WCMD Challenge #1: Japan

Hi all, I am back with another card for you for World Card Making Day. Over at Nicole Heady's blog, she is having 4 challenges for all us cardmakers. The first challenge is to make a card inspired by the beauty of Japan. When I searched the web for Japanese Art, I came across many pictures of architecture. And the picture above was my inspiration for my card. I love the tiered roof and the beauty of this building. A true representation of Japan.

For this card I used the Background Basics: Spots and Dots and Mega Mixed Messages from Papertrey Ink. And all the paper is PTI as well. Gems are from HA and punches are from Stampin' Up!.

WCMD and Raspberry Suite Color Challenge

What better way of getting into the spirit of World Card Making Day than to make a card for the Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #17. I absolutely love these colors that Dawn McVey chose, I love them so much that I am going to make a Christmas card with them as well.

This card came together so quickly and I think it is because of my new love for the Polka Dots Basics stamp set. I love this set and see many future uses with it. Now I just need to get the Polka Dots Basics II set. Along with the Polka Dots stamp set I also used the Cupcake Collection and Fancy Flourishes (another favorite). All of these stamp sets are from Papertrey Ink.

I hope everyone enjoys WCMD and that the creativity flows!!!

Supplies:

cardstock - PTI

stamps - PTI

ink - PTI and Memento (brown)

ribbon - Robert Stanley Collection

embossing folder - Quickutz

Recent Projects

Hi all. Sorry I have been gone for so long but I am ready to show you some of the projects I have been working on. All of them were submitted to the PTI Guest Star Stamper for the month of September. I was lucky enough to get an honorable mention for my timeless template submission. So happy for that. If you would like to see the blog post announcing the winners and honorable mentions, CLICK HERE.

This picture above was my honorable mention win. There are templates you can purchase every month from Papertrey Ink and I really loved the templates for these "tucked away" boxes. Actually there is a large template for these boxes and a small one, I just decided to put the two on top of each other to create the look of a wedding cake. I thought to make these gift boxes as an idea for weddings and giving them to your bridesmaids and groomsmen for small gifts like jewelry and cufflinks and such.

I created this votive candle holder for the Autumn project category. This was one of my favorite projects because it was so easy to make and adds a lot of cuteness to this candle.

For this one we had to create a Halloween treat project. I decided to make a treat bag you could fill with goodies along with a wrapped candy bar and a card. I have always been so hesitant in the past to buy seasonal stamps, but I was so happy when I decided to go ahead and get some halloween and fall stamps from Papertrey Ink. I love everyone of them and plan on using them for Zach birthday goodies for his classmates and for the kids' Halloween parties. Should get a lot of use out of these stamps.

Here is the last project I made where we had to create a Thanksgiving project. I decided to make a nametag for a table setting. And along with this I made a "thankful for you" card. I thought it would be kind of cute to have these at the dinner table for a family Thanksgiving. Everyone could pass their cards around and inside the card we would write down why we are thankful for that person and it could be a keepsake for them to take home and look at whenever they want.

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #16

Hi there. Normally I am not one to do two cards for these challenges, but since we had more than ample time and because I love the fall so much that these colors inspired me I went ahead and made another card.

As for the pumkin, I saw someone else make one like this but using regular ovals instead of scalloped ones. I was so in love with the way they made their pumpkin that I had to try it. I feel so bad that I cannot remember who it was that inspired me. I will do my best to search some more and come back here and give them some kudos.

Supplies:cardstock - Stampin Up! (kraft, very vanilla), PTI (summer sunrise and dark chocolate); stamps - PTI; ribbon - Robert Stanley Collection; twine - PTI; button - PTI; ink - Memento; glitter - Stickles (Ranger Ink); border punch - Fiskars

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #16

I LOVE the fall and what better way to start the season early than with these awesome colors. I was so giddy when I saw the colors for this challenge. I could work with these colors all year long, never get sick of them.

