Mojo Monday 231 - You're My Sweetheart

I am having a case of Spring Fever! It is sunny and rainy, and I have a HUGE list of things I want to do. So much to do, so little time. And the weather is really not cooperating on my schedule either! So since it was rainy this weekend, I scratched working in the garden and riding my bike to craft. Here is one of the cards I crafted:

I made this card for the Mojo Monday 231 Challenge.  I was so excited for this one, as I just purchased a couple of new Cricut Cartridges and had the perfect one to make the half circle shape on the top!  And I think it turned out very lovely! I tried something I never have before on this one as well... I used blue, brown, and black as the colors... not a normal color combination for me, but it worked out nicely. What do you think?

Supplies used:

Kraft, black, and blue paper (Recollections); Ribbon (Offray); Adhesive gems (small - Recollections, large - Darice); Stamp & ink (Studio G); Die Cuts (Ornamental Iron 2 and Damask Decor Cricut Cartridges);

Flower Card

Often times I only get around to posting the challenges I submit to anymore... where has all the time in the day gone... oh yeah... to creating :)

When I am not elbow deep into one of my projects or submitting to a challenge, I love cruising around blogs or reading old craft magazines for inspiration to try something.  This last weekend I decided to try my hand at a card without a sentiment, with stamped images. This picture does no justice to how absolutely beautiful it is in person. Even my husband who normally doesn't oh and aw thought it was pretty spectacular!

The technique I tried on this card was stamping the image twice. Once on the craft which I colored with watercolor pencils for a soft look, and once again on white card stock which I colored with glitter pens and then cut with scissors and layered on top of the kraft images. It really made the flowers pop! I then layered it over a kraft card with a gold stamped texture background. What do you think?

Supplies:

Kraft (Recollections); Stamps (vintage - unknown); Ink (Studio G); Watercolor pencils (Artists Loft); Gel pens (Gel Writers); Die Cut (Cricut - Paper Lace 2); Twine (Baker's Twine); Adhesive pearls (Recollections).

Square Punch Challenge - CREATE:Blog

I spotted this challenge on the Cards CREATE:Blog and was immediately intrigued! to use a square punch when designing a card. I decided to use my punch and make multiple squares to layer on top of my red paper (since I picked zebra print for the squares!). I framed the top and bottom using a border punch and ribbon with white stitching on top, and then added some red gems for flair.  I just had so much fun making and layering this one! Possibly because it has the Tiffany dressed mantra: layers! I dress in multipludes of layers, so my cards should definitely follow suit!

Supplies used:

Red card stock (Recollections); Zebra print paper (Recollections); Square punch (Creative Memories); Border punch (Martha Stewart Crafts); Red adhesive gems (Recollections); Stamp & ink (Studio G); Ribbon (Celebrate It); Adhesive (Elmer's).

Woodland Creatures Card - Wee Memories Challenge 76

One of the fun blogs I follow (Wee Memories) was hosting a challenge (#76) to make a card using woodland creatures. There were many of cute cards already designed for inspiration (go check it out!) and so I thought I would give it a shot.  I made this one right before Thanksgiving, and for some reason it just fits!

Supplies used:
Kraft (Recollections); Patterned paper (Recollections - Any Occasion stack); Lace (scrap); Teal and brown card stock (Recollections); Punches (Marvy Uchida); Squirrel chipboard (DCWV); Stamps & ink (Studio G); Adhesive gems (Recollections); Adhesive (Elmer's).

And in the spirit of woodland creatures, here is a card I made for my Mom's birthday using a skunk because one of her favorite characters is Pepe le Peu. I used the same chipboard from the DCWV collection at the time, and used red one of her favorite colors.  Thought I would share it along with this one. What do you think?

Thank you very much card

Good morning!  Just sharing another card I crafted up.  When I saw the paper pack at the store, I had to have it.  I just loved the fun designs and wanted to see what I could make with it... The funny thing about this card is how layered it is with different papers, which the girls at work always love to point out how much I love to layer my clothes!

