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!

Terrific Tuesday: Rock Princess

This week's Terrific Tuesday challenge over at Scrappy Moms Stamps is to create a project using the Rock Princess cartridge. If you've been following me, you know that Rock Princess is my current favorite cartridge. Woohoo! I had so much fun creating this card. I purchased this awesome glitter paper from AC Moore quite some time ago. It's a 12x12 sheet and it's a lightweight chipboard. It's so awesome and I think it looks great paired with the zebra print, which is from a Paper Studio stack called Safari that I purchased at Hobby Lobby. Yay! I gave her a rhinestone belt and some glossy red shoes and she's ready to have a fabulous day!

That adorable face on my birthday girl is Peachy Keen's Wide Eyed Kids and that sentiment stamp is from Emma's Wow! So Many Candles set.  The frame around the sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Fillable Frames. I love being able to stamp around the frame.

Happy Bee Day/Peachy Challenge #1

The first challenge of the year over at Peachy Keen is to create a project with a pocket. The design team made so many inspiring projects. I needed a birthday card for a close friend and I've been having trouble coming up with something special, but the juices sure were flowing after visiting the Peachy blog!
 

My bee was cut from Create a Critter and her face was stamped using one of my favorite Peachy sets, Happy Lashes.  Tonight I was reminiscing about when I was not able to use Peachy faces because I had no way to "hide contour" on my Cricut projects. I had the Gypsy, but it took a while before Provo Craft added that feature. It was such a sad time back then. LOL.  Those faces really add such character and life to each cut. Ok, back to my project.

The card base was cut from Lacey Labels. I used my Gypsy to weld the image together. The sentiment stamp on the outside is a Pink By Design set called Honey Pie. It's full of cute "bee" sentiments. I also added some glossy accents to her flower antennae and her wings. I just love this cute little bee!

On the inside, that little tag is from Emma's Build a Banner kit and so is that hounds tooth background. Isn't it adorable?! The sentiment on the inside is from Emma's Polka Dot Surprise set. Another gem. All Emma's stamps are amazing.

Be My Sweetie

 

I enjoy playing with non traditional colors for holidays and I came up with this yellow and kraft color combo for Valentine's Day. I think it's cute and Valentine-y in it's own way. I used Emma's stamp set called 100% Sweetness for the the all of the stamps. I used the stitched heart die included in this set for the twin hearts and that small die for the sentiment is from Emma's Build a Banner kit.  I thought I purchased a thicker sheer black ribbon, but it was this one instead. I'm not thrilled with it, but it's all I had. I'll pick some up at Joann's tomorrow. The background is embossed with a Cuttlebug folder whose name escapes me right now. I added some rhinestones in the center of some of the flowers to add some sparkle and I colored the center of each flower with a white gel pen.

A few more quick cards

I am on a roll creating quick cards. I just love how simple these are. I have one sheet left of my white cardstock. Thank goodness my Papertrey order just shipped. Yikes!

The first card's image is a Whipper Snapper stamp called "Little Girl with Dotted Present". She's just so adorable, isn't she?  The sentiment is from Emma's set called Wow, So Many Candles.

The second image and sentiment are both from Papertrey Ink's Green Thumb set.

The final image is from the Sweethearts cartridge and that adorable face is Peachy Keen's Cute & Cuddly samp set. The inside is a PTI Fillable frames set and the sentiment is from Emma's So Grateful for You set.

It's a dog's life

Emma's Friday Tip of the Day over at My Creative Time last week was showing how elegant simple cards can be. I just fell in love with the simple design and couldn't wait to make one of my own. My stamp is a Penny Black cutie called "I'm so cute" and isn't he?! I love this puppy!  The sentiment is from a Pink By Design set called Furry Friends. I colored him with Copics and added a simple black line around the whole card. I love how elegant and clean it looks!

I left the inside simple too, with some stamps from the same PBD set. Thanks for looking. And thanks for inspiration, Emma!

Terrific Tuesday Challenge

 

Scrappy Mom's Terrific Tuesday challenge this month is to create a project using a cartoon character. I'm using the Hello Kitty Greetings cartridge and she's all dressed up in her adorable rain gear.  That background paper is from a 6x6 My Mind's Eye pad called Quite Contrary. It is such a whimsical stack. That perfect sentiment is from Emma's set called Turn That Frown Upside Down. I added some twine and glossy accents to complete this card. I just love Hello Kitty. 

 

 

My Craft Spot Monday Challenge #40: It's Delicious

Kimberly's challenge over at My Craft Spot this week is to make something delicious out of paper! Well, I was in need of a Thank You card and I don't know of anything sweeter than a juicy, sweet strawberry! My mouth is watering just thinking of a big old bowl of them. The yummy fruits are from the Hello Kitty Greetings cartridge and the sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Green Thumb set. The paper is a My Mind's Eye 6x6 stack called Quite Contrary. I added some twine because I was finally in a twine-kind-of-mood. Sometimes I add twine and I don't feel it enhances my project, but I see other projects with it and love it. I'm very pleased with this simple, sweet card.

