Sending Sunshine

One last share before I head back up to my craft room-er, I mean to do some laundry and vacuuming (insert *snicker* here!)  Oh, my poor, neglected house.  But, hey-I got in some crafty time during this vacation!

Here's my COLORFUL entry for The Craft's Meow December Sketch Challenge:

Love my little owls!  This one was designed by my friend, Jenny Suchin.  Cuteness, I tell you!

Here is the sketch-I stayed pretty true to it:

Thanks for stopping by today!  Time to get my laundry caught up! ;)

Well, it does...

This next share is VERY cheeky-but I hope it makes you giggle!

I used my fiesty gal stamp from Unity's March 2011 KOM.  Love this stamp!  It goes perfectly with this sassy sentiment from {ippity}.

This pretty new paper is from Basic Grey's "Fiction" paper pad, and the Best/Worst journaling card is from a Smash pad.  Chipboard flowers from Sassafras Lass.

This is my entry for the December KOM Sketch challenge over on the Unity blog.  Here is the sketch:

Check it out! 

Many Many Thanks



I am happy to be playing along with some of my favorite challenges this week. It has been a long time since I've been able to join the Play Date Cafe challenge, but this week's colors really appealed to me:

I used a few different {ippity} flower stamps to create a bouquet.  Then I added a fun twist on my neutrals-newspaper!  I also used sketch FTL179 from Clean & Simple Stamping.  This is a new-to-me challenge blog.  No winners, no prizes-just fun sketches to boost your creativity!  If you love skertches, please be sure to check it out. :)

Master Forgers' Blog Hop

Welcome to your next stop on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge's August blog hop! If you didn't start at the very beginning, please head over to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge. You won't want to miss any of the fabulous projects we have for you today!
We are so honored this month to have an amazing sponsor: Allison Davis of Sketch Support! Can you believe it? Allison created a 2-page layout sketch just for us! She is also sponsoring a fun giveaway for us-check out all of the details HERE.
I had these three photos of my dad, taken on his 80th birthday in May, and I knew that they would work perfectly with my birthday add-on kit this month. They were also the perfect fit for the right page of Allison's sketch. I decided to use just the right page and tweak the design to include my title instead of the two smaller photos.
Thanks so much for stopping by today! Your next stop on the hop is Kim's blog. Have a great weekend!

Invited

More paper piecing. I love it. It's my favorite technique. :)
Cute little cupcakes and a sentiment from Unity ("Mix-up of Cuteness" and patterned paper from Basic Grey's Lime Rickey collection. Love those fun colors and patterns! I also love that this card could go for a boy or a girl.
I also want to share a little trick with you. I originally stamped the sentiment directly onto the white cardstock mat, but the ink had a little bubble and it just wasn't a clear image. Since I had already stamped and pieced the cupcakes, I didn't want to start over completely. So, I stamped the sentiment again onto the green strip, notched the end, and adhered it over the original sentiment. I love the end result more than the original!
I used this week's sketch from Card Positioning Systems to make this card. Thank you for visiting! Make sure you stop by the Momenta blog today, too-I have a cute project to share with you!

Cuppy Cakes

I made this cute little cupcake card using the "Cuppy Cakes" stamp set from {ippity} and papers from Basic Grey's Lemonade collection. These cupcakes were so fun to paper-piece! I can't wait to make more. I am entering this card in 2 challenges. The first is the {ippity} paper-piecing challenge. Although {ippity} chicks can't win, many of us play along just to share some fun ideas for how to use the stamp set. You, however, could win a $20 gift certificate to your favorite {ippity} chick! If you play along and win, I'd love to have you shop with me! :) You can find the details for the challenge HERE.
I am also entering this card in the Mojo Monday sketch challenge. This is my first time entering this challenge, although my friend Lesa has been playing along for quite a while. I am a bit intimidated by the numbers-there are already 148 cards entered in the challenge! WOW! The great thing about that, however, is that there are a ton of great ideas to peruse through the linky.
Thanks for visiting today-I will be back a little later with a couple more challenge cards to share!

Mother's Day Picnic

My last share for today is a 2-page layout that I made using my July Counterfeit Kit and the latest sketch (Two-Page Sketch #17) from Allison Davis at Sketch Support. As much as I love the look of large die-cut papers, I am VERY intimidated by them! So this was a huge step for me to use this paper. (I can't tell you how nervous I was to cut it right down the middle of that beautiful paper!) I changed the photo sizes on the left hand page slightly to work with my photos, but other than that, I stayed pretty true to the sketch. The butterfly garland was very fun to make, too. I got this idea from Pinterest, and it made a great substitution for the stars in the original sketch. Thanks for checking out the projects that I made over my scrappy weekend. I hope to be back tomorrow with another project or two!

Orange You Fabulous!

