Thank you, birthday, etc

I have several cards that I have yet to show off. All of these I have made for one challenge or another over at CardSwaps. Have you evert been over there? I love that forum...great people, great talent, fun crops...just all around good!

Please allow me.

This thank you card, I made for our Uncle Brandon. He took me junking in far north Missouri. I had a BLAST and have several tasters to show off as well! ;)

Noww this box!!! In love this box. I made it for my Grandma's birthday. I am going to try to fit gift tags in there....like this.

I also made this card which will be for my Grandma's birthday later on this year.

If you have been reading here for long, you know that I always make her gift tags for her Christmas gifts for her birthday, which is December 7th. Here's a couple that I made this year:

You can see ones I have made in past years: Here,and Here

Have you made any gifts lately? I'd love to see them. Leave a link in the comments.

Treat Yourself Crop {Blog Hop}

Welcome to the Treat Yourself Crop {Blog Hop}!

I trust you found your way here from Colleen's. Doesn't she have great style??

Check out the crop at CardMaker Magazine's message board. You will have until 11:59PM EST August 14, 2012 to get your projects done and uploaded to the challenge thread. Check it out! You will be glad you did...lots of great inspiration plus a nice group of people!

We were suppose to create a project aligning with the theme of {Treat Yourself}. Hmmm...I'm pretty good at taking care of me. I like Sunday afternoon naps with my Husband. I like sugar scrub, pretty fingernail polish, the occasional pedicure. I like to sing hymns to myself around the house. I like lunch with my girlfriends, a great junk store, estate auctions and porch swings. I like old furniture and spray paint. I like old houses and front porches. I try to turn the things I do into treats for me...even the laundry.

And I lie. :) About the laundry. I hate to do laundry but I tell myself that when it's done, I can do something I like to do. Like sit on the porch or swing in my hammock or explore a junk store.

And I digress....

Anyway, I recently got a new hammock and I love hammocks! In my card, below, I substituted a tire swing. :)

Stamp set: Branch Out (retired Stampin Up) Paper: Red (SU), card base (recollections), patterned paper (My Mind's eye)

This post is brought to you by the letter: R.

Your next stop: Ivanka Enjoy!!

The path...in case you have lost your way:

CardMaker Blog

Jane

Susan

Margaret

Golda

Meredith

Jeanette

Colleen Schaan

Laura <----Here!

Ivanka

Marlene

Anya Schrier

Angelina

Ana

Ashley

Lora

Pretty on Paper

I really, really like this card!!!

And the inside is so so cute! If I do say so myself. :)

What have you seen that's cute lately??

A Jar Full of....Birthday Wishes {of course}

Back last fall, I met Judith, of Stamps by Judith...and it was love at first site!!! I fell straight up in love with this little jar.

LOVE! I'm telling you.

The little *happies* in there are Stamps by Judith too!

I'm pretty sure it's the snowflake seen {here}, second row.

I just love Judith! And I hope to see her at CKC this fall in Kansas City, MO again.

What would you put in your jar??

Another Joy to the World!

There's a crop going on at CardMaker Magazine Forum. Click over {here} and see the challenges...come play along!! (Anyone can play and it's free.)

For the challenge called "Starry Eyed" you had to create a card with a star. This was my only star...and I love it!

On my Pinterest board for Cards, I have the inspiration for this card. Click {here} to see the original. Edited* to add: I also entered this card to the ABC Christmas Challenge called "K is for keeping it simple". ( I can't seem to make the link from my iPad. I'll fix it, I promise. Until then, go here: http://abcchristmaschallenge.blogspot.com/2012/05/k-is-for-keep-it-simple.html

In the Spotlight: Christmas

There's a crop going on at CardMaker Magazine Forum. Click over {here} and see the challenges...come play along!! (Anyone can play and it's free.)

For the challenge called "In the Spotlight" you had to create a card with something from the sky or that flies. I decided that if one was in outer space, one would see the Earth...right??

I have made cards with this "spotlight" idea before...but I didn't know the technique had an actual name.

Here's another look.

