Embellish Magazine Challenge

I don't know if I'm playing along with all the rules of the latest Embellish Magazine challenge, but that's okay - I used brads in red, yellow, green and blue. The blue isn't the true-blue shown, but it's the only blue I had so I went with it.

My card base is PTI kraft cut to A2 size with a bit of PTI Sweet Blush card stock. Neither one of these colors is on the list - Oh well... I needed a different color as the background. I used Martha's Punch Around the Page Lattice punch. I am loving these punch around the page punches. I bought the Spider Web at Halloween and it really created a cute look, so I went and bought the Lattice the other day. Cute!



For the flowers, I used a retired SU! three-flower punch, but just used one of the flowers to punch out in SU! Yo Yo Yellow and Bliss Blue, (Bliss Blue is retired but Bashful Blue will work just as well! Can you tell I'm trying to use up what I have?) as well as PTI Pure Poppy and New Leaf. The little flower pot is stamped onto PTI Stamper's Select White in SU! Creamy Caramel (Whoops! Another color not on the list!) which I trimmed out leaving a little border around the pot. The brads I used as flower centers are from Making Memories Mini Flowers - Brite collection. (I can't give you a link - they don't even list them on the MM web site any more....just goes to show you how I'm using up what I have!) The only problem is, the pack contains a pink color.... NO red!!



But when you own the Copic R29 all it takes is a couple of brushes over the top of a formerly pink brad, and now you have red!!!

The 'hello' sentiment is from the SU! stamp set Sweet Shapes which is stamped on a circle cut out with the Nestabilites. I bought the large and small regular and scalloped circles about 3 years ago and since then, I've collected a few more sets here and there of a couple of the different shapes, but the circle I go back to time and time again and have remained my favorites. If you are looking to purchase your first set or have a few already but don't know what to purchase next, I highly recommend the circles.



And as usual....the inside. Nothing fancy or complicated, just a few more of the punched flowers.



Thanks for taking a peek at my card! I did a craft show last week which really put me on edge and it was nice not to do something Christmas-y for a change! See you next time!!

Flash Mob Round 2

I just love these 'impromtu' flash mobs as you can see here from my first Flash Mob post. UTube has come up with a couple more that I love...

All the single ladies...



Yes, I think they are professional dancers, but the effect is still there - they made an impact on a group of unsuspecting bystanders. lOvE iT!!!

Here is another unsuspecting group...



I've seen a couple of 'planned' flash mobs where people are standing around waiting for it to happen and that just doesn't work for me. I like the impromptu flash mob where no one expects it and out of no where it happens. There aren't too many things in life today that are a surprise, but to me, this is one of them. Hope you liked it!

Papertrey Ink Guest Star Stamper Submission

Well, I've been completely inspired by my last Honorable Mention as a Guest Star Stamper and decided to try again. The link is to this month's challenge. I don't know about you, but these challenges really make you get creative.

I wasn't sure under what category to submit under, but since I had two Timeless Templates in my submission, I submitted it under that, although it could easily be submitted under Best Altered Note Pad or Best Use of a Previous Set. Who knows? I just let it roll.....

Here is a pic of all the items....




First up is an Altered Note Pad using Sweet Blush as the main card stock and Polka Dot Parade as the patterned paper. The Polka Dot Parade paper is the theme throughout all of the pieces.

I used the brand new Take Note stamp set and coordinating note pads to make this little cutie!



I just love it! I was about to run off to Office Depot near where I live to have them cut down some mini legal pads to make Mish's (If I can call her that - not knowing her!) note books and, as if in answer to my prayers, PTI came and did if for me!!!

Next up is a little box from Timeless Templates using the Tucked Away template in the mini size. I really like the different sizes in the templates that some of them are being offered in. And the really cool part is you get BOTH sizes when you down load them! All for only $5 - how economical is that! And factor in that you can print them endlessly - WHEW!!! Good bargain in my opinion! This little box was done with Spring Moss as the base.




Moving on to the Desk Top Organizer template with Berry Sorbet as the base...



I made six coordinating cards with matching envelopes to include in the set using the Butterfly Kisses stamp set...



The cards also have a bit of decorating on the inside...not much - just a touch...



For the details, I used a Martha and a little mini Marvy butterfly punch to carry the butterfly theme through will all three pieces. The little Tucked Away box holds mini binder clips and jumbo paper clips that I decorated.



And the inside of the note pad is stamped on every sheet with a little butterfly from the Butterfly Kisses stamp set in one of the three colors used throughout the set.



Thanks for stopping by!

You like me...right now, you like me!!!!

I submitted to the GSS on Papertrey Ink. on a whim.....and well, I achieved an Honorable Mention!!! YIPPPEEEEE!!!! Here is the card I submitted under the category of clean and simple cards.



