Last of VSN...

for a month!  The main event is coming at the end of May.  This is a joy-fold card (not my favorite) and I couldn't find any thing or smaller image that I wanted to place in the lower left hand corner of my focal image to hold my card closed.  I just left it blank.  I adore this sentiment from Unity.  I always get lots of response about it!  If only that would work, or if I could wave a magic wand and have my housework done.  Wouldn't that be something?

Thanks for stopping by!

Details -

Stamps: Have a Diva Day (Unity)

Paper: Real Red, Whisper White, Miss Elizabeth's dp

Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Real Red, Silver Sharpie, Red Sharpie

Accessories: M's self-adhesive rhinestones, ticket corner punch, scor-pal, TE tiny twinkle.

More VSN for Showers

Whoa, Blogger about threw me a loop there!  A new way to upload pictures.  This little number is from VSN too.  This challenge was called "June Brides" and was hosted by Carol.  The task her was to make a bridal shower card with the folded paper frame technique.  I had done this technique once before and had it work out nice.  The harder part for me was find a stamp that I wanted to use for a bridal shower.  I think this old SU image worked out fine!

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Tag Time; Paper: Confetti White, Whisper White, Close to Coca, Spring Showers dsp; Ink: Basic Brown, Cameo Coral, Blush Blossom, Certainly Celery, Bordering Blue, Pretty in Pink; Accessories: Color Spritzer, pink organdy ribbon, stampin' dimensionals, mini glue dots, Nestabilities, scor-pal; Techniques: folded paper frame.

A sweet little duckie card

What a fun card!  I hardly ever use this much patterned paper but that, I think, is what VSN is all about!  I try to stretch my comfort zone a bit and see what I can do.  I used another great sketch from Go To Sketches.  This one was drawn by Jessica Witty.  The VSN challenge that I created this card for was called Invitation Inspiration.   The task here was to create a baby shower card, invite or gift tag.  I chose to create a baby shower card.

Thanks for stopping by!


Details - Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes Paper: Whisper White, Basic Gray, OA Ducks in a Row dp Ink: Basic Gray Accessories: HA Art Flowers, 1/2" circle punch, Build-a-brad, paper snips, glue dots, stampin' dimensionals

More VSN and a CAS favorite

I really do love to play VSN.  After 45 minutes of effort, sometimes you get a stinker and sometimes you get a winner!  Winner here!  I say winner because some readers at SCS suggested this card as a CAS favorite of the week!  I really like to peruse these favorites each week.  There is always some cute stuff and lots of inspiration!

This VSN challenge was issued by Theresa Momber and was called "May Flowers".  The challenge consisted of making a card with flowers and popping up at least one flower. 

This was a fun one to make except I kept making mistakes.  I'll blame it on the red wine (and not the fact that I was too lazy to get out my stamp positioner!)

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Vintage Vogue; Paper: Whisper White; Ink: Mellow Moss, Blush Blossom, Groovy Guava; Accessories: Pretties Kit, paper snips, glue dots, stampin' dimensionals, SAMJ.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Come again another day!  Man, did it pour while I was making this card. Then it hailed and then it stopped, but not for long.  Yesterday was a great day for crafting, plus VSN is going on.  This card was for the challenge called "Rain, Rain, Go Away".  I felt so tricky to be able to include the challenge title as my card's sentiment.  I had never used this stamp before, but it was perfect for the challenge.  The requirement for your card was to use something "wet".  I used some crystal effects on her umbrella and boots.  Then I added dots to the sponged gray background for rain.  I'm not sure how well it can be seen in this picture.  Anyway, this might be my favorite card from this VSN.  I have one more to make and we'll see how it turns out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Hodge Podge of Happiness (Unity); Paper: Confetti White, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Whisper White, Print Pack dsp, Holiday Treasures dp; Ink: Basic Black, Old Olive, Bordering Blue; Accessories: WCC, blender pen, crystal effects, paper snips, Nestabilities, Scallop border punch, stampin' dimensionals, sponge dauber; Techniques: paper piecing, sponging.

