Sending My Love

First off, I can't say "thank you" enough to all of my sweet friends in the blogging world who wished me a Happy Birthday yesterday.  You all are the best!  You really know how to make a girl feel special. :)

I had a bit of time yesterday afternoon to play in my scraproom (best. birthday. gift. ever.)  I decided to play along with 2 different {ippity} challenges going on right now.  The first is the BRIGHTS CHALLENGE on the {ippity} blog.  This striped paper from Sassafras Lass is super bright and funky!  The second is this week's sketch challenge at Chick Challenges {with ippity}.  Here is my card:

I absolutely loved the idea of adding an envelope to the front of your card, as the sketch shows.  I cut this little envelope using my Cricut Wild Card cartridge.  Although I adhered it shut, you could also make it a functional envie for a little note or gift card.  I moved the bow from the sketch over onto my card flap, and moved the sentiment lower on the envie.  The sentiment is from {ippity}'s How YOU Doin' stamp set, on of my favorites sets for cute little sentiments.

I am also sharing a project today over at I Heart {ippity}-hop on over and check it out!

Cool... :)

This card just makes me giggle. It's silly and fun, and it's just the thing that I needed to make today. Isn't it cute?

I spritzed a piece of kraft cardstock with Mister Huey in Orchard, then stamped and paper-pieced the popsicle from Unity. The sentiment is also from the "Mix-Up of Cuteness" set. Papers are from Sassafras Lass' "Sunshine Lollipops" collection.
I am entering this card in two challenges. The first is the All Things Unity #36, Summer Feeling, Challenge.

I also used the sketch from this week's Card Patterns challenge. Thanks for stopping by!

Counterfeit Kit Challenge-Frames

I have admitted many times that I have a seemingly endless supply of chipboard. It was one of those supplies that I bought a TON of when it first became popular, but didn't use very often. I just WANTED it. Now I am trying to use it more often-tyring to make a dent in that stash!

For our "Frames" mini challenge, I turned to my stash of chipboard. Many of you may consider this to be cheating, since the chipboard is not technically part of my kit. I keep my chipboard in the original 12x12 packaging, so it would be difficult to fit in with my kit. Also, I figure ANYTHING that will help me to use up my stash should be legal, lol! So I keep my chipboard sheets hanging in my scraproom closet, readily accessible.

Although I loved this scalloped chipboard frame, it was a little overwhelming for my 8.5x11" layout, especially since I wanted to include at least two photos. So, (gasp!) I CUT one side off of that pretty chipboard frame. Of course, I couldn't bear to throw it away-I tucked it into my kit to use on another project later this month. :)

This was a naked chipboard frame, so I first painted it with acrylic paint, then used Versamark ink and iridescent embossing powder to give it some shine and sparkle. I finished my frame by adhering a little aqua gem in the hole of each scallop.

How will you include a frame on your project? I can't wait to see your takes on this challenge!

Mini Challenge: Etsy Inspiration

This week's Counterfeit Kit Challenge is to be inspired by a project from Etsy. HERE is the project that I chose. I have always loved the look of printer's trays, but finished ones tend to be a bit pricey. I knew I could make my own for a fraction of the price. To save even more money, I found a small shadowbox at Goodwill to alter. The price was definitely right: 45 cents!

Here is a before photo:

Pretty outdated and dusty, huh?

Here's what it looks like now:

Here are the details:

Top left: I cut this butterfly from my lace paper, but the color just didn't "pop" like I wanted it too. So, I covered the butterfly with Versamark ink and heat embossed it twice with silver embossing powder. Two bling brads form the body.

Top right: I stamped the sewing machine on a piece of clear packaging (from the Bella Blvd. fabric flowers.) I then paper pieced just the body of the machine and added an epoxy brad and some stickle-y thread. For the "fabric", I cut a little slit in the transparency and threaded a scrap of rickrack through.

Middle left: Just a rub-on and gems on a Spellbinders die-cut.

Middle right: I cut a Spellbinders die-cut in half, then distressed the edge so it looks like a tiny notebook edge. Studio G stamp and butterfly punches, plus a little doily that I created with an EK Success border punch.

Bottom left: My favorite! I stamped the dressform on the same clear packaging from the flowers and paper pieced the dress. The text flowers are just two punched flowers, adhered together with a foam square and topped with a button and gems. The little metal flowers are my soda can flowers. :)

Bottom right: I trimmed a corner off the stamped doily from my kit, then topped it with a butterfly rub-on on white cardstock. I popped the butterfly up with foam squares. I love this punched flower, too. I layered three Martha Stewart flower punches, attached an epoxy brad, then "squished" the petals up to give it some dimension. The tiny stamp is from an old (uninked!) Studio G set.

