Tomorrow is a New Day!

I was thrilled when I saw Mona's newest CR84FN color challenge palette! I love pinks and purples and kraft is the perfect neutral, so I just had to play along! Here is the beautiful graphic for the challenge...


I used so many wonderful stamps to create this card, but the focal point is this gorgeous Heart Flower Set from The Cutting Cafe'. I colored it with Copics and blended, blended, blended! The leaf is from the same set and is also colored with Copics. I stamped my kraft background with a Heartfelt Creations Elegant Word background in light pink and added some Papertrey Ink Embellishment stamps on the corners in purple. The scalloped edge is cut with a Sizzix die and a pretty piece of lace tops it off perfectly! A large gem creates the flower center. The sentiment is from a Papertrey Ink stamp set too!

Challenges:
CR84FN12 - see graphic above!
Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #31 - sketch!
Wild Orchid #15 - Sentiment

Thankful For...Friends

What are you thankful for? That's the question we're answering for our theme at The Shabby Tea Room this week. We have a fabulous sponsor with great prize from Stamp Simply Ribbon Store! I hope you will join us and create something you are thankful for this week!

Of course I am thankful for my family, but today I am focussing on being thankful for FRIENDS! I have so many different types of friends as I'm sure you do too...and I am very thankful for all of them. Whether it be close friends, stampy friends, bloggy friends, neighbors, work friends, school parent friends...you name it...I am blessed to be surrounded by people who are caring, funny, generous and thoughtful!

Today, I used my newest stamp set from JustRite called Friendship Nested Sentiments and Verse along with the border from the Give Thanks Nested Frames set. I stamped them with ColorBox Dark Brown and colored the leaves with fall-colored Copics and filled in the dots with a navy blue Copic. My leaves are from Heartfelt Creations and they are also colored with Copics and cut out.

The backgound paper is stamped with JustRite's Applique 2" square set creating my own designer paper on this great pearly copper cardstock. I added some festive gold ribbon and a matching button tied with embroidery floss. I used the sketch from Waltzing Mouse this week!

Be sure to stop by the other Shabby Girls' blogs to see what they have created for you!

Debbie Marcinkiewicz - {TSTR Creator} - Simple Treasures

Cathy Clark-Santie - Papier Girl
Lisa Golzbein - Oh So Cute By Lisa
Nicole Segnere - My Craft Room Creations
Clare Buswell - Clare's Creations

Challenges:
JustRite Friday Challenge 044 - Color: Navy, Gold and Rust
Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge #23 - sketch

Crafty Creations #93 - Buttons

Our Creative Corner - Color: rust, blue, gold, brown

Thanks for stopping by!

Hello Cupcake!

Edit: This card won at Moxie Fab World's Perfectly Placed Pleats challenge!

Hi again! Just popping in to post this one before it's too late!

I love birthdays and cupcakes and this card has both! It doesn't have to say Happy Birthday on the outside to be a birthday card...but this little cutie has it on the inside!

I'm getting down to scraps of this pretty MME Abbey Road collection of dp's...so sad it's going away. I'm sure I'll get hooked on a new collection soon. I was going to go out shopping today, but it's cold and rainy and I just don't feel like it. That's just more 'me' time in the craft room! (the green plaid dp is from DCWV)

The layout here is for the Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge and I also made this work for the Moxie Fab World Perfectly Place Pleats challenge too! The stamps are Waltzing Mouse Roses in Bloom. I had this idea to make them into cupcakes one night while I was trying to fall asleep. I'm so glad I remembered it! I used my Scor-Buddy to make my pleats on my kraft paper and I had to paper-piece the rosebud leaves. The sentiment is a $1 stamp from M's and it had a cupcake in between the words which I didn't want on my tag, so I lined it up the best I could and tada'! The ends of the sentiment tag are cut with a Fiskars punch. I love how the cupcakes look like they are popping off the card! That's all for now!

Challenges:
Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge #18 - sketch
Moxie Fab World - Perfectly Placed Pleats
Crazy4Challenges #58 - Birthday

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget about my Follow Me blog candy...you can find it HERE...until October 17th!

