Many Thanks

 

Today's card was created for the latest Just Us Girls card challenge. I heat embossed a sentiment from Hero Arts Grateful Pumpkin die and stamp bundle onto my kraft cardstock panel using Ranger gold detail embossing powder. I then layered the panel onto my A2 white card base. Using plain white cardstock, I stamped and heat embossed the pumpkins and leaves from the same stamp and die bundle. Using my Ranger distress inks, I colored them all using a blending brush, die cut them out using their coordinating dies, and layered them onto my card panel. I finished them off with some gold sequins from The Ton. Thank you for visiting my blog today!

Hello Spring Chicken

 

Today's card was created for the latest AAA Birthday card challenge. I created this card by stamping the adorable chicken from Art Impressions Spring Chicken Stamp set onto white Copic-friendly cardstock using Memento tuxedo black ink. I colored the image using my alcohol markers and cut the image out using a stacking Spellbinders circle die. I stamped the sentiment from the same stamp set and cut that into a banner. I rounded the edges by using a smaller circle die and just cut the bottom portion of the banner. I layered pretty patterned papers from Simple Stories Summer Lovin' 6x8 paper pad onto some light blue cardstock from my stash. I adhered the sentiment banner and the focal panel directly to the card base and finished the card off with some faux black dashed lines. 

Happy Birthday-Coffee And Cards With Celeste And Deb

 

This month Deb and I decided our inspiration would be something I think every card maker or scrapbooker can relate to; left over scraps of paper! We all have some small (or large) stash of left over papers that are not quite sure what do with, right? I was watching YouTube this past weekend and saw a video by Cardz TV with Mary. I was inspired by her fun card technique using scrap patterned papers to create a fun quilt-like card. I save all of my 6x6 patterned paper pads in quart-sized plastic bags. I broke out my Bo Bunny Early Bird paper pad, selected 4 of the patterned papers and created this fun card using Mary's technique. The quilted effect was created using a beautiful embossing folder from Cuttlebug in the textile pattern. The sentiment is from Verve Stamps Poppy Birthday stamp set, the sentiment was created using Stampin' Up punches, and the blue cardstock is from Hobby Lobby. I popped the focal quilt pattern and the sentiment up off of the card using thin foam tape. I finished the card off with some beautiful sparkling onyx black gems from Simon Says Stamp.  I love this fun technique and can see myself creating entire sets of these to give as gifts. 

My coffee this month is a dark French roast with some vanilla bean creamer served in a mug from my regular tableware collection. Now, be sure to stop by Deb's blog and see how she was inspired this month!

Be Thankful-Send A Smile 4 Kids

 

This month at Send A Smile 4 Kids we are celebrating all things Halloween/Fall. Several years ago, I picked up a cute paper pack from Design, Inc that I picked up in the dollar bin at Target. Not only did it have fabulous fall themed papers but a super cute stencil with leaves, acorns, pumpkins, a turkey, and a pumpkin pie. I opted to use both today. I cut the patterned paper down to 4x5.25 inches and matted it onto some darker craft cardstock I had in my stash. I stenciled the pumpkin, acorn, and two leaves in fall-colored inks. I added white gel pen details to them all, and fussy cut the images out. I adhered them together and mounted foam tape on the back of the image. The image also came from the dollar bin at Target and was inked in warm cocoa ink from Gina K Designs. I cut the sentiment down into a strip, mounted it on more of the dark craft cardstock, and adhered it to the card. My finishing touch was adding a fishtail banner made from the same cardstock using a banner die from Unity Stamp Company. Now, be sure to head over to the Send A Smile 4 Kids blog and see how the other design team members were inspired this month. We would also love it if you played along!

Come Sail Away With Me-Coffee And Cards With Celeste And Deb

 

Hello, and happy August! This month Debra and I thought a travel themed card would be a fun challenge. This one was particularly fun for me because it involved absolutely no stamping or die cutting at all. I used paper from Simple Stories Vintage Seas 6x8 paper pad and ephemera from the same collection. I just pieced it all together on my white A2 card base. And I finished it off with some gorgeous aqua gems from Simon Says Stamp. Voila, instant card!

Nathan and I love to eat at a local Asian infusion restaurant in my hometown, and my favorite beverage there is the iced Thai tea with cream and lime. It's still hot here in Southeast Missouri, so this really hit the spot this weekend. Now, be sure to pop over to Deb's blog and see how she was inspired this month. I also plan to enter this card in the latest Color Throwdown card challenge. 

