wonderful set of stamps from The Cat's Meow, called Simply Delightful, designed by Nina B, to work with:

I chose the solid flower and leaf to work with, and decided to make some little gift cards.  They are all 2.75" by 4.25", or an A2 notecard cut in half.  Each one started off stamped in a different chalk ink color and grass chalk ink for the leaves, then I ran them through a Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder.  Then each one was framed in a coordinating color to the flower, and embellished a different way:

Adding various embellishments and varying the layout and sentiments gives each card a slightly different look.

supplies: white cardstock, Hero Arts Grass Layering Paper, The Craft's Meow "Simply Delightful" stamps, Hero Hues chalk inks Grass, Poppy, Punch, Iris, Cerulean, Versafine onyx black ink for sentiments, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, various ribbons, gems, buttons for embellishments


Thanks for coming by and please visit the Lily Pad Cards blog to see what the other design team members made this week.  Then enter our challenge - the only requirement is to use some kind of embossing, your choice of supplies.

3 in a row

I'm reposting this, as Blogger seems to have lost it during its shut-down.....if the original one posts, I'll delete one of them, I guess.  This card was made for the Flourishes challenge that ends this afternoon at 4ish central time.  We were to choose a row or a column from this: 

I chose the second column, pink, flower, lace, and used the Flourishes Lenten Rose set:

supplies: white cardstock, Girls Paperie "Jubilee" dp, Flourishes Lenten Rose set, versafine onyx black ink, colored pencils, green pearls, punched lace border

Words to your Mother

The Flourishes Release Week Challenge is "Words to Your Mother", using a sentiment directed to your Mom as your focal point.  I spent Mother's Day with my parents and my sister Nancy, who also made a card for our Mom and her sentiment was this computer-generated one, which I absolutely ADORE.   It describes exactly how I feel about our Mom.   Sorry, Nan, but I'm lifting this one!

supplies: pink and white cardstock, My Mind's Eye Lost & Found "Madison Avenue 'Sisters" Lace Paper, BoBunny  Tutu Dot dp, computer-generated sentiment, Hero Arts CL130 Frames and Messages (little swirls  above and below sentiment), pale pink pearl heart, My Favorite Things Rolled Rose dies ( used all 3 sizes), Nesties Labels Four, dusty pink organza ribbon, lace

Embedded Embossing, take 2

Still playing with the technique from my previous post.  I love gingham, and blue and yellow together!  The gingham flowers are punched, then glued to the white cardstock before running the panel through an embossing folder.  I'm entering this into Hero Art "Fabulous Flowers" challenge for this month.

supplies: white, green, and blue cardstock, Making Memories Blue Gingham, BoBunny Buttercup Dot dps, Hero Arts CL374 Big and Small Flowers, CL342  Everyday Sayings, versafine onyx black ink, vellum, blue button, medium flower punch, Sizzix   embossing folder "Flourishes, Floral"