Grandma's Birthday Card...

Hi there - before I head out into the terrential downpours we are having here, I just wanted to share this card with you! I had to wait to post it since I spent the evening in the ER with my dd again...sprained ankle this time (woohoo) and yes, I am cheering because it isn't broken. She has broken both her ankles in the last two years. So a few days on shiny new crutches and she'll be fine!

This card is for my MIL whose birthday is two days before mine. We are going out to dinner that night and this is for my kids to give her. I used the Waltzing Mouse sketch and if you look closely, you will see that I stamped over the flowers in the dp with the rose from the WM Roses in Bloom set. I also used the "Grandma" sentiment from that set. I wish you could see how shimmery this card really is...Glimmer Mist in pearl all over card and the edges of the sentiment die cut and the butterfly are both covered in Diamond Stickles!

Challenges:
Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge #16 - sketch
Flutterby Wednesday #124 - sparkle and shine (and wings)
Crazy 4 Challenges #56 - bling
Wild Orchid #6 - Ribbons and bows
The Creative Cottage #24 - bling

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget about my Follow Me blog candy...you can find it HERE...until October 17th!

OH BABY! - Taylored Expressions Blast From the Past Blog Hop!

Good Morning - Are you ready for some fun?! Well, all you have to do hop on over to Taylored Expressions cause they're having a Blast From the Past Blog Hop! If you didn't start at the beginning that's okay, but you can catch up - the list of hoppers is at the bottom of this post!

Since several people I know are having babies, I decided I would make a baby girl card using Taylored Expressions Hangin' Out stamp set. It's full of adorable baby items and sentiments that are perfect for a new baby card!

I did quite a bit of cutting out teensy little pieces here...including all the clothes pins, the onesie, bib, bear, diaper and the clothesline poles! I even paper-pieced the teddy bear's little belly! The grass is cut out using a MFT die and the dp is from a K & Co. Gypsy Baby paper pad. Kraft is so popular now and I think it goes great with this pink and brown combo. I opted to use the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #15 sketch since it better suited my image(s) and it's also perfect for the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #85 - Celebrations!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to stay tuned for my Celebration Blog Candy and Follow Me Contest coming tomorrow!

My Friend...

What a beautiful day today! I hope your day is going well...I just got home from work and wanted to share this beauty with you! I made this for my friend (obviously!) for her birthday!


I found this great 4x6 paper pad in a discount store somewhere and all the papers are neutral colors and are irridescent (see inset picture), embossed or textured in some way! I wanted to use the colors of the Curtain Call Color Challenge and I didn't really have the right "concord crush" so I took my sapphire blue ribbon and a couple different RV shades of copics and made it the right color!

For The Shabby Tea Room this week, the theme is old meets new...well, my new are these great Waltzing Mouse stamp sets which I just inked up for the first time. They match my old item which is the Spellbinders Nesties Labels 10. I tried something new too! I accidentally smudged my ink on the edge of the flowers and I really liked it...it softened the hard lines and made it sort of watercolor-like! So, then I grabbed a white pencil eraser and wet it ever so slightly every once in a while and smudged the rest of the lines... I'm curious to know what you think about this look!

I added a yummy silk bow, a couple of pearls and I thought it would be interesting to stamp my sentiment right onto the leaf! I'm really happy with how this turned out. I hope you like it too!

Challenges:
The Shabby Tea Room #25 - Old Meets New
Curtain Call Color Challenge - Act 45
Waltzing Mouse #12 - Sketch
The Pink Elephant #82 - Mostly White

My Crafty Recipe:
Stamps: Waltzing Mouse Roses in Bloom and Vintage Labels 10
Inks: Memento - Rich Cocoa, Pear Tart; ColorBox Blue Iris, Cerulean, Lime Pastel
Paper: Bazzill cardstock, Canson irridescent paper
Spellbinders: Labels 10
Other: Silk ribbon, Recollections pearls, Distressed Stickles Peeled Paint

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Peace...

Hi there - just a quick post today before I go to work to share some "peace" with you for the Moxie Fab World Signs of Peace Challenge. This was a lot of fun and I think my daughter has her eye on it for her room! I used the sketch from Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge #10 too!