Just a quick share today-my entry for the Skipping Stones Design sketch challenge. I used the Birthday Purses stamp set from Skipping Stones Design-and I love this sentiment! It's my favorite in the whole set. :)

I also attempted some Copic coloring. I'm embarrassed to admit that I haven't used these at all since coming home from Manchester. I have a limited amount of colors that blend, but I think they work well with this stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by today! Be sure to come back tomorrow for a fun envelope tutorial that I made for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog!

Happy Wishes

Happy Friday, everyone! I can't think of a better reason to celebrate this week. What a week!

Today I am sharing the card that I made for this week's Lily Pad Cards sketch challenge. Lucy has made a sweet little sketch for us-I know you will love it and hope you can play along! Our sponsor this week is one of my very favorites, too-Lawn Fawn! I just love Kelly Marie's adorable stamp designs, and I was so excited to get to play with one of the new releases from CHA Winter. The set is called Lunar Lights. Here is what I made:

I decided to use a Hero Arts acetate card for my card base. First, I stamped the lanterns and string on the white cardstock inside the card. Then I stamped the lanterns and string directly on my card front using black StazOn ink. Paper-piecing the lanterns allowed me to add lots of fun colors and patterns.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Don't forget to check out all of the Dream Team's cards and challenge details HERE.

Just Wanted to Say "Hi"...

Just a quick share today of a card that I made this week using my March Counterfeit Kit, a cute digi stamp from Tiddly Inks, and a fun sketch from Twisted Sketches. I have had this little hedgehog saved in my digi stamp folder for a while now. Isn't he the cutest? A friend of mine recently lost someone very near and dear to her, and since she loves hedgehogs, I thought I would drop her this little note.

These aren't colors that I would have ever though to put together without the help of my Counterfeit Kit, but I love the finished card! I especially love the punched borders. These are two that I punched when Lesa, Cindy and I had our Punch & Lunch last month. I love having these borders all punched and ready to go! I added a tiny row of machine stitching across the flower border, then topped each flower with aqua gems. I think it adds a sweet, girly touch to this card. I hope it makes my sweet friend smile. :)

If you haven't checked out the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog lately, you need to head on over! Right now, we have an Etsy-inspired challenge going on, plus all of the new DT members are being introduced over the next few days. Stop in and say "hi"!

Counterfeit Kit Blog Hop

Welcome to your next stop on February's Counterfeit Kit Blog Hop! You should have arrived here from Melissa's fabulous blog. If not, make sure that you start the hop right at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog so you don't miss any of the amazing projects!


This month's inspiration kit was from Scraps of Darkness. You can see photos of the inspiration kit HERE, and you can also check out my blog post HERE that shows the contents of (and the logic behind) my counterfeit kit. Here are a couple of projects that I've made with my kit.

Here is the sketch from Scraps of Darkness:

And here is my layout:



It's hard to see in the photo, but I finally used my Perfect Pearls mists! I sprayed the background and the brown chipboard flourish with Interference Red mist. So pretty when the light hits it!

I also made a couple of cards (of course!) The first uses supplies from my kit plus a cute little button card stamp from Unity Stamp Co. I'm embarrassed to say that I've had this stamp for a few months and didn't know what it was, lol. I just saw a new set from PTI that had a similar stamp and realized what it was! Now it is one of my favorites. :)

The next card was actually the first project that I made using my kit, back at the beginning of the month. The card base is made from the postage stamp die cuts (from the Create a Critter Cricut cartridge). The flower and sentiment stamps are from Ippity. If you would like these stamp sets, I happen to know a *fabulous* Ippity chick. ;) Plus, I think I finally achieved the vintage look with these two cards!
I am so very glad that you had a chance to hop along with us today. I'd love it if you left me a comment, too! Your next stop on the hop is the amazingly talented Marianne!

Counterfeit Kit Challenge Cards

I've been MIA for a couple of weeks here in blogland, but I do have a couple of shares today using my January Counterfeit Kit. If you're new to the Counterfeit Kit challenge, you can check it out HERE. It's a great idea-you "copy" the items from monthly kits using items from your own scrapbooking stash! There are also some amazing tutorials for making your own embellishments. THIS post has links to some amazing faux Prima flowers. I can't wait to try them!First of all, this is what my January kit had in it, using only items from my stash and elements that I was able to download for free online. (This is also perfect for me, as I am still on my spending freeze until I get my 365 projects done!)

I have only made two cards so far using my kit. I've been so busy with DT work and magazine submissions that I haven't had a chance to play with it much! I loved the way these two projects came out, however. I don't think that I would have ever thought to pair up some of these embellishments without having them right in this kit. Because I still have tons of supplies left in my kit, I am not going to "dismantle" it yet. I have everything (except my stamps and ink) in a separate paper holder so that I can just grab my kit and get to work.