From Verve to VSN

I went to the Verve release party last night instead of playing along with VSN.  I knew that I would have a chance to play along with VSN today.  Last night was the mini and the theme this time around is All May's Showers.  So, for this challenge, crafter's had to make a card inspired by babies and in a monochromatic pastel tone! 

I don't think this will be my favorite, but it's done!  And it's cute, and I tried to apply my learning from Thursday's SCS challenge about mixing patterns.

Thanks for stopping by.

Details - Stamps: All Year Cheer II, Hand Print wheel; Paper: Bashful Blue, Whisper White, ? SU Blue, Print Pack dsp; Ink: Soft Sky, Bashful Blue, Bordering Blue; Accessories: Large star punch, AC Baby flair nighty night.

More Verve Fun

I made this for one of the sketches from Verve's Beach Party Release Challenge.  This is probably my all time favorite Verve stamp.  I mean, who doesn't like Dr. Suess!!!   I also took another shot at the Ways To Use It challenge to mix patterned paper.  Boy, that is easier said than done.  I need a little more practice here.  All in all, it was a fun card and good to get out my Verve!

Now, I'm off to do some VSN and if I feel really daring, so VSBN :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Beautiful You (Verve); Paper: Very Vanilla, Real Red, Basic Gray, OA Cherry Hill; Ink: Basic Gray, Real Red, Regal Rose; Accessories: Nestabilities, gray taffeta ribbon, stampin' dimensionals, steel gray gel pen; Techniques: faux stitching.

Kraft-y Verve

I made this little lovely for Verve Beach Party Release Party Challenges.  I turned this sketch too!  Both Crushed Curry and Dusty Durango do not appeal to me, but here they are.  I'll tell you why!  It's because of that sun image and how it begs for those colors to make it work!

I also included today's Ways To Use It challenge on this card.  It called for mixing patterned paper.  I gave it a try :)

Nothing else too earth shattering about this card.  Thanks for looking!

Details - Stamps: Enjoy Today PJ (Verve); Paper: Kraft, Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, Soft Suede, Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry dsp; Ink: Basic Black, Dusty Durango, Soft Suede, Crushed Curry; Accessories: Tiny Bubbles ef, sponge dauber, black thread, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/4 " circle punch, paper snips, stampin' dimensionals; Techniques: paper piecing, embossing, stitching.

Sweet Pea's and Verve

When the Sweet Pea designer paper and stitched felt came out, I knew I had to have it!  Not only was it darling, but Sweet Pea is my daughter's nickname.  I know, it doesn't really make sense, but trust me on this!  I think it is the same reason we all wanted those mini license plates with our names on them when we were 10 (substitute any personalized product for my example).  Ah, but you didn't come for this.

My card is made with one of Julee's sketches from her Beach Party Release challenges.  I decided to sub my felt flower for the circle in her sketch and then picked papers and colors from there.  I opted for this sentiment to accompany my felt flower.

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Because of You (Verve), Flower of Tomorrow PJ (Verve); Paper: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Sweet Pea dsp; Ink: Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, Rose Red; Accessories: Wide chocolate grosgrain ribbon, Sweet Pea stitched felt, scor-tape.

Verve's April Color Challenge

Julee chose Orange, Aqua and Green for her color challenge to go with this month's new release.  She has a themed release this month, the Beach!  It looks so cool with surfboards, coconut trees and hibiscus (or hi-biscuits, if you are my 3 year old daughter!)  What you are seeing now is the second take.  The first time around, I got my flower all colored and then stamped my sentiment in aqua and did NOT like it! Does this happen to anyone else?  I was tired and trying to get my card done.  I had to do it over anyway :(

Thanks for looking!

Details - Stamps: Feel the Sun (Verve), Circular Sayings (Verve); Paper: Very Vanilla, Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, MME Bloom & Grow; Ink: Basic Brown, Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss; Accessories: gold gel pen, scallop oval punch, large oval punch, corner rounder, stampin' dimensionals.

Love Me Some Limelight!