My Crafty Recipe:
Stamp: Hampton Art Peace
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and rose bud
Paper: DCWV cardstock
Other: Little Yellow Bicycle Clear Cuts - Free Spirit collection, Prima flowers and leaves, Target $1 spot ribbon, button from stash

Thanks for stopping by!

Cherish...

One more...

Okay, so I love the JustRite Friday Challenge and this week is a photo inspiration. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had this piece of paper hanging around in my stash and I knew I had to dig it out! (a photographic memory is both a blessing and a curse!) So, I added a little bit of somethin' somethin' with my JustRite Plant a Little Love set and stamped it right on the print paper with Memento Rose Bud and hightlighted the flower centers with a little Stickles Fruit Punch and watercolored the leaves and stems in green. I let the printed paper show through on the stamped image as the flower pattern.

After I gathered up my flowers, I colored them the correct color I needed with my copic marker in RV34. I love that I can do that...same for the pearls on the sentiment too which is from JustRite Big Occasions borders and centers set. I made the largest rose with the Fancy Pants papers using Zoe Pearn's paper flower tutorial...you can find it here!

Here is the awesome sketch at Waltzing Mouse. I started adding all these yummy roses and flowers and I am so happy with how it turned out. I added a blinged heart for the City Crafter Challenge and I also blinged up a few flowers and added a Maya Road leaf trinket pin for a little pop!








Challenges:
JustRite Friday Challenge 030 - Photo inspiration
City Crafter Challenge #17 - heart
Waltzing Mouse Sketch #9

My Crafty Recipe:
Stamps: JustRite Plant a Little Love and Big Occasions borders and centers
Inks: Memento Rose Bud, ColorBox rouge and blue lagoon
Paper: Fancy Pants - Fancy Free - Mulberry Road
Copics: RV34, R35, G82
Other: Recollections roses and bling, Prima flowers, Maya Rd. leaf trinket pin, Fruit Punch Stickles, McGill flower punch, Making Memories stamens,

Thanks for stopping by!

hello friend...

Good morning - before I leave for my weekend at the beach, I wanted to share with you a challenge that really is a challenge!!! At Flourishes, they are making it difficult with a limited supply challenge. This means no embellishments! What? Yes, no embellishments! Here are the deets from the post...

"This week Dee Jackson is our host. Dee is challenging us to a limited supplies challenge. The limit? NO Embellishments. What does this mean? It means that we let the image we use speak for itself. We CAN use ink, stamps, paper, punches, die cuts, and coloring tools. We cannot add rhinestones, prima flowers, buttons, pearls, ribbons, brads, etc. We would love to see what you create with this limited supplies challenge."

If you are up for the challenge, go check it out. My card features an image from Phindy's Place. It's the Emma in Spring Dress digi. I used flower punches and a MS butterfly punch to get the little bits I needed for this Waltzing Mouse sketch and jazzed them up with a sparkly pen!

Challenges:
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #78 - limited supplies!
Waltzing Mouse #8 - sketch
Flutter By Wednesday #116 - butterfly with favorite color - pink!

My Crafty Recipe:
Stamps: Phindy's Place Emma in Spring Dress, Hampton Art sentiments
Inks: StazOn jet black, studio g purple for edges
Paper: BG Kioshi
Copics: E000, E00, E11, E13, R20, RV11, RV34, V12, V95
Other: Martha Stewart butterfly and flower punch, Marvy mini flowers punch, gelly roll sparkle pen

I really hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by!

Merry Christmas in July...

It's time for Christmas in July! I really challenged myself on this one because I combined the Christmas in July challenges with a color challenge of Red, Black and White!

