Happy Valentine's Day

Today's card was created for the Sunday Stamps weekly challenge. I started with a white card base and layered on a 1" strip of Gina K Designs glossy patterned paper with a fun heart theme off to one side. I then cut a strip of black Stampin' UP cardstock to add to the edge of the patterned paper for some added contrast and then stamped the sentiment from Lawn Fawn's Happy Everything stamp set onto the top left corner. I then stamped the sock monkey from The Cat's Pajama's Show Me The Monkey stamp set onto some white Copic-friendly cardstock and colored them in using my alcohol markers in coordinating colors. I fussy cut them and edged them using my dual tip Memento marker in tuxedo black. I stamped the heart envelopes from the same stamp set three times so they connected, colored them, and fussy cut them out too. I popped the monkeys up using Stampin' UP's foam dimensionals and adhered them to the card. I finished the card by adding some crystal Stickles the hearts on each of the envelopes and some pretty red Nuvo drops around the monkeys. I hope you like it! I plan on donating this card to the Send A Smile 4 Kids Valentine's card drive. 

Sending Love

Today's card was created for both the Send A Smile 4 Kids card drive and the Cards From the Heart Card Drive. I made four of the same card and will send two of them to each card drive. To create my card I started by layering some Stampin' UP crumb cake cardstock onto a white cardbase. I then cut a white panel down to and die cut nine circles using a Spellbinders die. Then using some pretty patterned papers from the Crate Paper Paper Heart Collection and Chickaniddy Crafts Twirly Girly 6x6 paper pads I punched nine little hearts using a Stampin' UP punch. I popped the panel and the hearts up off of the main panel for some added dimension and interest using Stampin' UP foam dimensionals. To finish this fun and simple card I stamped the sentiment from the Lawn Fawn Grand Greetings stamp set directly onto the main panel using Versamark onyx black ink. I have linked both of the card drives if you are interested in donating any cards to a wonderful cause. Thank you for visiting my blog and don't forget to leave a comment. I really do appreciate each and every one of them! 

Joy To The World

This card was created for the latest Shopping Our Stash "Stickle Me Elmo" challange. The challenge is to use Stickles or any sort of glitter pen on our project. I created this card using some pretty patterned papers from Heidi Swapp's Noel 6x6 paper pad and a My Favorite Things Pure Innocence angel stamp. I stamped the angel onto some Copic-friendly cardstock and then paper pieced her gown, wings, the horn, and the bird onto the image after coloring and shading all of the pieces. I die cut the focal panel using a Spellbinders die and added some clouds that I'd paper punched using an EK Success punch. I stamped the sentiment onto one of the clouds using The Taylored Expressions Big Bold Christmas stamp set. I adhered the panel directly to the card and added some black stitched lines around the outer edges, some clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh, and some glittery detail to the headpiece, wings, horn, bird, and the sentiment using my Sakura gelly roll clear star pen for pretty shimmer. I tried to pick up how shimmery it is with my camera but had a tough time. I hope you can make it out. 

Mom

My second card today was created for the latest Mojo Monday sketch challenge over at the Verve Stamps blog. I recently picked up the Authentique Remembrance 6x6 paper pad on sale at my local Hobby Lobby and thought the beautiful papers in this pad would be perfect for this fun little sketch. I started with a white card base and layered on some Stampin' UP early espresso cardstock. I cut and layered the patterned papers onto my card to fit the sketch, and matted some of the elements with the same early espresso cardstock to help break up the patterns. I stamped the floral element and sentiment from Verve Stamps Because Of You stamp set onto some white cardstock using Gina K charcoal brown ink. I popped the focal panel up off of the card using Stampin' UP foam dimensionals. I finished the card by adding some stitched lines in dark brown ink around the outer edges. I hope you like it and if you do don't forget to leave a comment!

Coffee & Friends

Today's card was created for the latest Just Us Girls challenge. I have to admit, I never think to use my smaller stamps to create all over stamped backgrounds but I really had fun with this one! I picked up the awesome Altenew Coffee Love stamp set during a recent Blitsy sale and thought it would be the perfect set for this technique. I started with a white card base and layered on some Stampin' UP early espresso cardstock. I then stamped some of the images from the stamp set onto some white Copic-friendly cardstock using Memento tuxedo black ink and colored them in using my alcohol markers. To fill in some of the blank spots I stamped the coffee beans from the stamp set using Gina K. charcoal brown ink. I mounted that panel directly onto the card. Using the same brown cardstock as the base I prepped it with my EK Success powder tool and then stamped the sentiment using Versamark ink. I heat set it using some Recollections white embossing powder and my heat tool. I trimmed the sentiment down to a proportional size and mounted it onto my card using some 3M foam tape for some added dimension. I plan on sending this card out to my January partner for the Coffee Lover's Card Swap. I hope you like it!