And if you don't 'get' my title, you can see it here:



WOW!!! She sure achieved big hair back in the day!

I am humbled by the recognition and thank you!!! I've seen a lot of people checking in on this post and the original post does not accept Sally Field's original acceptance speech, so I'm going to attempt to re-post it here so you can feel my true feelings towards this recognition.....as humbly as I can... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1jr47CCtBQ&feature=player_popout

Embellish Magazine Challenge #3

I'm getting this in just under the time limit. Things have been crazy at my job IRL. I'm now working in THREE different departments at three different times during the day and I'm trying to balance everything with all three of my new 'bosses'. The receptionist went into early labor and gave birth today, which threw everyone into a tizzy because our plan-of-action went into effect three weeks early. But that's okay - a brand new baby girl has arrived for me to introduce to her the love of paper crafting!!!

So on with Embellish Magazine's newest challenge. I decided to make a pocket card to hold a book mark. I'm sure many of you (too many of you!) have had to come to grips with cancer in one form or another. My Dad died of pancreatic cancer in '06 and my Aunt (my Dad's twin sister) is a breast cancer survivor for over 20 years. My co-worker is also a breast cancer survivor having to ordeal the situation at only 35 years old. I know for myself that it doesn't make sense. Why? The eternal question that will never be answered. So we can only continue our journey to defeat this thing.

Okay - enough with the tears....here is my pocket card....



My gray paper that I used as the 'envelope' is SU! Going Gray. I cut a sheet of 8.5" x 11" along the 11" side and at 5.5" I folded it in half. I then scored along the 1" part of my front flap and punched with my Martha border punch.

Here is a pic of the inside bookmark. I only had white eyelets so I used a bit of my Copic markers E000 to tone it down a bit. The stamped image I got way-back-when my Dad was first diagnosed. It's from Endless-Desions and I cannot, unfortunately, give credit to who is the original author of this sentiment.




And here is my bling.....







Because I'm a bit under the time limit, I'll have to come back and fill in all the details. If you want more info, just leave me a comment and I'll reply back. Thanks for stopping by!

Papertrey Ink October Blog Hop!

The PTI Blog Hops are so much fun and they inspire creativity like nothing I've ever come across. The October Blog Hop is set up specifically for holiday inspiration and I hope I inspire!!

I make these little gift card/money holders for the people in my family. I make up a whole shoe box full and bring them to our family Thanksgiving dinner for them to take home as many as they would like. Not all of them are Christmas themed...most of them are not, but you can get a little sampling of them below...



I was on a roll with the PTI Polka Dot Parade paper so everything you see will have that paper on it. This can be easily switched up to incorporate any PTI patterned paper or any design that you hand stamp.

This is NOT my original idea so I cannot take credit for it. I've seen a lot of demonstrations on it but this is the best one I've found for video, because I'm a visual learner, so I hope this is useful. Thank you Dawn!

So here are the results......





Here is a picture of the inside holding a gift card....



And another pic of it showing money....actually, I've made so many of these cards that
I've learned that the money slot needs to be a bit wider if you want to fold the money in half rather then the way I did it for the picture. Just take your SU! Word Window Punch and extend it to almost the edge of your paper to be able to fold your money in half.



And here are a couple of shots of the closure tab so you can get a feel for how it all stays closed....






Thanks for hopping by!!! I hope I've inspired even though it wasn't all PTI all the time. Please leave a comment...I like to know what you think!!!

Embellish Magazine Challenge #2

So Ashley proposed a new challenge on Embellish to make a circle card. Easy enough.....I've done them before and any kind of a shaped card, other than a rectangle, is usually a big hit, because it's not expected. The second part of the challenge was to use the colors shown above.

I pulled out my Cricut Wild Card cartridge and went to work, cutting out the base of the card using the doily image from the cartridge on PTI Aqua Mist card stock. I threaded some PTI Dark Chocolate twill ribbon through the edges all the way around the card and tied it in a simple knot at the top. I love how this is coming together already!!

For my focal image on the front on the card, I stamped on a piece of Stamper's Select White with the branch from the original sized Out On A Limb set in Dark Chocolate ink, along with some leaves in Spring Moss and a bit of Melon Berry dots. I know Melon berry isn't a color choice, but it seemed kind of blah, so I went with it. I stamped and cut out the bird's body in Spring Moss and the wing from the Anniversary set Everyday Classics in Aqua Mist and cut it out and adhered it with pop dots. The result....



