Just Playin'

3 much needed haircuts - check!
3 yearly physicals for camp, sports and school - check!
2 eye appointments - check!
taxes done! - check!



It's been a busy week so far, but found some "me" playtime last night. I bought this die from SU! and have never been able to figure out what to do with it. It's not as big as I thought it would be and I haven't figured out if I can "connect" the pieces to make it bigger. Anyone done this before? So when I saw this card while blurfing, I thought I would just try to use it as the focal point of the card.

Off to accomplish some more stuff this week! Have a good one :0)

Butter and Time Flies

Hey there! It's been a crazy week already. Still trying to get this school/activity routine worked out. This year is starting out a little more chaotic with my "baby" starting kindergarten, my middle guy starting 5th grade and my "tweenager" starting Junior High!! That means two different shools, two different buses, and 3 x everything else! Thank God for school lunches, velcro or slip on shoes, and travel coffee mugs !!

But enough about that. Here's a quick card I made at a workshop last Friday. The whole night was centered around demonstrating the fabulous Bigshot and all the wonderful accessories. I think it's pretty self

explanatory. For the PP background, I just cut it out with the top note die and then just trimmed around the dotted line to give the layered look. I sponged around the edges to soften the cut pp.

It's a really quick and cute card to make. The size is around 4 X4. I like it!

Thanks for stopping by! Hope the rest of your week is easy peasy!

Recipe:

Stamps: SU! Kind and Caring Thoughts

Ink: Cool Carribean, Staz On Black

Paper: SU! Manhattan. SU! Whisper White, Bazzil

Accessoreis: SU! Top Note, Butterfly, Little Labels dies, unidentified bling

Krafty Christmas

This is a card I made for a SU! Workshop make and take last night. I don't know why I put the kraft snowflake on top and the white behind. Some of the customers made it the reverse way and I think I liked that better. Not an original idea, I saw the layout in a card magazine, but don't remember the details.
I love this bigz snowflake die from SU! very fun to work with and it's big! I punched both the whisper white snowflake and the chipboard kraft at the sametime with NO problem. I used some chunky Martha Stewart snowflake glitter and a random bling for the center.

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who left comments and tips on organizing my craftspace. The dining room table is now clean and my downstairs is starting to see some organization - stay tuned! :0)

We're off to see Jimmy Buffet with some friends tonight, the cheeseburgers and margaritas are calling!! Have a great Saturday!

Recipe:
All supplies SU!

Embrace Life

Hello everyone. School is back in session!! Early and busy morning to get the boys up and out the door. It's usually one of the only days of the school year that they are acutally excited to get up and go to school :0)

This is a quick post for a quick card I did for a shoebox night with my SU! wonderful Web girls.
I used the new SU! In Colors and one of the few un-retired sets I have (looks like someone needs to do some shopping :0)

Simple and Easy Peasy. Thanks for stopping by and looking. Have a great day - make it a fesh new start!

Recipe:
All supplies SU!

Christmas in July in August!

I've been a little behind in some swaps lately so last night I was determined to get my Christmas in July done - in August hee hee!

OUT FOR PUBLICATION

I had bought these glittery felt snowflakes at Michaels eons ago with plans to use them on a school craft project (maybe for teachers x-mas grifts - can't remember). Anywhoo they are just peel and stick and super easy to work with. I paired that with a die cut birdie from SU and a branch from Quick Kutz. The Silvery sentiment is a sticker too! No stamping and easy peasy!!

Thanks for looking, have a simple easy peasy day today!.

Shoebox Fun!

It's been FOREVER since I last saw my SU! stamping friends and upline! I was so excited to be able to get together with them last night and stamp. This is the card I created for the shoebox swap. For anyone who doesn't know what that is, the idea is for each person to bring all of the supplies for each person present to make the one card you designed. The rules are that all supplies must be current SU! products and the card must be easy enough to make in 5-10 minutes. We all then sit around a table and pass each "shoebox" around until we've all made one of each! Talking, laughing, and sharing are a must . . . yummy deserts are an added bonus :0)

This card used the Sizzlets little leaves die and the new Level 2 Hostes set, "Kind and Caring Thoughts". I scored vertical lines down the chocolate chip cardstock for visual interest. The white panel is raised up on dimensionals.

