Penny Black Saturday Challenge September: Buttons and Bows

This month's Penny Black challenge is to use buttons and bows. I have been on a major Penny Black kick and have purchased a bunch of images. I love each one more than the next and I've been having so much fun coloring with my Copics! I love, love, love elephants and this little guy is SO cute! I had so much fun coloring him. I inked around him with a sponge dauber with some SU! Pool Party ink just to make it pop a little. Thanks for looking!

MCT Designer Challenge - Recycle!

My Creative Time has a bunch of new themes and this week is Designer's Challenge. The challenge was to create a project with at least one recycled item. I chose these dryer sheets that were headed for the trash!

If you follow my blog, you know that my friend Brenda and I have a monthly swap. This month, Brenda made the rules for our swap. You can see Brenda's blog here. The challenge was to use any stamped image, color with our choice of medium, alter the image somehow or add something to it, then use it for a card. Combining these two challenges was perfect!  I just purchased this adorable Penny Black stamp and couldn't wait to color it with my Copics. I had so much fun doing so. Then I used the dryer sheet technique on the image. I love the soft look it give the image. In case you don't know what this technique is, you just take a used dryer sheet and adhere over a stamped/colored image. It's best to color the image with brighter colors so it still stands out under the dryer sheet. You can add glitter by just rubbing it over the dryer sheet because it will stick in between the fibers. Enjoy!

 

I'm editing just to add that I didn't come up with this technique. I've seen various videos on You Tube about it. :)

Terrific Tuesday Challenge: Back to School

It's been quite a while since I've entered Scrappy Moms Terrific Tuesday challenge, but I'm back! The theme this week is Back to School! I've been itching to use this pencil from Emma's All Around Everything Accessories set since I got it a few months ago. I stamped a few of these pencils on white cardstock, doodled around them, colored them with Copics, then sponged around them with a dauber in Stampin Up Pool Party. I like how the background isn't white anymore. I also had this ribbon from about a year ago that I never had the chance to use and thought this was a perfect time. That stamp is from Scrappy Mom's Quirky Quotes set. Thanks for looking! 

Penny Black Saturday Challenge: August

The challenge this month over at the PB Saturday Challenge Blog was Double the Trouble: use 2 different PB images on a project.  I've been trying to use my Copics more and I'm definitely getting better, but still have quite a long way to go. My most favorite image to color are the Hedgy's!  The two stamps I used for this set come from a transparent set called Wonderful Day. Isn't that happy little bee the cutest!? Thanks for looking!

Bottlecap Magnets

My sister's birthday's coming up and I wanted a simple homemade gift to give her. I bought a bunch of bottlecaps and magnets last year and never did much with them. I had intended to use some images, but I became interested in something else and never went back to them. I have about 100. LOL. This time, I decided to use sentiments instead of images and I love the way they came out! To give the sentiment a "pop", I embossed it with either white or black. I cut out the image with a 1" circle punch, which fits perfectly inside the bottlecap. I coated the whole thing with some Glossy Accents, glued a button magnet from WalMart on the back and voila! I added a little glitter to give them sparkle. I think they are adorable! The stamp set is from Pink by Design. My sister's a cat person, but this set has adorable dog sentiments that would fit perfectly too!

The Simple Joys in Life: A Swap

My friend Brenda and I decided to have a card swap once a month and to make it a little more fun, we're making each swap a challenge. This month's challenge was to use the Cricut cartridge Kate's ABCs, incorporate embossing and we had to use a stamp somewhere on the card. We thought it would be fun to put more than one or two restrictions/challenges and it was fun!
I love mushrooms and this cut on Kate's ABCs is one of my favorite mushroom cuts. The sentiment is from PTI's Green Thumb. I don't remember the name of this embossing folder. I think it's called Daisies. I sponged some Island Indigo ink from SU! over the top to give it some depth, which I think comes across better in the second pic.  I added some Stickles to the mushrooms and butterfly and this card was ready to be mailed! I can't wait to get Brenda's card. Yay!!