On this card I took two coordinating papers from the same paper pack and cut them down to size, adhering them to the card.  I then took brown card stock which I trimmed down with a fun border punch and layered it over the top.  I added some fun yellow ribbon, layering that over the top of the brown card stock, and lastly layered the tag stamped with a sentiment over the top of that. Whew!

What do you think?

Supplies used:

Patterned papers (Pressed Petals); Brown card stock (Recollections); Border punch (Martha Stewart Crafts); Yellow ribbon (Offray); Brown tag (K & Company); Ink & Stamp (Studio G); Adhesive (Elmer's)

Halloween Shoes!

How fun are these?  So anyone who knows me well knows I adore shoes!  I have too many and especially love heels.  One day I was cursing the blogs and saw this wonderful how-to on how to make paper shoes, so of course I had to try!!

Now I like to make paper shoes just for fun.  These are sitting in my living room contributing to our Halloween decor!  I think I will tell anyone who will believe me they fell off the witch!

Supplies:
Black & Purple cardstock (Recollections); Grey cardstock (DCWV Old World Stack); Halloween ribbon (vintage); Halloween stickers (vintage); Border punch (Martha Stewart Crafts); Adhesive (Elmers).

Here is a look at my wall-hanging I made out of chipboard. It is not the typical Halloween decor, but I love it all the same.

Supplies:
Hexagon punch (Creative Memories); Circle Punch (Marvy Uchida); Square punch (Creative Memories); Corner rounder (Creative Memories); Stamps & ink (Studio G); Adhesive Gems (Recollections); Papers (DCWV); Halloween Ribbon (vintage).

Fall is Here!

Fall always brings a sense of home to me. It is where I find more time to craft and enjoy the comforts of my home. I curl up with cider and spend hours designing away!

Here is my attempt at a fall card. One of the fun things about this card, is one of the colors does not seem like a fall color at all! The blue just gives it a little bit of pop!

Supplies used on this card:
Kraft (Recollections); Circle Punches (Creative Memories, Marvy Uchida); Papers (Pressed Petals, DCWV, Recollections, Creative Memories); Stamps & Ink (Studio G); Buttons (Vintage); Adhesives (Pop Dots, Elmer's; and Zots).

A Retirement Card

Recently one of the managers at my job retired.  I made this card to present to him at his retirement party.  The colors were clean and simple, yet classic, very much like him who among many of his achievements use to be a police officer .

The cardstock is from Recollections. To start off with I cut down a DCWV mat stack piece from the La Creme collection (bottom cream with black designs) and adhered to the card.  I then took another coordinating paper from the same mat stack and used my Martha Stewart edger t make the circle designs and then adhered to the card.

On top, I use my Marvy Uchida scalloped circle punch to cut down black paper.  On top of it, I used a smaller Marvy Uchida circle punch to cut down a piece of coordinating paper from the Street Lace paper stack by DCWV.  I then adhered to the card.

Lastly, I cut down some Recollections creme card stock and used a celebrate sentiment stamp.  To draw the eye to the sentiment, I used some of my Recollections black adhesive gems.

I love the simple, yet elegant look of this card!

Have a nice Monday!

Congrats Card!

This card was made for my boss, and when I made it, I wanted something that showcased her classic, yet sophisticated personality!

To start off, I trimmed down green Recollections cardstock to the size of a card, and then selected this beautiful flowered sheet from the DCWV Far East Stack.  Before adhering to the page, I used my Martha Stewart Crafts edger and trimmed the neat design. 

Once this was adhered to the page, I took some swirl stamps and stamped the left-hand side with gold ink.  To make the swirls pop more, I added Recollections gold adhesive gems.

I then added this thick cream ribbon across the center and knotted it to add some texture and a more "clean" look.