I had so much fun last night and realized how much I miss getting together with my friends. Hopefully I'll be able to schedule in some more shoebox swaps this year :0)

Thanks for stopping by and have day filled with friends and fellowship!

Recipe:
Stamps: SU! Kind and Caring Thoughts
InK: SU! Chocolate Chip
Paper: SU! Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Old Olive
Accessories: SU! Scallop Punch, Buttons latte, Sizzlets leaf die, hemp twine, paper piercing mat

KWerner Challenge #52

When I saw KWerners color challenge yesterday, I wasn't too sure how I was going to put all of those colors together. But when I saw this adorable embelishment fro Paperbilities already in So Saffron with a More Mustard mane, I knew right away I was going to make a baby card and the Baja Breeze fit right in!!

I have been loving the Baja Breeze paper a lot this past week, so have many of the challenges out there! You can scroll through the last few posts to see other ways I've used it. I think this is probably one of the quickest cards I have ever made. I bet you I was done in 5-10 minutes tops! Gotta love it - now that's a record for me :0) Thanks for stopping by!!

Recipe:

Stamps: SU!

Ink: SU! White

Paper: SU!

Accessories: Paperbilities sticker, Michaels ribbon, Paper piercer

Vellum/Acetate Monthly Card Challenge

This months card challenge with my friends at work was to create a card using acetate or vellum. I decided to use a technique I saw first posted by Linda Bullard on SCS where she embossed on vellum to give a 3-D effect.

I first stamped the turtle from SU! Nature Prints on cardstock weight vellum with Brown Staz -on ink. Then I flipped the image over onto a foam mouse pad and embossed the turtle with a stylus tool. I went around the whole shell and then just emobossed the little spots. It is hard to see the effect in the photos, but it turned out really cool. Great texture and feels really neat! I colored the turtle itself on the front side of the vellum with SU! markers and the background (blue and brown) was colored on the backside of the vellum. Coloring on the backside gives a softer muted color. However, the turtle wasn't green enough for me when I tried coloring him on the backside. The brown paper is actually mulberry. I was trying to give a more natural feel to the card. The inside of the card is stamped with a sentiment that read "Take time to enjoy the simple things in life". I don't usually make masculine cards, but I think this fits that category. Thanks for stopping by!!

Recipe:

Stamps: SU! Nature Prints, Northwoods Stamp Co.

Ink: Staz On Brown, Su! Markers

Paper: The Paper Company, SU!, Watercolor paper from WM

Accessoreis: Brads, Ribbon - SU!

KWerner Challenge #51

Here is my submission for KWerners color challenge. It's been awhile, so it felt good to be able to play. The cupcake is a 4 part die cut from SU! After everything was punched out in the coordinating colors, I crimped the bottom half and embossed the top half of the cupcake to give it some dimension. Don't you think it looks like swirly frosting :0) ?? The sentiment is a rubon from SU! as well. I used a Sakura stardust glitter gel pen to color in the flames and sprinkles to give it some sparkle. Finally, the faux stitching is a sewing tracing wheel. It has a longer handle and is much easier to direct and use than the Cutter Bees.

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe:

No stamps, No ink!!!

Paper: All SU!

Accessories: Cupcake die, RubOns- SU!, Cuttlebug embossing folder, crimper, ribbon- Walmart, sewing tracing wheel, Sakura stardust glitter pen

April Monthly Swap

This card was created for the April monthly swap with my girlfriends at work. This months theme was to create a card using the SU! Pocket Silhouette stamp set. I tried to keep it simple because I had 15 of them to make!! I didn't have the ticket punch so I just used a small circle punch to shape the corners - worked like a charm :0).

It's hard to tell but I used both a bashful blue SU! marker and a Sakura stardust pen to go over the stems of the flower and give it some sparkle. I left the sentiment pretty generic so that the person giving the card could stamp a specific sentiment on the inside. It would make a very lovely Mother's Day, Birthday, or Thinking of You card. Thanks for looking!!