Throwback Thursday Challenge

This week's Throwback Thursday challenge over at My Creative Time is a color challenge. I can't seem to link the picture, but the colors are basically light teal, green and brown.

For my card, I used Emma's last release stamp/die set called Fun Pockets.  This set is the cutest ever! I love all the sentiments with it. The background paper is from My Mind's Eye Lime Twist Life of the Party. The sentiment is from the Fun Pockets set and it's stamped on Emma's Oval Stitched die, which I find myself using time and time again. I added some pebbles for sparkle and some colored hemp for color. The hemp is from Liz's Paper Loft. I am loving this hemp. I must buy more! I actually changed out the original face in this sun because I love this PKS face from the Snowmany Face Assortment.

I don't think you can tell from the picture :(, but the wavy background paper is green, the base card and pocket polka dots are the blue and the main layer is the brown. Thanks for looking!

My Scrapbook.com Winnings!

For the second year in a row, I celebrated National Scrapbooking Day (May 5th) on Scrapbook.com. The only difference between last year and this year is that I was a grand prize winner this year! The challenge was to make a Time Capsule mini album and 5 winners were chosen at random to win a $600 box o' scrappin' goodies!!  My box arrived today and I decided to show you everything in a series of videos. I have to apologize for the poor sound quality and, if you know me, it sounds like I'm not super excited. I assure you, I have been counting the minutes until this beautiful box arrived; I just had a very stressful day (week!) at work. I am so grateful for being chosen as a winner and for every thing inside this box. Thank you SO much scrapbook.com!!  TIP: the lower the volume playback, the better the quality.

Here are some pages of my mini album:

 

So, here is the HUGE box that UPS dropped off while I was at work! 

And here are 5 separate videos of me opening everything. I hope you get some of the same enjoyment I had while opening the box!! Again, I'm sorry for the sound quality.

You Are My Sunshine

Peachy Keen's challenge this week is a sketch challenge. You can see the sketch here. My project today was inspired by a prize I won at Peachy Keen's recent release party. Aren't these froggies the cutest?! The set is called Happy Lil' Froggies and they sure make me happy! The sentiment is from My Creative Time's Turn That Frown Upside Down set and it's stamped on Emma's oval stitched die. The sun was cut from Create-a-Critter. I'm also entering this into the Simply Crafts Challenge. This month's challenge was to use that adorable sun from CAC. This is my first time entering  Glora and Pam's Simply Crafts Challenge. I always want to and am so glad I finally did. They are both so inspirational.  For the dew drops, I colored a piece of white cardstock with the same color I colored the frogs in and punched them out with a hole punch and glued them to the colorless dew drops. I love those clear dew drops. It makes it so easy to match any color I want. Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Penny Black Saturday Challenge: 201

This week's theme over at the Penny Black Saturday Challenge blog is In The Garden.  I had so much fun creating this card. I wanted it to be a little different, so I created the image on the inside of the card and framed around it. I created the card using my Gypsy. I recently acquired some more Copics and I'm practicing using them. They are definitely addicting. I think I've reached a turning point in shading. It's not good yet, but it's not hideous. LOL. Those butterflies are Penny Black stamps. That cute little flower on the bottom left is from My Creative Time's All Around Everything Accessories set. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

Throwback Thursday Challenge: Frames

This week's Throwback Thursday challenge with My Creative Time was to create any project using a frame. I couldn't pass up another opportunity to use my new Penny Black stamp set. Isn't he adorable?! I colored him with Copics. I need to take a class. I did have a lot of fun with this challenge. For my circle frames, I used Mini Monograms.  I'm sorry I didn't use any MCT stamps :(.  I just had a vision with this cutie and had to go with it. LOL.