Challenges include:
Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge #5 - awesome sketch!
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #74 - Christmas in July
Fussy & Fancy Friday Challenge 14 - Christmas in July
Crazy 4 Challenges #45 - Red, Black and White
Little Red Wagon #36 - Nestabilities
Paper Sundaes Challenge #26 - Lots of Layers

I started with a cool Inkadinkado Christmas postmark stamped in Memento tuxedo black and matted it with Art Warehosue Red Star and black cardstock cute from Spellbinders Labels One. The Autumn Leaves Rhonna Ferrera dp was perfect for this...then I broke out the Diamond Stickles and oh my! I made my own glitter paper and then highlighted the cut edge of the stamp, the bells and the 15 cents with it. I added a layer of red organdy ribbon topped with black velvet and a few Queen & Co. red pearls and I finally decided it was done!

I hope you like it!

I love you...

This card got an Honorable Mention Cup of Tea at The Shabby Tea Room!



It's late, but I had to work again today...I just wanted to share this little girly, oh so shabby card with you. It's for a number of challenges which I will list below. I just love these yummy colors of pink, vanilla and chocolate, don't you! I used Basic Grey Porcelain papers...the flower, bumble bee, pink chain link border and brown lace border are paper stickers from the collection's elements page top the ivory lace...they don't look like paper! I used light pink, french vanilla and brown Bazzill papers and a striped paper also from BG give it that cozy cottage feel. I used my new (to me) pink bubblegum shabby seam binding which I purchased from Debbie at her Etsy Shop...it's so yummy...you can find it here! I love how it looks with all the other textures!

I just had to add a little bling...so I filled in the flower center with Recollections pearls and topped off the ribbon with a pin through some of the inspiration colored buttons. The sentiment is from Verve's One Person stamp set...I used Memento Rich Cocoa as well as to ink up all the edges of the papers. Another paper flower in the center gives it the finishing touch!

Challenges:
Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge #3 - Sketch
Just Us Girls#38 - Colors - light pink, chocolate, vanilla
Crazy 4 Challenges#42 - Paper Flowers
KL Stampin n Scrappin #35 - Let's Get Shabby
The Shabby Tea Room #15 - Cottage Comfort - stripes
Meljen's Challenge #12 - Fiber, Ribbon, Lace
Pile It On #24 - Stickers

I hope you like it...goodnight friends!

looks like summer...

Hi there...finally home from work and dinner is done...it was just me and my daughter tonight...which means more time in the craft room for me...yay! I have a summery card to share with you. It's for several challenges. The Shabby Tea Room Week #14 is called "Summer Fun" and they want you to share what you like to do to have fun in the sun. The Waltzing Mouse is having their second sketch challenge (see above) and the Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #63 is using some of my favorite colors! Check out that yummy looking icing! and let me apologize for the poor lighting in my pic...inside picture and if I brighten it too much, it washes the color out!

So, can you guess what I like to do in summer...sit on the beach! My card started with the WRMK Tiffany's papers...there are so many different styles in that paper pad. The colors of the icing are picked up in the paper and that was my color palette for the Lockhart Stamps beach chair...I colored the frame of the chair a gray at first, but it just didn't "pop" so I went over it with black and it picked up all the black in the paper. I love this little stamp! I colored it with copics of course. The flowers are cut from Martha Stewart's Chrysanthemum punch and sprayed with pearl Glimmer Mist. The Making Memories brads are sparkly too! The flowers are Prima and all the edged are inked with pink studio g ink.

Thanks for stopping by...I'll be back with another one real soon!

I hope you know...

Good morning! I have another card for you today. I made it for two challenges...the inaugural Waltzing Mouse Stamps Sketch Challenge and Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge #70.
Flourishes has challenged us to use black, white and only one other color! I chose my favorite color...turquoise!

I layered up a DCWV cardstock card and some Bazzill black as a base, adorned it with white cut from one of my favorite Spellbinders dies...Fleur de Lis pendants. On top of that is a piece of dark turquoise cardstock which has been cut using the Martha Steward Layered Arches corner punch...I used it on the side too. Another layer of white cut from EK Success scalloped circle edged in ColorBox Prussian Blue and stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black with a Hampton Art butterfly and a beautiful Verve sentiment from the One Person stamp set. A little Basic Grey bling and organdy ribbon complete the elegant feel of this card.

I have to go shopping now, but I'll be back later with something else.

Thanks for stopping by! Come back again soon.