Counterfeit Kit Paper Piecing Mini Challenge

This challenge was the perfect opportunity to pull out my Preserves cartridge and use my Cricut, along with my February Counterfeit kit! I used the burgundy Swiss Dots Bazzill, black grosgrain ribbon, American Crafts Remarks journaling spot, which I decorated with one of the Prima Say It In Crystals, the word "blackberry", and the berries, which were actually the raspberries in the Preserves cart booklet, but I wanted 2, so that is what I used. I also used the "faux embossed metal technique" for one of the Basic Grey chipboard pieces in my kit, used Basic Grey Painted Brads, and I used the swiss dots Cuttlebug folder to emboss the Blackberries, and inked and coated them with Glossy Accents to get the effect I wanted.
I also used my color kit to color the Grungeboard swirls at the corners of the layout, and added a couple of the Maya Road flower rub-on's to the red leather photo corners.Thanks for looking!

Good Morning!

What a wonderful fall morning! I woke up to a crisp, cool morning and a beautiful sunrise!

The card that I have to share with you today is my first Christmas card this year...I am way behind last year! For some reason, I haven't been able to find my crafty mojo for a few weeks, and it has been somewhat of a challenge to make myself put together the cards and pages that I have! Ok, enough about me, on to my card!
I started with this sketch from Stampin Royalty :
I used a digital scrapbook kit from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff, "Winterland".
I embossed some cardstock with a snowflakes to go underneath the sled image, which was cut in a circle shape using my Cricut and Winter Wonderland Cartridge, which I also used to cut the sentiment "Warm Winter Wishes" in regular, then the shift in the light blue cardstock, which I embossed with my Swiss Dots folder. I layered snowflakes-the felt one was a stiffened glittery felt that I cut with my Doodlecharms cart and Deep Cut Blade, and some rhinestone snowflakes. I added pink flocked brads from Doodlebug, a deep red shabby seam binding ribbon, a clear acrylic snowflake with glittered red dots from Making Memories Fa La La line, and a red glitter brad by Making Memories.

The challenges that I am entering this card into are:

• Stampin' Royalty: sketch


• 2 Sisters Challenge: Anything Goes


• ABC Challenge: "G" is for glitter


• Bee-Crafty Challenges: Christmas, using a digital image


• Craft Your Passion Challenge: Glitter, sparkles


• Crafty Ann's Challenge blog: Recipe-ribbon,gems, and at least one embellishment made of paper or card(stock?)


• The Crafty Pad: Christmas


• Creative Cottage Challenge:embossing


• Fussy And Fancy Friday Challenges:Winter Wonderland


• Gingerloft Challenge: Winter


• MyGraphico Crafts: Add Some Sparkle


• Quixotic Paperie:Christmas


• Southern Girls Challenge Blog: Glitter


• A Spoonful Of Sugar Challenges:Die cuts/punches


• Mark's Finest Papers: use die cuts or a punch


• Tip Top Tuesday: Anything Goes

Thank you for stopping by my blog today! Now, grab a cup of coffee, and pop by the other designers' blogs for more crafty inspiration

Lindsay Weirich (Owner & Stamp Designer)
Cheryl Gorka (DT Coordinator)
Cindi Hooks
Diane Bove
Jennifer Bliss
Karin Martin
Laurel Seabrook
Leanne Garner
Margie Visnick(me)

Micki Harper
Rhonda Walker
Shannon Neparko
Tamara Bennett
Tracey Allen
Sometimes guest
Erin Bailey

Boo to You!

This week, I started getting the" halloween itch"- so I started with a card. The plan is to make cards for each of the kids' teachers (Which is really the only excuse I can think of to make a Halloween card ;-) ). For this card, I used the new Vintage Halloween Labels, and the Cute Halloween Digistamp sets from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff.
I was inspired by this weeks sketch from 2Sketches4You, and this weeks' Cupcake Inspirations. Thanks for looking, now head over to the other girls' blogs for more inspiration and a freebie!

Lindsay Weirich (Owner & Stamp Designer)
Cheryl Gorka (DT Coordinator)
Cindi Hooks
Diane Bove
Jennifer Bliss
Karin Martin
Leanne Garner
Lisa Jurecek
Margie Visnick You are here!
Melissa Craig
Rhonda Walker
Shannon Neparko
Tamara Bennett
Tracey Allen
Micki Harper

Sometimes guest
Erin Bailey

Sweet Birthday Wishes

Hi, everyone! This week at Lindsay's Stamp Stuff, Lindsay is sponsoring Tuesday Morning Sketches blog, in honor of their one year anniversary. The specifications for the challenge were to make a card based on a sketch from the last year, and do something that reminds you of summer. What could be more summery than watermelon from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff Strawberries and Watermelon digistamp set? I chose sketch 32 from TMS, some yummy red gingham ribbon and paper, and used Once Upon a Princess Cricut Cartridge (for the tag behind the watermelon) and embossed with Cuttlebug Swiss Dots. The brads were plain brass brads, and I dipped the tops in shiny black embossing powder, hoping to be reminiscent of watermelon seeds. Thanks for visiting with me today, now head on over to the rest of the DT and Lindsay's blogs for inspiration and a FREEBIE!!