On top of the ribbon, I adhered a red scalloped (Marvy Uchida) punch that had the Congrats (Studio G) sentiment on it.  I punched (EK Success) the brackets from the same green card stock as the card was made from and added green adhesive gems to make it stand out (Recollections).

Lastly, I added a small strip of the patterned paper to the inside, also trimmed by the edger to tie the entire look together.  It turned out very simple, but extremely elegant.

Mother's Day - Cards & Gift Bags

For Mother's Day I had three people I was gifting a special book that Lizzie and I crafted as a present (more on that later!).  In a recent addition of Paper Crafts Magazine - 350 Cards & Gifts, I saw these neat ideas of how to dress up gift bags, and so I decided to match the cards & gift bags this year.

Each of the cards & bags have the same basic ideas and supplies (listed at end of blog), just vary a little differently for each recipient. 

For example - My Mom's card & gift bag:  I used clear gems, silver rope, silver letters, and purple flowers as accents.

For my Mother-in-Law

Thanks Card

I love, love, love the colors & looks of this Thank You card I had made!

I first used Recollections black card stock for the base of the card, and then pulled a grey sheet from my Colorbok stack and used my Creative Memories circle cutting system to cut a half circle for the top left hand portion of the card.

Then for the sentiment, I cut down a black and white designed sheet (love this paper!) and layered a white paper which I had stamped Thanks (stamp: Inkadinkadoo; ink: Studio G) on top.

For the bottom portion, I cut down DCWV border strips paper to match the length of the card, and then used my Martha Stewart Crafts edger to make the design.  To put it all together, I pink ribbon and pink bow (Offray).

I love the look and colors on this card!  It is so vibrant and fun!

Love Card - For a Contest

For the Stamping Royalty card I had entered this card in the love category.

I love the colors on this card!! I just love black and teal together!
To start off, I cut down a piece of black card stock (Recollections) with my Martha Steward Crafts edge punch.  Later, I would add Recollections adhesive teal gems to the center of some of the flowers to further tie together the colors.

Next, I cut down a teal piece of card stock (Recollections) and used the same punch on the bottom portion of the paper.  I then used my corner rounder from Creative Memories to round the top two corners.  I used this stamp sentiment from Autumn Leaves, as I thought it was so perfect to represent love (blooms once=soul mate). Later I would add black gems (Recollections) to bring out colors on the teal background.

I adhered the teal to the black card stock, then I laid it on top of the white card stock (Recollections) to formulate the size.  I then took out a small "Love" sentiment stamp and stamped the bottom of the card in teal. It is hard to see, as I added a little tulle to the bottom of the card for dimension and flair.

I really "love" the look on this card, not the classical love you find with hearts and pink (although there is nothing wrong with that either!  :)

Contest Card - Thank You

Well, as many of you know the crowned winners have been announced for the Stamping Royalty contest by  Paper Crafts Magazine on their blog.  I was one of the many, many entries to have submitted work in hopes of earning my tiara, and although I did not win, I had a BLAST testing out my skills and submitting my work.  Here is one of the cards I made, this one was in the Thank You category. 

To begin with, I covered the card in basic black card stock (Recollections), and then picked out coordinating green colored patterned papers (DCWV, Creative Memories) and used my square punch from Creative Memories to cut them down. 

Before I adhered them to the page, I stamped two with a Thank You very much stamp I had.  It was tricky, as the stamp is meant to read it all together, so I taped it up to get the look I wanted (Stamp & Ink - Studio G).

I then adhered all the squares to the page in a grid-like format, and added a flower center by layering different flowers.  The bottom large green is a Prima flower, the black middle is a punched flower (EK Success) and the top flower is from Making Memories. I used a gem brad from Making Memories to post it to the card.  Once all was added to the black background, I adhered the black to the card (card stock- Recollections).

Lastly, I added Recollections adhesive gems to add a little eye "jazz".  :)  I love the look and color of the card!