Happy Birthday Princess-Send A Smile 4 Kids

 This month at Send A Smile 4 Kids, we are celebrating all things birthday! I have a good friend who has 3 kiddos, and between her kiddos and my grandkids, I feel like I'm always making kid birthday cards. This one is for my buddy's youngest little girl. To make this card I layered red cardstock onto my white A2 card base. I then matted a piece of green patterned grid paper from the American Crafts Neapolitan 12x12 paper pad onto plain white cardstock. I then matted a piece of floral paper from the same paper pad onto more red cardstock. I layered them together. I then stamped the adorable little girl from My Favorite Things Pure Innocence Birthday Princess stamp set onto alcohol marker-friendly cardstock. I colored in the skin, hair, and cake. I stamped the crown and dress onto patterned paper from the paper pad, fussy cut them out, colored them with alcohol markers for depth and dimension, and paper pieced them onto the focal image. I fussy cut her out and mounted her with foam tape for dimension. I adhered her to the left of the card on a strip of red cardstock that I white heat embossed the sentiment from the same stamp set. I finished the card off with some red sequins and white gel pen detail. Now, be sure to head over the Send A Smile 4 Kids blog to see how the rest of the design team was inspired by this month's challenge. We would also love it if you played along! 

Relax And Enjoy Your Day-Coffee And Cards With Celeste And Deb

 

Hello! We are well into July now, and man is it hot! Debra and I decided to go with a summer theme this month for our coffee and cards collaboration. I wanted my card to look very similar to our inspiration photo. I started with some crumb cardstock and added sandy texture to it by stamping the dotted detail from the Stampendous Sunny Flowers stamp set onto the paper using Sahara Sand ink from Stampin' UP. Then I took a piece of textured white cardstock from my stash and inked it up with Tim Holtz Salvaged Patina distress ink. I then tore the edges and created 4 panels. I adhered them to my panel at an angle to look similar to the inspiration photo. I stamped the seashells, and flip flops from Honey Bee's Flippin' Fabulous stamp set, colored them with alcohol markers, die cut them, and adhered them to my beachy scene using liquid glue. I stamped the sentiment from the same set, die cut it, and popped it up using foam tape. I added stardust Stickles to the foam on the waves, the shells, and my flipflops. I added some clear rhinestones from Recollections to the flip flops for a finishing touch. 

For my coffee this month, I opted for a lovely iced, Vietnamese latte that I got when my boyfriend and I visited La Patisserie Choquette in St. Louis this week. It's my favorite French-style bakery, and their coffees are as amazing as their pastries! Now, be sure to head over to Deb's blog and see how she was inspired by our summer theme this month! I have also decided to enter this card in the AAA card challenge. 

Hi

 

Hello, happy Sunday! I hope everyone had a safe and fun 4th of July weekend. I absolutely had to join the latest card challenge at Just Us Girls this week, because my lovely friend Lisa Elton of Paper Tales mailed me a card this week with this amazing die. It was like a sign from the Universe. LOL. The Hi die from The Stamp Market is huge and takes up a large portion of an A2 sized card, so I decided to keep it simple and let the sentiment be the star. And since it creates both a positive and negative when you die cut it, I created two cards with one swipe! Using patterned paper from Fancy Pants Meology Painterly 12x12 collection, I created both focal panels by die cutting them with a stitched rectangle die from Paper Rose. I die cut the Hi using plain white cardstock and more patterned paper from the same Fancy Pants collection. On the chartreuse card, I used the white outline and filled in the letters with the patterned paper. On the blue card, I did the opposite. I embellished both with more patterned paper from the same collection by using a flower puch from Stampin' UP and finished them off with large clear rhinestones from Recollections! Thank you, Lisa, for the lovely gift, and thank you to all who have popped by my blog today! Be sure to tell me which card you liked best.  

You Look Better Without Him

 

Today's card was created for the latest Paper Players card challenge. No one likes to think about a long-term relationship ending, but we all know it happens. I have a friend whose daughter just ended her marriage, and she asked me to create a card for her. I used Kelly Purkey's F Bomb stamp set and heat embossed it onto some pink cardstock using Ranger's white detail embossing powder. Using various punches from Stampin' UP and dies from Spellbinders, I created lots of circles, hearts, and flowers using beautiful, patterned paper from Echo Park's Hello Valentine 6x6 paper pad. I created a panel by die cutting a rectangle using a Paper Rose stitched rectangle die, embossed it using a Spellbinders plaid embossing folder, and adhered the whole panel down onto my white A2 card base using thin foam tape for a little added dimension. I adhered the circles I created onto the focal panel using Bearly Art liquid glue. I embellished the card using some Recollections clear rhinestones in various sizes. I love how this card turned out! Thank you for visiting my blog today. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your weekend. 

Sweet Holiday Wishes-Send A Smile 4 Kids

 

This month at Send A Smile 4 Kids we are celebrating Christmas in July. I created this fun card using Sunny Studio's Christmas Cookies mini stamp set and some white heat embossing. I stamped the images onto some sand cardstock from Hobby Lobby using Versamark ink and Ranger's detail white embossing powder. I used my Copic markers to color the images in shades of brown and pink. I cut the panel down using a Pink & Main nesting rectangle die. I layered it onto a scalloped edge stitched panel by Gina Marie Designs that I cut down using plain white cardstock. I adhered both panels to my card base created out of more sand cardstock. I stamped the sentiment from the same stamp set onto a small strip I had colored with my pink Copic marker, cut it down into strips, and popped it up off of the card using foam tape. This card was so simple to create and really packs a punch! Be sure to stop by the Send A Smile 4 Kids blog and check out this month's challenge!