Notice that cute little banner flag/tag?! I picked up a package of 60 of these from the Martha Stewart craft section at Walmart. 60 tags in 3 assorted colors for only $1.97. I thought this was lots easier than trying to cut my little angles just perfect (which I can never do). This is going to be a Moms Day card for me. Have a GREAT Day! TFL (thanks for looking).

Recipe:
Stamp: SU! Pocket Silhouettes, Sentiment - Joanns $1 bin
Ink: Staz On black, SU! marker
Paper: SU!
Accessories: Martha Stewart banner tags, Sakura Stardust pen, Scalloped circle punch, circle punch

Caardvarks Sketch Challenge

Here is my submission for the Caardvarks sketch challenge. I tried to keep it simple, which is hard for me to do. My mind kept saying "Add some scallops, paper piercing, distress the edges, ink the edges". I settled for a few brads and called it quits. I was frustrated that the black border was so much larger than the borders around the rest of the card. This is what happens when you don't have the small size dies. Sometimes the 1/4 inch border is too large a gap. But the more I look at it the more I like it. It definitely draws your attention to the butterfly :0)

Recipe:

Stamps: SU!

Paper: SU!

Accessories: Brads-SU!, Ribbon - Michaels

Kwerner Challenge #46

My submission for this weeks color inspiration challenge. The colors reminded me of Mary Englebreits whimsical creations. She always likes to use black and other bold bright colors. I used that idea to come up with this design of bright flowers and a cute little blue bird. I wanted each flower to be a little bit different in both color and make-up.

All of the images were punched out of the specified colors (and patterend paper) with the SU! Sizzlet dies and a circle punch. I had a BUNCH of leftover pieces so I tried to do something with the inside as well. I always spend so much time working on the outside, that I forget to do anything with the inside. I think this card turned out really cute. TFL!!

Recipe:

All supplies SU!

Green with Envy

My friend, Katie, made the cutest card using rub-ons for her Kwerner challenge last week. I was in awe at how simple and beautiful it turned out that I had to try the SU! rub-ons that I've had in my stash for FOREVER and never used. This week I'm trying to go with the "green" theme in honor of St. Paddy's day. I love that the SU! rub-ons come in different colors! The flower is made up of stickers from an old Accents and Elements kit on top of a chiboard flower. Even the flowered green stripe is a sticker. Cute card with absolutely NO stamping!

Recipe:
All supplies SU!

Find Joy in the Little Things

I am a procrastinator, I fully admit it. But I think I work best under pressure :0) My PCG's (paper challenge girls) have been putting on the pressure for me to finish up my cards from paper challenge #2. Just let me explain the rules: We get one 12 x 12 sheet of DP provided by someone else in the group. We are then required to make at least one card (did you read that? at least ONE) for each person participating. Well, I had originally started out with 3 ideas, but ended up delivering only 1 completed card for each person. So in my mind, I fulfilled the challenge rules. HOWEVER, my PCG's seem to think that since I started out with 3 designs, that I still need to produce two more! So with all that pressure and constant hounding, girls . . .here are your other two cards. Mission Accomplished. You can check out card #1 of the paper challenge here. I used a new Martha Stewart border punch at the bottom - like it A LOT.

Recipe:
Stamps: SU!
Paper: DSP- Anna Griffin, SU!, Cardstock - SU!
Accessories: Paper Studio, Michaels Ribbon
Tools: Cuttlebug w/ Sizzlets die, Paper piercing, Martha Stewart Border Punch

Birthday Boy

My friends son is celebrating his 1st birthday this week. I think 1st birthdays are really special and remind me of the saying "You've come a long way baby!". Here is a card I made for his special day. . . good-bye baby, hello toddler!

For this card I used a REALLY old SU! Simply Scrappin Kit. The thing I love about the kits is that everything coordinates, usually with a stamp set and they don't limit themselves to scrapbook pages only. The tag, frog and star strip are all actually cardstock weight stickers that I just peeled off and placed on the card! How easy is that?! I stamped the sentiment on the tag and that was it! You can check out the invites she made for his birthday party here.

Recipe:
Stamp: G Studio
All other supplies SU!