Organization Tip: Color Chart

I have been wanting to do this for sooo long and last night I finally did it! I used a 2 3/4 circle punch and punched out a circle of every single color cardstock I own.  Most of it is Stampin Up! but I have a handful of Papertrey Ink in there. I keep my paper organized in generic plastic paper holders, about 24-30 of them, but I don't have enough for each individual colors. Some slots have 2 or 3 colors in the same family and it makes it so difficult to know exactly what I have. The lighing in that area of my craft room isn't very good either, so when I'm trying to match a patterned paper, it becomes more of a chore than fun.  Well, all that is changed now! I'm SO proud of myself! It took me about 2 1/2 hours last night, but I'm all set. Now, as I get new colors in, it will take no time at all to keep this up. I used my computer to print out all the color names, then punched them out with SU! Word Window punch (one of my all-time favorite punches ever!). Anyway, I feel so organized now. I also wanted to do it so I'll have the color name on the actual cardstock because it is very hard to keep track if you buy assorted packs. Next, I want to do this with my SU! patterned paper. I want to write down what cardstock colors it coordinates with because I never remember. Luckily, I only have a few DSP packs. I highly recommend doing this if you haven't already. Although, knowing me, I bet everyone already does this and I'm just waaay behind. LOL.

Here are some more pics:

Happy Mother's Day: Terrific Tuesday Challenge

Mommy, if you're reading this blog post...stop. Your Mother's Day card is pictured below.  hee hee.

The challenge over at Scrappy Moms Stamps was to use the Forever Young cartridge.  I had so much fun making this card!  I used paper from My Mind's Eye: Ooh La La and Lime Twist: Life of the Party. These two stacks complement each other SO perfectly.  Here's the Lime Twist pad:

The circle sentiment is from Emma's newest release: All Around Everything and the stamped flower in the center is from the All Around Everything Accessories set. These sets are a must have!  The combinations are endless. Of course, that's Emma's Scallop and Stitched circle die.  Now, I LOVE all of Emma's stamps and dies, but I didn't purchase her latest flower dies. I'm not that into 3-D flowers. But, after seeing her projects and her fabulous Design Team's projects, I wanted a 3-D flower for this project and was sorry I didn't puchase the set. I'm an instant gratification kind of gal so decided to try layering some flowers from my Cricut to get a similar look. I chose a flower from the Forever Young cartridge. I had to do some snipping, but by and large, I love the way it came out. I made a pom-pom from twine for the center. The "mommy" on Emma's oval stitched die is from Pink By Design Our Mother's set. Isn't this card so beautiful?!

Penny Black Saturday Challenge 199

Wow, it's been such a long time since I've posted here. I was in a scrapping rut for quite a while, got out of it, and then was in a blog-posting rut. LOL. One rut I wasn't in was a purchasing rut. Oh boy have I made a lot of purchases. But, I'm hopefully finished for awhile. One of my purchases was Penny Black's Critter Party stamp set. I've been having so  much fun with this set. I have a few other hedges from Penny Black so this set was a great addition to my collection.

So, this card is for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge. The challenge is to create a Spring themed card.  The paper is from my most favorite paper stack ever. It's from My Mind's Eye and it's called Ooh La La for Her. I purchased this pad about 2 months ago and when I got it home, I was more in love with it than I realized. Two weeks ago I finally went to make a project with it and found myself not wanting to use any of the papers. I decided I needed to buy a couple more pads. Well, they are NO WHERE to be found. I searched every website and AC Moore didn't have it. I went to Michael's yesterday (50 minutes away) and they still had them in stock. I bought all 6.  Now I'm not afraid to use the paper. LOL. Here it is; isn't it adorable?! It just screams spring!

Isn't this the cutest stamp ever?! The sentiment is from an old Hero Arts Valentine set I had. The base of the card is Stampin' Up! Island Indigo. That adorable oval is Emma's oval stitched die from My Creative Time. That stitching makes this oval so unique. The matching strip is a piece of Island Indigo that I ran through my crimper. It was just the added touch this card needed. Thanks for looking!