It was so amazing how quick this card came together. I knew in my head how I wanted to do the design of this card and it all just kind of went from there. I used the new 2009 Autumn Tags set from Papertrey Ink for the stamps. For the background stamp though I used the Hero Arts Raindrop background stamp. I wanted to add some texture to this card as well so I embossed the brown cardstock with THIS Cuttlebug embossing folder and added some rustic twine.

Supplies:

cardstock - PTI (summer sunrise and dark chocolate), Stampin Up! (kraft, very vanilla)

stamps - PTI, Hero Arts

ink - Memento

twine - PTI

other - Cuttlebug embossing folder, Stampin Up! exclusive Sizzix die cut, EKsuccess circle and scalloped punch

Vacation LOs - Part 2

Here are some more vacation LOs. I am working on other stuff right now that I don't want to post here just yet so until I can post them, you will have the total pleasure of seeing my vacation LOs. Luckily I have quite a few of them done so I have something to post on here for the next couple of weeks or so. And as you know, I love the Color Challenges and I will keep posting them as well. My posts won't be as many, but I will do enough to hopefully keep you interested. :) Thanks for checking in, I love it when people stop by.

Supplies:

cardstock - Stampin Up! (kraft)

all other supplies - Little Yellow Bicycle

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #15

Back with another Raspberry Suite Color Challenge. When I saw this challenge for the first time last night I got such creative jolt that I had to make a card right away. I am usually one to not make a card until the last couple of days or so, but this time I just had to sit down and get my card done because the colors inspired me so much.

I pretty much new right away what stamp set I wanted to use because I love the flowers and the stem in the For All You Do stamp set by Stampin Up!. Gotta love Stampin Up! I also love to use my scissors and I was craving a little cutting and this was perfect for me. Please tell me I am not the only one who loves using her scissors. :)

This last picture kind of gives you the the dimensional feel to my card. I used foam adhesive on the largest flowers and just curled the edges on the medium sized flowers and kept the smallest ones flat to the card. To help polish off the flowers I added a pearl gem to the center of each. Love the elegant feel of it. Thanks so much for looking!! Have a great day!

Supplies:

cardstock - Stampin Up! (very vanilla)

stamps - Stampin Up!

ink - Colorbox (clearsnap)

pearls - Hero Arts

Vacation Layouts

I have been working hard on our vacation album and I thought I would share a couple of pages with you today. I am hoping to post all of our vacation layouts for you to look at. I have 15 pages of my 40 page album done so far. I had to stop for a little while to make a couple of mini albums for family and some cards but I am hoping to get back at my album soon and get it done by mid September or so. It is always good to have a time frame because it keeps me moving.

Supplies:

kraft cardstock - Stampin Up!

all other supplies - Little Yellow Bicycle

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #14

Wow, I was so excited when I saw the colors for this week's color challenge. I am not one to use dark colors and I loved the fact that this challenge took me out of my comfort zone. I have been in a real creative slump lately and this was just what I needed to help put me out of that slump. My creative juices got flowing and I knew right away that I wanted to do an anniversary card with these colors because the boldness of the colors remind me of the kind of elegance that you get from weddings. And anniversary cards should be just as special.

Isn't THIS stamp set great. It is designed by Dawn McVey for Papertrey Ink, the very person that does these wonderful color challenges. So glad I had a beautiful stamp set like this to make this card, it just added to the elegance I wanted to create.

Supplies:

cardstock - PTI, SU (very vanilla)

stamps - PTI

gems - Hero Arts

ribbon - Robert Stanley Collection

ink - Clearsnap

Mini Album - Maine

Wow. I didn't realize how long it has been since I posted last. Sorry for that. I just haven't spent that much time on the computer lately, no drive to keep me on there. But, I am back with a mini album I created in 5-6 hours or so of our vacation to Maine. I made this as a gift for our Aunt Bev since she wasn't able to join us on this vacation. We sure missed her. I just wanted to be sure to include pictures of all the families that were there and in a couple different locations. BTW, she loved the album and I was so happy to make it for her.

Supplies:

chipboard book - Cosmo Cricket

patterned paper - October Afternoon

stamps - Papertrey Ink, Stampin Up!

gems - Hero Arts

letter stickers - American Crafts