Butterfly Bling

The colors for this weeks KWerner color challenge remind me of V-day and chocolates, so I tried to stay away from that. I just received a bag of heavenly goodness from an SU! workshop so I had to play with my new "Toys" - specifically the mat pack, a paper piercing tool, and the Classy Brass template that coordinates with the Priceless stamp set. So here's my take on this week's challenge -

It's hard to tell, but I stamped the butterflies on Whisper White cardstock with Pretty in Pink and Close to Cocoa inks and then dry embossed them with the Classy Brass template. I also used the guide holes on the template to paper pierce the antennae of the butterflies. I stamped the swirlys in chocolate chip ink on Close to Cocoa cardstock and then used a white gel pen to highlight the dots on the swirls. Finally, I added some bling to my butterflies, the card, and even one little teeny tiny one on the sentiment.

Recipe:

All supplies except gemstones (Paper Studio) are Stampin' Up!

Ladybug Revisited . . .

O.K. so this is not a new card idea (see first iteration here), but I wanted to use it for a SU! workshop so I changed things around to make it work - SU! style. I used the Yummy SAB set (love it!), the Bella Rose DSP, the new In color - Kiwi Kiss cardstock at the bottom, a variety of SU! punches and voila! Easy Peasy, demonstratable WOW! card.This tag was a result of scraps of paper leftover from paper challenge #3 and my recent acquisition of a Cuttlebug and assorted dies and embossing folders!!! I purchased the Spellbinders scalloped circles so HAD to try them out along with a To:/From: embossing folder. The only component of the paper from the challenge is the smallest patterned circle that I punched out from my remaining scraps.

Stampin' Up Party

When I'm pressed for time and inspiration it's very reassuring to know that there is a plethora of resources to turn to . . .Here are a couple of cards that I demo'd for a SU! party on Friday night with a bunch of friends - all were inspired or CASE'd (Copy And Steal Everything).

1st card: A small 3X3 card that fits into SU! mini square envies. The card uses the new "Owl Together Now" stamp set. This card was cased off of Split Coast Stampers. It was a make and take card from the SU! Bermuda Cruise.

Recipe:
Stamps: Owl Together Now
Paper: Good Morning Sunshine DSP
Accessories: Mini Square Envies, 5/8" Grosgrain ribbon, Stampin Dimensionals
Techniques: Prisma Colors and Mineral Spirits

2nd Card: A valentine card inspired by the card on page 133 of the SU! catalog. This card uses the in color Baja Breeze and the new mulitple heart punch. I didn't have any matching DSP paper so I just used a retired background stamp and Versamark ink to create the stripes. The stamp is a non- SU one I had. Oooh bad girl - retired AND non SU! stamps on one card!

Recipe:
Stamps: SU! retired background and unknown sentiment
Paper: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, Riding Hood Red, Good Morning Sunshine DSP
Ink: Versamark, Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Scallop edge punch, Heart to heart punch, Stampin Dimensionals

3rd Card: For this last card I tried to incorporate the new "Cheep Talk" stamp set with the new In Colors and the new Button Latte designer buttons. This little bird is just too cute and looks so much better when he is popped up on the card. I love all of the coordinating items SU! is offering including the Good Friend stamp set, Good Morning Sunshine DSP, and the So Tweet chipboard accents. I actually came up with these all by myself :0)

Recipe:
Stamps: Cheep Talk
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, Pacific Point cardstock
Inks/Markers: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango

Accessories: Button Latte, Pumpkin Pie 1/2" Grosgrain ribbon, Stampin Dimensionals, Hemp Twine

Sole-Mate

Another retired SU! goody. Some sets are just too good to get rid of!! A perfect anniversary card. I loved the copper cording SU! used to sell and I was sad when it went away. Luckily I stalked up when I could! I think I have a pretty good supply of this copper DS paper too. Well the jet-lag is over. Now I just have to uncover all my stamp "stuff" from underneath the pile of drywall and floor sanding dust that was generated while I was gone!!

Hoppy Birthday - Old School

All items used to make this card are retired Stampin' Up items. I loved this frog and the entire Pocket Fun set. This card was made for a boy birthday card swap. I think I was running behind, as usual, and never got the ribbons on the tags like I wanted. But I think I like it better this way. I think the ribbon would have covered up too much of that adorable frog!