Throwback Thursday

Emma's challenge over at My Creative Time this week is to create any project you want but it has to be Cricutless! Ack! That has proven to be very challenging for me in the past. I'd always think I accomplished a Cricut-free project, only to realize at the last minute that I, in fact, used my Cricut for a circle or other ancillary shape on the card. LOL.  Well, this time, I accomplished it! I didn't even turn the machine on.

For my card, I used Emma's scallop and stitched circle die set. Those adorable faces are Peachy Keen faces, of course: Wide Eyed Kids, Critter Faces and Wide Eyed and Bushy Tailed. The sentiment is Emma's set Just a Little Note to Say...  I find myself using that set more and more. That pretty paper is from a 6x6 My Mind's Eye pad I picked up at Michael's last weekend.  The twine is from The Twinery. 

Snail Mail

Hi everyone! Boy, it's been a while since I posted a project. I hadn't been in a crafty mood for the past 2 weeks, but I'm back! I made this card a couple of weeks ago as soon as this awesome stamp set from My Thoughts Exactly arrived. I bought Lovey Food Puns and I'm so glad I got it when I did because it's sold out now. It is the cutest set ever! I love how the sentiments can be mixed and matched for an endless variety of adorable phrases. You need this set, trust me!

For my card, I used a simple circle shape with a scallop layer. That adorable snail is from the Birthday Bash cartridge and that awesome paper is from a Fancy Pants 6x6 pad called Beach Babe.  The "sending you" sentiment is from Lovey Food Puns and the "Snail Mail" sentiment is from a PaperTrey Ink set whose name escapes me now. Sorry.

Have a great week!

Throwback Thursday Challenge

Emma's challenge this week is to use any cartridge but make a bug themed project.  While I'm not a fan of bugs, a Peachy face can make any bug lovable. For my project today, I used the ladybug cut from Create a Critter, which of course is my go-to cartridge for anything.  Her adorable face is Peachy Keen's Wide Eyed Kids face assortment. I just love that set. It's great for critters and people faces alike!

I was in the mood for a fun shaped card. This cut is from the Birthday Bash cartridge. I am loving this paper and it's from Fancy Pants, a combination of Beach Bum and Love. I picked them up over at Scrapbook Steals, my new most favorite website!! You have to check them out.  They have two awesome deals a day and they sell out fast. But they often have 6x6 paper pads for $2.99!  That twine is from Trendy Twine and it matched perfectly!!

Happy Birthday Gift Card Holder

I love these little bags. You can dress them up really quick or take a lot of time with them and wind up with a cute little gift card holder either way. They are perfect! I just trimmed off the top to even it off and punched a half circle to make it easy to pull the gift card out.

 

I used Peachy Keen's Duck and Egg die with one of the cutest duckie faces ever!! I'm in love with this adorable little duckie. The patterned paper is a DCWV stack called All About Girls. I used an oval punch and stamped Happy Birthday from a Papertrey Ink set called Birthday Basics. I finished it off with some twine, which I'm loving right now!  Thanks for looking and have a great week!

Throwback Thursday Challenge

This week's challenge at My Creative Time was to make a Valentine's Day card. This card was completely Cricut-less! I've tried to do that before for challenges in the past, but always realize in the end that I used the Cricut for something on the card. Well, it wasn't the challenge, but I did not use my Cricut. Whoo hoo for me! LOL

For my hearts, I punched each from a 6x6 My Mind's Eye "Lost and Found" stack. I folded them in half and stitched them down the middle. The background paper is also from that stack and the edges are punched with Martha Stewart's Doily Lace punch. The red layer is embossed with a polka dot folder.  The tag is from Emma's Build a Banner kit and the sentiment is from Emma's 100% Sweetness stamp set. I added some twine to the tag. The edges of everything are sponged with Crumb Cake from Stampin' Up!  I had a lot of fun with this card.

 

Thanks for looking!