Lindsay Weirich (Owner & Stamp Designer)
Cheryl Gorka (DT Coordinator)
Cindi Hooks
Diane Bove
Jennifer Bliss
Karin Martin
Leanne Garner
Lisa Jurecek
Margie Visnick You are here!
Melissa Craig
Rebekah Doak
Rhonda Walker
Shannon Neparko
Tamara Bennett
Tracey Allen
Micki Harper

Sometimes guest
Erin Bailey

A "Something Blue" Bridal Shower

My *baby* sister is getting married in August, and she asked me to be the matron of honor, so of course, I had to think of the perfect bridal shower for her. Let me tell you, the logistics of being the matron of honor while I am in Tennessee and she is in Florida is a little bit tricky! But we finally worked out a date for the shower, and it was off to the races! I finally thought of doing a "Something Blue" shower, after tons of research on the internet.
First, I made the invitations. I cut the words, "Bridal Shower" with my Cricut and Sweethearts cart, and embossed aqua shimmer paper with the "Friends Forever" embossing folder for the Cuttlebug, and embossed the envelope flap with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder. Here's another photo of the invite with a couple of the favors ( I will tell you about them in a minute, bear with me!):
I decorated a clipboard for the gift list:I cut the presents from the Sweethearts Cart (after coating the clipboard with an ENTIRE can of white spray paint and clear sealant), and added an adhesive ribbon from DCWV to the bottom and tied lots of aqua and white ribbon and lace scraps to the top.
Next, I made a ton of these little favors: The white dress box is from the Tie the Knot cartridge, embossed with the Swiss Dots folder. Some tips: MAKE SURE your paper is pressed very firmly to the sticky mat before cutting- a brayer would be a great idea! I tied an aqua ribbon around the waist, and used a huge roll of pearls that I picked up at Hobby Lobby when they had their half off bridal sale to decorate the bottom of the dress, and just taped the ends around the edges of the dress. The purse favors are svgs from Dan's blog, and embossed with the Textiles Cuttlebug folder, tied with a tiny white satin ribbon.
Then I made a little lingerie gift box for the tiny blue undies I gave her:
I used the pillow box svg file from Penny Duncan's website, added a black and white sticky border strip around the middle, and tied with an aqua ribbon with black stitching from Doodlebug, and embellished with some pearl corsage pins from WalMart, and a corsage cut from Tie the Knot.
I made some gift bags for the game prizes, using some yummy satin ribbons and cuts from Tie the Knot (the scroll heart and the bell), and Sweethearts (the presents).
Here is a close up of the towel cake I made for the centerpiece. I used the Grungeflowers svg file from Dan's blog for the roses I put on top, and tied some pretty aqua satin ribbon around some plush white towels. The monogram plaque was created with the Tie the Knot cartridge and Swiss Dots embossing folder. My mom's gorgeous crystal cake stand really made it perfect.
Our cousin, Jocelyn, made the cake. It was red velvet and sooo yummy! The "pearls" in front of it are actually Sixlet candies from the wedding section of Hobby Lobby. We had a coffee punch with chocolate and vanilla ice cream in it, which everyone slurped down (3 punch bowls full!).
A side view of the cake:A picture of Jocelyn, my other sister Elisabeth (in the back), the bride-to-be, and myself.A photo of the corsage I made for her with Dan's Grungeroses svg file, paper, ribbon, and tulle. A photo of the banner that I made with the banner , monograms, and lovebird from Tie the Knot, tulle, ribbon, and I "Glimmer Misted" (yes I made that word up) the plaque in the center and embossed with Swiss Dots before attaching the lovebird.A pic of Bethany and me (I think she was very happy with the shower-which makes all of the hard work worth it!)
A photo of Bethany opening gifts -she got tons of great presents (we had a beautiful sunny day-about 72 degrees, and a fantastic turnout). Bethany and our Mom:Bethany and my oldest, Caitlin (they are so close, and you can really tell how much she loves her Aunt Beth!): All in all, It was a gorgeous day and everything went fairly smoothly-Hopefully it will be a treasured memory for my little sis!