Don't adjust your eyes!  This card is so out of character for me.  It's true, I used Pink Passion card stock (as it matched my fun Glitz stickers).  Yeah and I stamped and overstamped my flourish too (on purpose) so it looks a tad wonky!  I made the card for this week's Limelight Papercrafts Sketch Challenge.

I say, every now and then, it must be good to get outside your box!

Thanks for hanging with me today!

Details - Stamps: The Artist In You (Unity); Paper: Pink Passion, Brocade Blue, Whisper White; Ink: StazOn Cotton White; Accessories: Glitz pink alpha stickers, MAMBI rhinestones, M's holiday ribbon, MM edge distressor, clear ep, heat tool; Techniques: embossing.

Happy Thymes for Lesa

I made this birthday card for my friend, Lesa.  We are celebrating her birthday tonight at our Girl's Night.  I wanted the card to match the little gift I crafted for her, you can see it here :)  I used the same colors on her card as the flower pots and used this week's sketch from SCS.  Lesa loves to garden and grow things.  I bought some seed packets to go with the gift and a Starbuck's card to round things out!  I mean, who doesn't love Starbucks???

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Herb Expressions; Paper: Very Vanilla, Mellow Moss, Candy Lane dsp; Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Mellow Moss, Pink Pirouette; Accessories: ticket corner punch, Kaisercraft blush pearls, blender pen.

June's Jubilant Jumble

Pardon me, I was just having some fun with alliteration.  I do realize that we are still in April and this card is for the SCS Christmas Card Challenge.  This is my submission for June.  Can you believe that I have made 60 Christmas Cards already this year.  It's shocking and amazingly easy.  I think it would be harder if I made 10 different cards for each month, but I pick a design I like and make them all the same.  I can kind of get an assembly line going!  I took the sketch on this card from Papercraft's Go-To-Sketches.  This sketch by Jessica Witty can be found on page 133.  I also played along with last Saturday's Etsy Inspired Challenge and these cute little earrings. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Short & Sweet; Paper: Whisper White, AC Merrymint; Ink: Chocolate Chip; Accessories: 1" circle punch, stampin' dimenisonals.

May's Marvelous Impressions

I made this for my contribution to May's Christmas Card Challenge.  I am working ahead just in case I have a super busy harvesting/canning season this summer!  I used a sketch from SCS for this card.  I replaced the circle in the sketch with a snowflake.  The ladies at Stamp Something offered up a challenge for crafter's to get their stitch on!  I had to go faux.  I am just too afraid of my machine.  One day I will conquer it, or maybe it has more to do with how little usable room I have in my craft room or the lack of electrical outlets!

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Best Yet; Paper: Whisper White, Baja Breeze, SEI Winter Song dp; Ink: Baja Breeze; Accessories: Shapeabilities, paper snips, sponge dauber, mat pack, piercing tool, white gel pen, stampin' dimensionals, glue pen.

Featured Flowers

It's nice to get back to a fresh, clean and simple style.  I made this card for the Featured Stamper challenge yesterday on SCS.  Pat has an incredibly detailed gallery, but I chose one of her more CAS cards.  My card is quite similar (go figure, I was CASEing) with a few changes.  One of my changes was the little bow in my ribbon, for the OCC challenge.  Another change was my image.  I don't have the cute cupcake image she used and so I chose a flower image to meet up with the PALS theme challenge this week.  I don't know if you can see it in the picture, but I scored a couple lines around my ribbon up top and around my embossing on the bottom.  I like the clean look this gives. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Details - Stamps: Happy Moments; Paper: Whisper White, Mellow Moss; Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Mellow Moss; Accessories: Moss gingham ribbon, glue dot, large oval punch, WCC, blender pen, Scor-pal, Just My Type embossing borders.

Easter Inspired Gratitude

Yup, here she is again!  No, I don't mean the card.  This is a new one.  I mean Kim Kesti, on my blog.  Of all the amazing sketches in Papercraft's Go To Sketches, Kim Kesti's sketches are really reaching out to me.  Here is her sketch, so you can see for yourself that I played it straight this time. 