A deformed looking bird that looks like my 7 month old grandson cut it out. In addition, because I chose not to cut around the legs but rather DRAW THEM ON, well, quite frankly, I hate this card. So it has sat around my crafty cove for the last couple of weeks. Every day it would stare me down when I came into the room. Looking at me. Mocking me. Taunting me about what a crappy job I had done. I mean seriously....look at those legs!! And the cutting??? Forget it!



So tonight I decided to fix it. Not a do over...FIX IT! The one thing I didn't like about this card was the bird and his stick legs. So, I stamped him again on thinner paper, thus reducing the jagged edges when I cut him out. Also, I kept a slight white border around him as I cut, and I didn't amputate his legs this time. The next challenge was to pull off the old bird and put on the new and improved one, which was easy - he was only held on with pop dots. I was able to position him over just about all of the drawn on legs, except one little area, which I went over with a white gel pen. I then adhered him back on to his rightfully earned perch. In addition, I added a bit of bling to his eye. (If you click on the picture, it will get bigger.)



Now he looks like a nice little bird in a tree, one that I won't be embarrassed to give to someone! And before I go, a shot of the inside.



Someone once asked me why I don't stamp a lot of sentiments on the inside of my card. The reason is, for my own personal stash, I like to keep them blank on the inside, so when I do need a card, I can just pull one out and stamp the appropriate sentiment on the inside for whatever the occasion is. That way, I always have a bunch of cards that I can customize for whatever the occasion without having to manufacture a new card!

I hope you liked today's card....it was a doosey to say the least, but I'm much more happy the way this card ended! Thanks for stopping by!!

No Stamping Card... GASP!!! (A Review)

So I've had my original Cricut (aka Baby Bug) for over five years and I use it almost daily. It has a permanent place in my Crafty Cove and it never moves from that spot so it is always ready when I want to use it. Provo Craft has come out with a few cartridges that do a bit more than the regular 'Shadow', 'Blackout' and 'Silhouette' functions and I picked up one of those cartridges a couple of weeks ago when my LSS was having a rare sale. Let me tell you.. I'm in lOvE!!!

So, granted, these cartridges are designed for the Cricut Expression to be able to do the envelopes and cards in full size, but I have found I don't NEED an envelope that bad to make a card! I just make the card the size I need and away I go! The cartridge that I picked up is the Wild Card....great for making shaped cards (in my case without coordinating envelopes)!

So on with what I did....First photo....Card front.....I used PTI Spring Rain as the base. Then I used a few pieces of DCWV Glitter Stack to cut out the cupcake and candle/fame element.



Then I cut out the 'frosting' with PTI White Shimmer and the Dew Drops just added the perfect 'sprinkles' to the card....



The final touch to it was the Glossy Accents to the flame to give it a bit of shine...because you know I'm all about the gloss, shine, bling where I can fit it in!!!



BUT WAIT....there is more......

You have to see what I did to the INSIDE....



I incorporated the 'Happy Birthday' sentiment with the same cartridge with the same size and cut it out to 'hide' under the outside card dimension....A perfect card without - I KNOW - no stamping!!! I'm not giving up on stamping Heck NO!!! Stamping will ALWAYS be in my life....TTFN!!

Edited to add...I was in NO way, shape or form compensated by Provo Craft by any means...this was just my way of offering a bit of what I have come up with in my own way!!!

Do you Embellish???

I do and you can too!!! Ashley Cannon Newell is starting up a new web magazine over at Embellish. Directly from Ashley's site:

"The magazine will be published and available for downloads in December for $3 an issue. For $3 you will get a copy of a magazine full of ideas and concepts on how to use a color combination and creative elements on your projects. I am also incorporating video into the magazine for you to see how I make my cards using the color palette and provide helpful tips and tricks."

How cool is that??? Only $3???? That is so freaking CHEAP (cough, cough,....I mean INEXPENSIVE!!!)

So, playing along with her color challenge, I jumped in, and I just have to say, CHALLENGE indeed!! Whew! I would never 'thunk' up these colors together on one card! But I'm a basic kind of gal....two colors YES, three or for colors, plus a pattern....NO! But that is what a challenge is all about! So.....for your consideration, here is my take on the challenge...



I started out with PTI Vintage Cream cardstock cut down to 4.25x4.25....a cute little square card that can be mailed or just tucked into a gift bag, and stamped some dots using PTI's Polka Dots Basic stamp set in Baroque Burgundy.....I don't own Bravo Burgundy ink so I improvised!!! I cut out some flower images on my Baby Bug (original Cricut) in Stampin' Up! colors Pumpkin Pie and Summer Sun and layered them all on top....but it was soooooo flat! So I did a little trick....which a lot of you may already know, but if you don't, stick with me here. Paper has layers...and SU! cardstock can be broken down into two layers with a little bit of manipulating. All you have to do is take a bone folder to the paper and pretend like it's a bit of Christmas ribbon that you want to make curly. Bend the paper along your bone folder....front to back..forwards and backwards, and WA-LAH...you will find that the paper separates! Which makes for the dimension of the flowers on my card!!!