This week, I was very inspired by Lindsay's Birds And Branches Digistamp set, so I decided to join in on several challenges. The first card, I used the Cute bird Stamp, and a Happy Birthday stamp by Ink It. The scalloped circle behind the bird was cut with my Cricut and Storybook cartridge, and embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder. The ivory circle was punched out, inked and stamped w/Tim Holtz Walnut Stain Distress Ink. The butterfly is a punch by Martha Stewart. I did this card for the sketch challenge at Pagemaps blog, and butterfly for Flutterby Wednesdays, and the color combo challenge (light orange, dark brown, and ivory) at Tuesday Morning Sketches.
This is my favorite card that I made tonight. I made this card based on the sketch this week at 2Sketches4You, and follows the "O"ne Paper challenge from ABC Challenges. the digi is from the Birds And Branches Collection, and the sentiment is last weeks' freebie from Lindsay's blog. I punched it out and inked the edges with chalk ink by Martha Stewart. The ribbon is from Hobby Lobby, and the patterned paper is some ancient Hot Off The Press from my stash.
The third card was inspired by the sketch at Sweet Sketch Wednesday -it didn't come out exactly like the sketch, but that's what I started with. The shimmery navy cardstock frame is by Wasau Paper, cut out using an svg file from Mujka design at MyGrafico, one more fab birdhouse from the Birds and Branches collection, some sheer red ribbon, and a Birthday sentiment from Making Memories. Thanks for for looking, now head on over to Lindsay and the other designers' blogs, to see what goodies they have for you today!
Lindsay (she has some freebies for you!)
Rebekah Doak *February Guest DT
Tamara
Lisa
Shannon
Leanne
Melissa
Cindi
Erin
Tracey
Micki
Janet
Diana

Cards for Challenges

Hi, everyone! Well, it’s time! Have you been putting off those Valentines until the last minute? Well, Lindsay’s Stamp Stuff is having a sale, so now’s the time! She’s running a sale on all of her holiday stamps right now! Run over to her store and grab some while they’re on sale! Now here is a little inspiration for you:

This card was made using the doily heart from the Love Grows Here digistamp collection. I used this week’s sketch from Card Positioning Systems, and took the inspiration challenges from Cupcake Crafts and Cute Card Thursday challenges. The challenge at Cupcake Crafts this week is to use red and white all over.Cute Card Thursday's challenge for this week is "Spots and Dots". The card base is just plain white cardstock that I ran through my Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots folder, topped off with a scrap of red and white polka dot cardstock (I think from American Crafts), white lace strip from my grandmas’s sewing basket, and the digistamp from Lindsay’s Stamp Stuff that I colored with Copics, stitched with red and white baker’s twine, and used a tiny hole punch for the details, and popped it up with foam Pop Dots.
The second card is a birthday card I made for my sister-in-law using this week’s sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches. The cupcake paper is from Creative Imaginations, topped with a scrap of a lavender/pink cardstock that I ran through the Cuttlebug with my D’vine Swirls folder, topped with some sheer embroidered white ribbon that has been in my stash forever, and topped with Lindsay’s All Around phrases digistamp, with one of the cupcakes from her Sweet Stuff collection centered in it. I cut the circle out with my Cricut, Plantain Schoolbook cartridge, and the center point function. Then I colored, Stickled and glittered it to my hearts content (nothing is as satisfying as a pretty, sparkly cupcake, lol). Yum-No calorie sweetness!
Lindsay (Owner)
Tamara
Lisa
Shannon
Leanne
Melissa
Cindi
Erin
Tracey
Micki
Janet
Diana

Testing, testing, 1,2,3...

When the some of the fabulous designers from MyGraphico asked us to test some svg files, I was more than happy to oblige! This adorable little owl is from the Love is in the Air set (The whole set is too cute for words, check it out!). It made a cute little valentine card! I cut the card and circle topper with SCAL, embossed the topper with the Cuttlebug Textile Embossing folder, added ribbon from my stash, and embossed the owl (the brown part), and dressed the rest of the owl up with chalk inks and puff paint. The other file I tested was this Cute Train Set. I thought it worked perfectly for this picture from my son's 1st birthday party. The papers are Basic Grey Cupcake, I used Doodlebug Frills, accented the diecuts with Copics and a White Uniball Signo (the BEST white pen I've found), and I embossed the present with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder.