For the rest of my card, I chose to be inspired (per the Stamp 2 Spend Challenge) by the crocheted Easter hat of the 8 month old neighbor girl and the darling herringbone skirt that my almost 4 year old wore to Easter brunch with my side of the family. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Anna Griffin sentiment set; Paper: Whisper White, Purely Pomegranate, Pawsitively Prints dsp; Ink: Versamark; Accessories: Nestabilities, white ep, heat tool, crocheted flower, random button, olive embroidery floss, glue dots.

A Tag From A Sketch

I would never have thought to do this, but I have learned something this week.  From now on, I will not turn up my nose at a sketch, but will turn it and look at it from every angle!  I will also not just toss a sketch because it isn't going to work for a card.  I can use it on a tag or a box or some other project.  Look, I made a tag for the Go-to-Sketches challenge on the Moxie Fab World :)  You could play along too, it's really easy!  I did a couple fun things with this card.  I paper pieced the hippo, the birdie and the party hat.  Then I stamped my stitched ribbon again and again until it looked like grass to me! 

Here is the fabulous sketch that I used by Kim Kesti.  I would love to meet this lady in person.  I think she would be a hoot!  Her stamping style is so much fun.  You really ought to cruise by her blog and take a peek. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Woodgrain Background (All Night Media), Image and Sentiment (Studio G), All Year Cheer II, Stitched Ribbon (Hero Arts); Paper: Whisper White tag, Pacific Point, Gable Green, Pattern Pack II, Razzleberry Lemonade; Ink: Regal Rose, Basic Gray, Basic Black, Only Orange; Accessories: paper snips, white gel pen. stampin' dimensionals, MM eyelet, crop-a-dile.

Clay Pot Creations

How fun are these?

I picked up this little trio of clay pots from the dollar store and went to town!  A little vanilla acrylic paint, StazOn, a blender pen, some dye inks and an acrylic sealant and I am done!  Okay, okay, I found out that Scor-tape is awesome for adhering ribbon around a circular object!  Especially if that circular object is a bit tapered!  I just measured out the length of my taffeta ribbon, applied my Scor-tape and wrapped away!  The finishing touch was the bow I tied and adhered with a tiny piece of the same Scor-tape!

Thanks for looking!

Details - Stamps: Herb Expressions; Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Pretty in Pink, Almost Amethyst; Accessories: Clay pots, Vanilla acrylic paint, sponge brush, Clear acrylic sealant, scor-tape, mellow moss taffeta ribbon.

More My Style

Yep, the colors here are more "me"!  I think I gravitate toward softer and earthier colors.  I played along with the Etsy Inspired Challenge and made a card based on this item.  I wanted to use the cute little mushroom rub-ons fromt the Cosmo Cricket Earth Love collection.  I used a sentiment from the same collection.  I pulled colors from the mushrooms and then chose these cards by Theresa Momber to case.  She is the featured stamper this week on SCS!  I grounded my little mushrooms with some torn paper and jazzed up one corner with a corner punch and a pearl.  Fun stuff!

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Paper: Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Groovy Guava; Accessories: CC Earth Love rub-ons, ticket corner punch, Kaisercraft chocolate pearls, groovy guava double-stitch ribbon, scor-tape, stampin' dimensionals.

Sooo Not My Colors

And I adore how this turned out!  Maybe I should entertain using a little more YoYo Yellow?  That would be a huge hurdle for me.  This card was for the Limelight Papercraft sketch challenge that involved rhinestones.  I also  made this card work for Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply challenge involving chipboard.  The card began with that adorable bird from my June Bug chipboard stickers.  I took the colors from the bird and found a dp in my stash that matched the polka dot section in the birds wings.  I used my corner rounder sans guard to make the wider scallops at the bottom.  I finished it off a rub-on sentiment at bottom of the card. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Paper: Whisper White, YoYo Yellow, Night & Day specialty; Accessories: June Bug chipboard, scor-tape, red grosgrain, scallop edge punch, corner punch, M's self-adhesive rhinestones, stampin' dimensionals, Chit Chat rub-ons.