Here is a shot of the inside of the card......



The buttons and ribbon are PTI Scarlet Jewel the colors almost match with SU! Baroque Burgundy!

I used Diamond Stickles on the buttons on the front, and a bit on the inside. You may not be able to see it in my pictures, but each layer of the flowers on the outside and the single flower on the inside are stamped in VersaMark with the single circle from the same PTI set - Polka Dot Basics.



That's all for today, thanks for stopping by!!!

An Easy Wedding Card

We went to a wedding last night....my sister-in-law's - daughter from his previous marriage......figure that one out! It doesn't matter, because she is such a sweetie and they have been together since middle school that we were ALL saying, "It's about time!". So I made an easy card.....



It's a little 4.24"x4.25" square card made on PTI Shimmer white card stock. I used the Celtic Heritage stamps from WalzingMouse Stamps for the heart and line image. The heart is pop-dotted up. I don't know about you or how people react to your cards, but anything with layers is a huge hit around here!!!


And as usual...the inside of the card...



I couldn't resist a bit of bling with the heart rhinestone on the inside. And a funny little side note, after church this morning, who do I meet in the parking lot of the restaurant where we are going to have breakfast????.... Yep, you guessed it.... the NEWLYWEDS!!! It was so funny and we all had a great laugh!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Never Forget

(Image courtesy of http://www.september11news.com)

Look What Happened by my House!!! lOvE iT!!!!

So, my DH and I were talking with friends who where lingering around as they were getting ready to head back home and what do we see?!?!.....



A hot air balloon!!! I love them! I don't know if I could go up in one and a funny conversation followed between myself and my DH. DH won't go on an airplane, which is confusing, because while he was growing up, his Dad had a little two-seater that he went up with his Dad all the time. I won't go up more than three rungs on a ladder, but I have no problem going up in an airplane. So, as the balloon was passing over.....



The conversation continued.....I might be persuaded to go up in one, because it starts from the ground and goes up. But his philosophy was 'so does a ladder'. He stated he would have no hesitation about going up in one....until I reminded him that it takes you where the wind blows....there is no steering involved.



There was a bit of silence while we considered our next debate.....



And concluded the debate was a wash...he won't get on an airplane, and I won't climb more than three rungs on a ladder.

Hope you liked the hot air balloon pics! I love them up in the sky and even though I haven't been presented with the opportunity to climb in a basket, I like to think that I could!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Edited to add, all I can think about is PTI colors on this balloon..Dark Chocolate for the base, A bit of Summer Sunrise, perhaps some Sweet Blush and a bit of Raspberry Fizz? BLAH! Hello, my name is Serendipity, and I'm a PTI addict! AND I WOULDN'T HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY!!!

Moxie Fab Challenge

Moxie Fab World has several challenges posted, and I'm playing with THIS one because who doesn't want a little more Papertrey goodies? And I don't own a single one of those stamps she is giving away, so I'm in!

Here is a group shot of everything ~ a card (of course!), a tag and an ornament!



First up is the ornament. It's four strips of paper folded in a particular way to make a 3-D star! I first had to stamp on the white strips in the colors that I was using on both sides of the strip and then fold it up. I used a bit of DMC floss to make a hanger.



And do you see this little cutie peeking out on different areas of the ornament? It's from WaltzingMouse Stamps set called Gingerbread Joy - Oven Fresh. All three items have stamps from this one set.



Next up is the tag, which measures four inches long. It has a bit of Papertrey Ink Spring Rain twill ribbon to bring out the blue, along with a Robin's Nest Dew Drop on it. The plain red card stock is Enchanted Evening and the plain green card stock is Ripe Avocado, both by PTI.



The sentiment is stamped directly on to a piece of Figgy Pudding paper by Basic Grey. I glitter-fied the little heart and applied Glossy Accents by Ranger around that for some more dimension.



I also glitter-fied the candy canes.



And finally pictures of the card! More of the Dew Drops and Spring Rain ribbon to tie into the Figgy Pudding paper. Who would have thought to us blue on a Christmas card with traditional red and green colors? Not me that's for sure, but I think it works.



Here is one of the gingerbread girl close up where you can see I put glitter on her too!!



And finally a picture of the inside, all nicely finished off waiting for me (or someone!) to write a nice little Christmas note of good cheer!



Christmas is coming in less than 4 months - no time like the present to get cracking at the cards!

Thanks for visiting today!