Thanks so much for stopping in today! I hope you can join us for this challenge this week! Check out the details at the Counterfeit Challenge blog!

My Counterfeit Wildflowers Kit

With this kit, I once again started with one paper, inspired by the Studio Calico kit. I chose the butterfly print from Basic Grey, then found some coordinating papers similar to the inspiration kit. My lace paper has butterflies, which went perfectly with this kit! I printed the sign language and song cards from websites, and I was AMAZED to find the images identical to those in the inspiration kit! Glittery die-cut letters and vellum sentiment stickers from Momenta, and lots of fabric flowers from my stash complete this kit. I am hoping to try some fun things with Meridy and Bethany's flower tutorials, but I really want to use up these flowers, which have been in my stash for too long. :)
Be sure to stop back tomorrow, when I reveal my project for our Etsy-Inspired Challenge!

My Counterfeit Mossy Knoll Kit

This is the most masculine portion of my March kit-lots of geometrics and neutral colors. For papers, I started with the stripe in the bottom right corner because I felt that would be the most challenging to match in my stash. Once I found this stripe from My Mind's Eye, I was able to build my papers around it. I'm not sure if I would use the papers from just this kit, but I think they will make interesting additions to projects made from my other kits.
A fun addition to this kit was the package of metal flower brads. I LOVED these and couldn't wait to make something similar! I was able to make my own for literally pennies, which made me very happy. Scroll down to my next post for the tutorial for my flowers, plus see a sneak peek of a project that I made using them!

"Sweet Friend" Bake Shoppe

I recently came across a new blog: Denami Designs. They are having a sketch challenge this week, and this is my entry. I struggled with the colors of the card. First, I only used black, white, and hot pink. It needed something more, so I added the yellow cupcake wrappers. It STILL needed a little "oomph", so I changed the button (I had added a yellow button when I added the yellow wrappers) and added some aqua photo corners that I cut from cardstock. My original image and mat were rounded at the top, and it reminded me of a window, so I added the awning and turned my card into a bakery. I was so happy with the results!

So Much Love

Here is my take on this week's sketch at 2S4Y. Very simple card-pretty close to the original sketch. I made the card business-sized, which is very different from what I usually make. It measured 8.5" X 3.5" finished. I am trying to make a dent in everything in my stash, and these papers, stamps and chipboard are all goodies that I brought home from CKC. Patterned paper from Sassafras Lass, yellow and pink Double Dot cardstock from Bo Bunny, stamps from Technique Tuesday, chipboard heart from Fancy Pants, border punch from Fiskars.

Thanks a bunch for looking!

Happy Everything Spinner Card

Whenever I work with sketches, I always rotate them and reverse them in my head before I actually start my project. That's the beauty of using sketches-you can "tweak" them however you'd like!
For this sketch from Card Positioning Systems, I rotated the sketch 180 degrees. I immediately thought the sketch looked like a spinner card, so I pulled out my buzzing bee stamp and funky flowers from Gel-a-Tins.
Quite happy with the fun little card that resulted!
Thanks for looking!

Birdie Birthday

(Sorry...this item has been removed for publication. It'll be back soon!)

This is just a card I wanted to share. It's so fun and cheery-love the whimsical paper from Sassafras Lass. I picked up a Wee Bundle of this paper at CKC Manchester and have been having fun with it.

This card is based on two online challenges. First, it is my take on this week's sketch challenge over at Card Patterns. It is also my entry for the SP Color Combos challenge this week. Samantha's challenge was to make a card using Stampin' Up!'s Bermuda Blue, Soft Suede, and Melon Mambo colors. Since these colors just came out, I don't have them yet, but I had these papers and inks in my stash that worked perfectly.

Thanks for looking!

Going Green

Last year, one of our family's resolutions was to start recycling. A year and a half later, we're still at it, hoping to make a difference.

I was inspired by a challenge over on the Hero Arts blog to make a card using some recycled materials. Since I save everything I had quite a stash of recyclable supplies from which I could choose. I decided on a bag from my local stamp store that looked like it had pink vines stamped on it. It was the perfect companion for my new Sassafras Lass paper and Hero Arts stamps. I also trimmed a strip from the bag for my sentiment. I left the jagged edge from the top of the bag to add a little texture.

I loved the finished card so much that I couldn't wait to try another card using a different patterned bag. That meant a trip to the stamp store-such a hardship! I ended up with a new stamp set and a totally different patterned bag-aqua and black. Can't wait to use it!