From Wedding Day to Mother's Day

Well...not really, but it made for an interesting title.  I made this mother's day card for the Inspiration Challenge on SCS.  The Inspiration site was a millinery and I chose this hat from the 2010 bridal collection as inspiration for my card.  The feathers in the hat reminded me almost instantly about the daisies in this stamp. I went for it and this is the result.

I added a few gems and corner punches to dress it up a bit and called it done.

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper: Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, ?Retired SU Pink?; Ink: Versamark, Regal Rose; Accessories: white ep, heat tool, corner punch, word window punch, modern label punch, stampin' dimensionals, M's self adhesive gems.

Just Because....

it is Easter!  Happy Easter to all who travel by today!  I just have a brief post for today as I have a bit of baking and clean up before I prepare my family to get to my grandmother's house for brunch today!  My grandparent's are in their late 80's and still going strong (insisting on hosting family events).  More power to them and may I have the energy and desire to do that when I reach that age!

One little challenge in this card.  It's the Fall To Layout # 84 from the clean and simple stamping blog.  Love this blog as I find wonderful sketches and inspiration here!

Thanks for stopping by and may this Easter bring you much joy!

Details - Stamps: Of the Earth, Matchbox Messages; Paper: Whisper White, Almost Amethyst, Mellow Moss, Basic Black; Ink: Almost Amethyst, Mellow Moss; Accessories: Scallop edge stencil, white taffeta ribbon, Love & Happiness rub-ons, stampin' dimensionals, swiss dot ef.

More Pieces of Fabulousness

I just love the name of this stamp!!  It's called Itsy Bitsy Giggles, I mean, how fun is that!  The complete stamp has two more trees on it, one at  each end!  I was trying to follow this week's Card Patterns Sketch, so I only used 3 trees.  I didn't want them floating in the air, so I cut up some garden green grass (click on the picture for greater detail) for them and stuck it on with some scor-tape!  I'm telling you, I don't know how I lived without that stuff, amazing!   Also, Christi Snow offered up a paper piecing tutorial and Moxie Fab World is hosting a paper piecing challenge!  So I pieced these little cuties!

Thanks for coming by!

Details - Stamps: Itsy Bitsy Giggles (Unity); Paper: Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Garden Green, Kraft, Certainly Celery dsp, Print Pack, Pattern Pack II; Ink: Chocolate Chip; Accessories: Nestabilities, celery twill ribbon, distressed stripes ef, Chit Chat rub-ons, stampin' dimensionals, paper snips, scor-tape, glue dots.

Hip Hop is Back!

Yesterday, April Fool's Day, brought the return or Unity's Hip Hop Thursday.  It sounds as if Angela and the Unity crew intend to make it happen on a weekly basis.  Soooo fun!  I am glad that the first Hip Hop was on my spring break so that I could fully participate.  Jimmi provided a great sketch for any takers, so I played right away.  I was the first person to post my completed sketch and won a prize!!!
My hubby graciously tolerated my playing around today.  He picked up DD from daycare so I could craft a little longer and then picked up a pizza so that dinner would be easy.  Love that man!

Thanks for stopping by!

Details - Stamps: Hodge Podge of Happiness (Unity); Paper: Kraft, Not Quite Navy, Real Red, Whisper White, Pattern Pack dsp; Ink: NQN Craft, Real Red; Accessories: White satin ribbon, glue dot, M's glitter heart sticker, stampin' dimensionals, corner rounder.

No Joke Here!

Yep, Mandy at Limelight is hosting another awesome challenge!  She has this sketch posted and some rhinestones up for grabs! 

I must have Easter on the brain. I went for pastels after I bought these cute little dollar store stickers when I was shopping for Easter gifts for Sweet Pea!  They were too cute to leave on the shelf. 

This was a really easy card to make.  There was zero stamping.  I did have to glue on each individual tiny rhinestone though.  I am thankful for my glue pen and my craft knife :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Details- Paper: Confetti White, PC dp; Accessories: Scallop edge punch, love & happiness rub-ons, TE tiny twinkles, MAMBI rhinestones, Olive & Aqua sharpies, $ store glitter stickers.