It's Your Day

Hello, and happy Saturday! It's been a busy week for me with work and workouts. A co-worker has talked me into doing a half marathon with her this coming fall and I'm training for that.  I think I've lost my mind on that one (LOL) but as a result I've barely had time to sit down and get creative. And, when I finally did I ended up spilling an entire container of sequins (about 1,000 of them) all over the floor. So, after a short intermission for sequin clean up I am here to present this fun card I created for my boss for her upcoming birthday. It's no secret that I love all of my Unity Stamp Company's Angie Girl stamps but this one is a favorite of mine. I just love the feminine simplicity of it. I chose this Angie Girl because not only do I think this image suits my boss's style and personality but because, in a world where we see so much female insecurity, she is a fearless individual who is not afraid to be herself and dress to her own personal tastes and likes regardless of how people judge or read her! I just love that and wanted this card to pay homage to her fearless spirit. Anyway, I won't bore you with the details about how I created this card but will say that the patterned papers are from the Colorbok Watercolor Rainbow cardstock and Light Bright 6x6 paper pads, both gifts from my bestie for Christmas...thank you Alana! And the sentiment is from the My Favorite Things BD Chalkboard Greetings stamp set that I recently picked up on a destash from my crafty friend Tammy Hershberger. I just love crafty friends! Anyway, I hope you like this card as much as I do and don't forget to leave a comment. I honestly appreciate them all!

Merry Christmas

         

  

Today's card was created for the latest 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown. I love this fun sketch and had just picked up a new pad of Christmas papers from Blitsy.com and I thought I would give it a go! I started with a white card base and layered on some pretty patterned papers from the American Crafts Very Merry 6x6 paper pad using the sketch for the layout. I die cut a circle using a Gina Marie Designs cross stitch edge die and layered it at the bottom of the card. I die cut a snowflake (die manufacturer unknown)  using white cardstock and layered onto the circle panel using some Stampin' UP foam squares for some added loft and dimension. I cut out one of the tags from the paper pad and fussy cut the sentiment leaving a small border around the edges and adhered it directly onto the snowflake. I drew on some faux stitching along all of the outer edges to help define the patterned papers a bit more. A few clear rhinestones onto the sentiment, the snowflake, and the corners of the card add a nice finishing detail and some extra sparkle. I hope you like this fun and funky card and thank you for visiting my blog today!

Thank You

Hello, and happy new year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. Mine certainly came and went quickly and I can't believe we are standing on the doorstep of 2017. I know everyone gets crazy with new year resolutions but that has never really been my style. I just try to focus on living life to the best of my ability, but this year I do have one resolution I'd like to keep. I would like to find better photography and lighting options for my blog. I think I would feel more like blogging if my photos excited me more. They just seem so bland and boring. I am currently working on that as we speak, so be watching for more polished pics on my site soon! 

Anyway, I always send out thank you notes to friends and family for all of the wonderful treats and gifts I receive over the holidays. This year I wanted to mass produce something bold but simple that offered a lot of visual impact. I absolutely adore the Winter Cottage stamp from Altenew and love the beautiful starkness of the scene. But it's a tiny stamp and I struggled to find a way to add impact to the image, so I decided to add a big, bold sentiment to the card and just let them share the stage. I had to do some surgery to the stamps but I used the Big, Bold, & You stamp set from Winnie & Walter. I cut the "s" off of the "thanks" stamp and the tail off of the "you" stamp. I love the versatility that performing stamp surgery gives me when stamping and using my new Misti tool and Versafine pigment ink made the task go quickly. I thought about adding some glitter to the roof line and trees and embossing a few glittery, silver snowflakes but decided to leave the card clean and simple. Anyway, I hope you like it. Happy new year to all of my blog friends!

Merry Christmas

Today's card was created for the latest Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge. I love all of the Christmas cards I create but this one was one of my favorites from the batch I created this year. I love the papers and that adorable little snowman. This adorable little card was created using pretty patterned papers from Echo Park's Merry Christmas 12x12 paper pad and the glittery My Mind's Eye Oh Christmas Tree 12x12 paper pad, PaperTrey Ink's Winter Snow Globe stamp and die set, a pierced edge tag die from My Favorite Things, Amy R's Christmas Sentiment stamp set, some pretty chocolate chip baker's twine from Stampin' UP, and a random button that I had laying around the house. I love this card and had so much fun creating it. I hope you have a safe and happy new year! 

Christmas Brings Out The Kid In Us All

Today's card was created for the latest Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge. The challenge was to create a fun winter theme. I realized after I saw the inspiration photo that I'd not used my Recollections Polar Pals stamp set all year to create a single card and thought this challenge would be the perfect excuse to remedy that. I started by prepping a piece of white cardstock with my EK Success anti-static tool and stamped the snowflakes from the stamp set using Versamark clear ink and then heat embossed them using some Recollections embossing powder in snow white. I then inked the panel to create a sky using Tim Holtz Distress Ink in broken china. I die cut a snowy slope using a Paper Smooches edge die and some more white cardstock. I stamped the polar bear and the snowman onto Copic-friendly cardstock, colored them using my alcohol markers, and fussy cut them out leaving a white border around the outer edges. I stamped the sentiment from the same stamp set onto the snowy bank, adhered the snowman behind it using my Zig 2-way glue pen. Using my Copic BG10 marker I created a small lake onto the snowy bank and popped my polar bear up using Stampin' UP foam dimensionals. I love how adorable this card turned out and hope you like it too!