This first card was for the Card-Bling-Fashion mini challenge on the Counterfeit Kit Blog. I found a picture of a retro red-and-white polka dot sundress online and used it as my inspiration. While making this card, I decided to add a package of white chipboard letters to my kit. I realized that the alpha stickers that I had included were not enough and that I wanted to be able to mix and match alphas on my projects. I also used a chipboard tag that was not in my original kit. I am trying to use up some big packages of chipboard shapes from my stash. These packages are really large and will literally not fit in my kit, so I keep them near my scrap table. Hopefully I can start to make a dent in my chipboard stash!

The second card that I made was for the Sketch Mini Challenge. I took the layout sketch and changed it up a bit to work for a card. Everything on the card was from my kit, and I used the added chipboard letters for this card-but with a twist. The white letters didn't show up on the white journaling block. I knew that I would need to alter them somehow. I looked through my supplies and saw that I had some dark brown flocking from Studio G. I played around for a bit and found that if I flipped over the HI, it looked the same. So, I kept it flipped over and covered the sticky side of the letters with the flocking. Voila-perfectly flocked letters without having to mess with adhesive! Obviously this wouldn't work for all letters, but it will work for some and also most shapes.

I'm excited to start building my kit for February. I'm a bit behind, but hopefully will get to it this morning. This one's going to be a real challenge for me because the elements in the kit are totally not my style so who knows what I will end up with, lol! Maybe I will find things in my stash I didn't even know I had! :)

Nesting Doll Thank You

One final share tonight-this Nesting Doll Thank You card. I loved this stamp set when I bought it last year, but I have to admit that I have really struggled to use it. I've tried lots of different color schemes and mediums (ink, markers, colored pencils) and it just never comes out right. Today I decided to just use dark brown ink and stamp the doll on kraft cardstock. I loved it! Then I just distressed the edge of the kraft cardstock with Creamy Brown chalk ink.

I created this card for three different online challenges. First, I used this month's sketch from Sketch For You To Try. I chose this image for the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge, which was to make a card based on a childhood memory. My memory was my trip to the Soviet Union (back when it WAS the Soviet Union!) I went as part of a school trip when I was 13. I spent two weeks there. One of the souvenirs that I brought home was a set of nesting dolls. This stamp was perfect, and I paired it with a floral patterned paper from Stampin' Up! that reminded me of the design on my nesting dolls. Finally, because I used my favorite kraft cardstock, I am entering it in Kraft Journal's Anything Goes challenge. Speaking of The Kraft Journal, my Vintage Thinking of You card won a Top 3 in their Flourish challenge!

Thanks for stopping by again tonight-I'll be back tomorrow with more shares!

Krafty Hello

I made this card for several challenges. The colors were inspired by the photo above, from the CR84FN Color challenge #12. Soft and pretty, and very feminine, don't you think? These would make great colors for an Easter card, too.

I used the Card Patterns Sketch #99 for this. I loved this sketch-it's a great design that I know I will use again and again. I think it's the scalloped border-one of my favorite things to include on a card. You could easily change this up by using a different border punch in place of the scallop. My scalloped border is actually a premade chipboard border from Technique Tuesday. As I try to use up some of my stash, I am finding lots of goodies that I had forgotten about! The chipboard circle, scalloped circle, and flower stamp are also from Technique Tuesday.

I'm lovin' my kraft cardstock lately, and this is my entry for the Kraft Journal's Anything Goes challenge this week. finally, it is also my entry for the new Altered Alice challenge blog to create a hello or goodbye card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Just Saying Hello

I made this card in response to a friend's Facebook post that said her mom was feeling a bit down because of poor health. She had asked if any of her cardmaking friends would want to make her mom a card to make her smile. I know that I always smile when I see an envelope in the mail from a fellow cardmaker. :)

It also uses papers that my sweet cardmaking friend Stephanie Muzzulin recently sent me. Aren't those patterns and colors so spring-y? I hope they make Jana's mom smile. The stamps on the outside are from Gel-a-Tins (flower) and Hero Arts (sentiment.) The greeting inside (hello) is from Lawn Fawn.

Although I used a sketch I found online, this card is not for any contests, challenges, or submissions. It's a "just because" card. Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in all of the competition, as one cardmaker recently commented. Underneath it all, we do this for the craft. I love to make cards, and every once in a while, I make a card "just because." I hope you do, too. :)

Birthday Butterfly

This is a card I made for my friend, Connie. Her birthday was yesterday, but I didn't want to post the card until I knew she had it. I didn't want her to see it on the blog first!