Lovely Lollipops

I love the Prima Lollipop flowers, but they're so expensive, especially if you get all of the colors you want! So when I saw this swap for Handmade Lollipop flowers on 2Peas, it was right up my alley! I had so much fun making, inking, crumpling, sanding and embossing these(even though I went a *little* crazy when I was signing up...)!Enjoy!
Vintage Valentine Group:

White Group (I just love these, they're my favorite!):
Red Group:
Vintage Christmas:
Blue Group:
Black Group:
Pink Group 2:

A Christmas Wreath from Paper

Starting today, for the next few weeks, I have several Christmas crafty projects to share with you. This is my pride and joy for the season.I actually made it about a month ago. It took several days, and ALOT of work. I cut the wreath and holly leaves using a free file from Dan's blog last year( I think he may still offer the file for a small fee), and a free poinsettia cut file from Lora's blog. I cut the leaves out of various different cardstocks with glitter, shimmer, pattern, and different shades of green and white. After I cut them all out, I dry embossed some with Cuttlebug Swiss Dots and Stylized flower folders, inked direct to paper on some, then attached each leaf invidually, shaping as I went (I rolled the edges around a round rub-on stylus). I cut the poinsettias out of 2 shades of red card stock (one shimmer, one matte), then dry embossed the veins of the flower by hand with a stylus and added Stickles to the veins on the top layer for glitz and to help it stand out. I cut the little gold centers out of a bunch of silk flowers from the Dollar Tree and added the shimmery red and gold bow (which I FINALLLY learned how to make myself, thanks to Martha Stewart!). Thanks for looking (and stop back tomorrow for more crafty Christmas goodies!)


Side view:

December Daily Album cover

As I was surfing 2 Peas, I started to run across a lot of albums (really cute ones) that were labeled December Daily Albums. I thought it sounded like a cool idea, so I looked into it a little more. It's based on an idea from Ali Edwards' blog ... and basically, it entails taking a photo a day in December, and doing a bit of journaling about it, to capture the whole holiday season. For my album cover, I was inspired by this weeks' sketch from 2Sketches4You. I used chipboard, my Cricut, some scrumptious Basic Grey patterned paper, some cream colored paint from Making Memories , some red Basic Grey cardstock that I Cuttlebugged with the Swiss Dots folder, lots of fabulous red and cream ribbons and trims, and the Christmas Potpourri Wreath digistamp from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff. I used a snowflake chipboard piece from Making Memories, that I coated with Martha Stewart mica flake glitter and attached with a pearl brad.

Lindsay has a contest to win a free set of digistamps going on at MyGraphico in the Lindsay's Stamp Stuff Group, and all sets at MyGraphico are 20% off for Thanksgiving Thursday only! Head on over to Lindsay's blog and check it out! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

July Layout #20!!!

WooHoo! I can't believe I actually did it! I got 20 scrapbook pages done in July! I really didn't think I could get it done , since I am a sloooow scrapper (as in, I usually work all night on one page-and I only scrap in spurts, whenever inspiration strikes. I must admit that this layout is a complete and utter scraplift of the most recent cover of Scrapbooks, Etc. I had a photo that was very similar to the cover photo (this picture doesn't really do it justice, it looks much better in person). I used the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder to dry emboss the beach ball and the blue strip, and sprayed the beach ball with Pearl Glimmer Mist, and the blue strip with Sapphire Glimmer Mist. The title is made with red chipboard Thicker letters, mounted on a piece of Making Memories Noteworthy paper. I popped the beach ball up with left over sticky foam from Pop Dots (the negative sheet works too, why waste it!). The "orange slice" strip on the bottom is by Sassafrass Lass, the gemstones are from Making Memories, and I cut the photo corners and beach ball with my Cricut and SCAL. Thanks for the challenge to get some scrapping done, Lora!

Wedding Bells Are Ringing!

My post for today is a wedding card for some friends of my hubby's - we were invited to the wedding, but not sure if we can go or not- he has to work tomorrow. Blech! Anyway, back to the card! I cut the bell shaped card using an svg file that was shared on one of my yahoo groups. I LOVED it, and I have been wanting to use it for a while. I used the rolling pin embossing technique with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder,after spraying it with Pearl Glimmer Mist (I find myself using this color the most-PERFECT for just the right hint of shimmer. The scalloped oval and oval were both cut out using SCAL. I put Pop Dots in between all of the layers, topped it off

with Lora's calla lily paper piecing and a K&Co rub on, and punched two holes through the top and threaded a sheer creamy ribbon through the top and tied. The sentiment on the inside reads: "There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved." by George Sand.

Thanks for stopping by!

A Sale at Lindsay's Stamp Stuff!

For the entire month of May, Lindsay's Stamp Stuff is running a promotion: spend $5.00, get a free stamp! Hard to beat that, huh? Just click on the link in my sidebar, and shop away! ;)
My card was made using the Daffodils In a Jar
digistamp (love daffodils!), and the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder. I sprayed the cardstock with Pearl Glimmer Mist, then used the rolling pin embossing method (damp cardstock works much better for this!).