Be Mine/Peachy Linky Party

Peachy Keen is making a change to their challenges and to kick off the new year, they are having a Linky Party. Only requirement was to use Peachy Stamps. Piece of  cake, since just about all my projects already include them. I was in the mood for something other than a card, so I used the slider cut on the Sweethearts cartridge.  I wound up with something that I'm calling a card anyway, but with a twist. LOL. I  had so much fun creating this card. It took a lot of time,  but I was able to use my Peachy Keen faces Critter Assortment, so it was worth it. The Sweethearts cart and the Critter Faces are gifts I received for Christmas.

Other than the Peachy face, all the stamping was done using Emma's 100% Sweetness stamp set. I am in love with that stamp set! I embossed the small hearts to make the background for the outside part of the slider. That beautiful cupid is embossed with black ink and so is the "Be Mine" sentiment.  The heart is a die that is part of the 100% Sweetness stamp set. I colored over the embossed stitching and love how it turned out.

That cute little bear is from Doodlecharms and like I said, his face is the Critter Faces. I just love this set, and that face in particular. I have seen it used so many times and couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Don't you just want to sqeeze him?! That patterned paper is printed from my Imagine using the Bubblegum Stripes cartridge.

Throwback Thursday Challenge

Emma's challenge over at My Creative Time this month is to use a sports cartridge or make a sports theme cartridge if you don't own a sports cart. I do not own a sports cartridge and was quite stumped with this challenge. I don't think I've ever made a sports card before. Well, I'm in love with my new Rock Princess cartridge, so I decided to do a little creative "editing" of one of the cuts and create this baseball chick. She originally had a guitar across her body that could not be "hidden" in the Gypsy because it was attached to half her body (argh!), so I had to do some snipping. It was challenging, but hey, this is a challenge. LOL. Anyway, her mitt and cap are from Everyday Paper Dolls and the baseballs are from a $1 sticker set from Walmart. I also got a Crop-a-Dial for Christmas, so I decided to add color with eyelets, as the card needed something else.

Her adorable face is from Peachy Keen's Wide Eyed Kids face assortment. That adorable sentiment is from Emma's Turn That Frown Upside Down. I added some glossy accents and twine. I didn't want to make her too "girly".

Be My Valentine

While Christmas is my favorite holiday, I'm ready for non-Christmas crafts! I really need to start my Christmas cards much earlier. Every year, I'm always short several and I have to rush making a bunch. Shame on me. Anyway, I'm getting a head start on my Valentine's cards. I don't send out nearly as many as Christmas, so I have a shot at being ahead of the game!

A few weeks ago, I won 100% Sweetness from My Creative Time from Rosy at Sweet Delights Paper & More. Thanks again, Rosy! I planned on purchasing this adorable set so I was thrilled when I won it. It is so versatile and I love every sentiment on there. Plus, it comes with an aodrable stitched heart die and there are so many sentiments that fit perfectly within the heart.

Another new acquisition for me was Sweethearts cartridge. I've wanted this cartridge for a long time, mosty for the puppy cut, but always found a cartridge I wanted more. I finally got it for Christmas. Yay! The adorable face on this pup is Peachy Keen's Happy Go Lucky Dog Faces. They are so cute!!

I also got a GC to Michael's and went there this weekend. I bought some Valentine's things, including the Martha Stewart heart lace edge punch and Martha Stewart's mat paper pad, Enchanted Woodland. I love her mat stacks!

Thanks for looking!

Card Organizer

So, I've been wanting to make an organizer for my cards for quite sometime. I finally decided to do it tonight. I searched high and low for an easy tutorial, but I couldn't really find anything I liked. I decided to create this on my own, a sort of compilation of a bunch of tutorials I browsed. I used 8.5" x 11" inch paper. I don't really own any 12x12 cardstock paper.


I wanted to have a pocket for each month to hold cards for birthdays that month. But, that's not how it turned out. It became way too thick with 12 pockets, so I cut it down to 6. I'm not sure how I'll use it, but I'm sure I'll figure something out.

I cut each base at 6" x 11", then scored it on the long way at 3" and 3.5" to create some depth for the pocket. The patterned paper is Safari Stack from The Paper Studio. I just love this stack.

I used a brad to close one side of the pocket and the other side is closed by the O-wire. I used my Bind-it-All. I love the concept, but it's pretty complicated, at least more than I want it to be to create a quick project, so I wind up rarely using it. But, it does come in handy for things like this.



The image on the front is a Penny Black stamp. Isn't he adorable?

Well, I no longer have an excuse to miss a birthday. One of my many resolutions for the new year.

Speaking of...Happy New Year!

Here's how the book looks closed. It's kind of fat, but I figure the top part will plump up once it's filled with cards.


Here's another inside page. They're all the same, basically.




For the last page, I used an accordian fold to create a deep pocket. I figured this can hold envelopes, stamps, return address labels, or just a bunch of extra cards.


Thanks for looking!