I used this sketch from Stepping Stones Design. The colors were inspired by EAD Designs' Turtle Love Color challenge. All of the stamps used on this card are from {ippity}. This week's Unity Addicts Challenge (UAC34) was to pick one of your oldest Unity stamps and pair it with one of your newest. I just started using Unity stamps last summer, so they are all pretty new to me! I decided to take a stamp from {ippity}'s first release in Fall 2009 and use it with one from the most recent release. The butterfly is from Devoted and the sentiment is from the new Party Hat Wishes set. I love this butterfly stamp. It is perfect for layering. The bottom layer is pink marbled cardstock and the top layer is pink patterned paper. All of the patterned paper on this card is from Stampin' Up! Finally, I knew that the sketch included 5 little accents under the sentiment. I have been using a ton of gems lately, and I was all out of pink and brown rhinestones. So, I pulled out one of my cases of brads and found these rich chocolate brown brads that matched perfectly. This week's challenge over at 4 Crafty Chicks was to use metal on your card, so this fit the bill perfectly!

So, Happy Birthday, Connie! I hope you have a great day and got lots of scrappy birthday goodies! ;)

Happy Couple Card and Glitter Giveaway

You all know I like to add a touch of bling to my projects. Just a touch. ;) Sometimes it's gems, sometimes it's pearls, sometimes it's glitter. Wanna get some FREE glitter? Meyer Imports is having a giveaway on their blog. You can check it out HERE. Tell 'em I sent you!

For this card, I used a submission sketch from PaperCrafts magazine. I made the card, but I didn't submit it. I don't know why I didn't, I was just having a "not very confident" kind of day on the day of the deadline. :( Now I kick myself for not submitting all of the cards I had made for the call. The good news is that I will be sharing them with all of you sooner!

First I cut a panel of white cardstock, then covered it with rectangles that I trimmed from patterned papers. I used monochromatics, but I think that I will try this card again with brighter scraps. It makes for a fun background! Then I just popped this panel up using foam squares. And look-no stamping! I used a puffy sentiment and chipboard wedding ring stickers. I added a touch of bling to the diamond using Rock Candy Distress Stickles. I love that the photo caught the sparkle of the diamond!

I have been working hard on tons of new cards for Momenta's booth at CHA. You're going to love the new products-they are SO CUTE! That's all I can say for now. Sworn to secrecy. :)

Birthday Eye Chart

I had to chuckle when I saw this stamp in the new Party Hat Wishes set from {ippity}. You can see the whole set HERE, and you can order it by emailing me at sharecropperskits@gmail.com. How cute is that birthday eye chart?! For this card, I paired this set with a fun color combo from ColourQ challenge #67. The sketch is part of the Hip Hop Twist Challenge for January. Thanks for stopping by today! Today is a snow day here-which means lots of inky time today. :) Stop back tomorrow for more projects

Plum Birthday

I made this elegant card for my mother-in-law's birthday. I started out with a very different design in mind, but ended with this simple design. I loved it! The embossed background was just what this card needed to make the white space as elegant as the image.

As you can see from the inspiration photo above, this card is made using the beautiful colors that Kim has selected for this week's Off the Wall Craftiness Challenge. The plum/burgandy and taupe cardstock are from SEI, and I think that the ribbon is from SEI, too. I'm not sure-I've had it in my stash forever! The paper, however, is brand-new. I just received it from CARDS magazine as a goody for being published in the September 2010 issue. :)

The design is based on this sketch from Create with Connie and Mary. The JUGS Challenge this week was to decorate and line a matching envelope for your card. It gave it such a finished look!

Happy Birthday to my Mom...and a present for YOU!

Today is my mother's birthday. Shh...don't tell her I told you, but she is 75 today! We are having a little party for her here this afternoon, so I'm just going to do a quick post...with a GIVEAWAY!
First up, though, is the card. I made this card to match the gift bag from THIS post. The card is based on the sketch from Unity's Hip Hop Sketch Challenge #39. I really loved the design, plus I added the scalloped border that extends beyond the edge of the card. I love that look!

Now for the GIVEAWAY! I am giving my mom lots of different cardmaking supplies for her birthday, including some {ippity} stamps (of course!) Would YOU like to win some {ippity}? I'd love to give you some! Here's how you can win:

1. Leave a sweet comment for my mom for her birthday. :)
2. Become a follower of my blog.
3. Check back here on Monday for a winner!

I will take comments until Sunday, 1/9, at 11:59 PM EST. I will draw a random winner and post the name here on the blog on Monday. You've got to check back! The winner will have one week to email me at sharecropperskits@gmail.com to claim their prize. If I don't hear back from her, I will draw another name.

BONUS: I am giving away the "Life's Little Moments" set to one lucky winner. HOWEVER, if I get 100 followers, I will draw 2 names, and the second winner will win the "Love in Return" set. AND, if I get 200 followers, I will draw a third winner to get the "Farm Fresh" set! How cool is that? Be sure to spread the word! :)