Are you a glitter lover too?

Joy to the World!!

There's a crop going on at CardMaker Magazine Forum. Click over {here} and see the challenges...come play along!! (Anyone can play and it's free.)

For the challenge called "Bling me up Scotty" you had to create a card with something from the sky or that flies. I decided that if one was in outer space, one would see the Earth...right??

You were supposed to add some bling too! I colored the ribbon around the Earth with a gel glitter pen.

Edited to add: I also linked this card to the Winter Wonderland Challenge to create a Christmas card (of course) with embossing as a feature on your card. Click {here} to party like it's Christmas.

So, have you made a Christmas card lately?

Happy Easter!!

I made this card a couple of months ago for a challenge I was hosting.

I wanted to share it here, today, on Easter Sunday. I wanted to share the warmth and promise that is Easter. As a Christian, Easter really is our saving grace, quite literally. It's what solidifies God's promise to us and shows us that we can trust his Word.

Happy Easter. Happy Promise.

Recent Cards

I wanted to show you a few cards I've made recently.

Here's a Christmas card I made using punches:


I gave it a little depth with 3-d dots.


For this card, I used an ornament punch and re-purposed it as a light bulb for a string of Christmas lights.


This card is a fail...I think. I was trying to make a quilted-looking card and use an unusual shape.


What do you do with your "fail" creations?

Stamps by Judith Card

You don't know Judith? Allow me to introduce! Here's her blog.

You are going to love her!!!!

I bought this cute little jar stamp. Find it on her website here.

She has little stick stamps and little stubby (larger than sticks) stamps for sale. You can use these to fill up your jar (or other containers too).

I chose to fill mine with buttons. Trial run:


I actually took the above picture so I could remember how I had them all stacked to fit just so...a reminder for putting together my card.



This card was a Happy Birthday card for my friend, Lora. Her birthday was earlier this month. You can go over and wish her a happy birthday here. Tell her I sent you!

What's the coolest thing you've done with buttons?

Winter Warm Up (with CardMaker Magazine) Blog Hop

Welcome from Susan's place. Isn't she the sweetest? And talented? Great combo!!!

I"m participating in a blog hop as part of the Winter Warm-up Crop going on at CardMaker Magazine's CardSwaps message board.

**************************
What do you do to warm up your winter?
Always wear pretty clothes?
Make a special point to have your make-up just so?
Wear pretty scarves to keep you warm and stylish?

This winter I have particularly been into pretty scarves! I have warm ones, pretty ones, ones that are warm and pretty! While each of them work hard at something, some keep me warm, some are just cute to ward of the winter blues, some add bling, sophistication, color, etc to my wardrobe (even my blah, black scrubs from my daily work wardrobe feel fancy with a sparkly red scarf).

Here is a picture me in one of my warm scarves along with a host of warm clothes:


It's working hard because the temperature was 31 degrees and I was out for 4 hours working on Janie's fence...not even cold!!!!

Here's a collection of some of my cute scarves (but not really warm):


Look at the bling on the red one! LOVE!

Using my collection of scarves for inspiration, because I hate to be cold but I love to wear cute stuff, I created this card:


Here's another view:


Loving the glitter paper!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for stopping by my blog. I appreciate that you took the time to read this far. :) Now that you have, go ahead and leave a comment! I don't bite.

This post is brought to you by the letter S.

Hop on and visit my friends!
Marlene is next (click her name). The whole list is below in case you get lost.

CardMaker
Lora
SusieQ
Laura <--- You are here.
Marlene
Jane
Golda
Angelina
Tina
Judy (PrairieWildflower)
Ivanka
Teresa (WingsNThings)
Ana

Don't forget, go see Marlene!! You will be glad you did.

Sunny Afternoon!

CardMaker Magazine's CardSwaps forum is holding an online crop and I have a challenge up! WooHOO!!

My challenge is called Sunny Afternoon. Your challenge, should you accept, is to create an outdoor scene; be sure to include a tree! It can small enough for a card, sized just right for a scrapbook or a large wall arrangement but make sure your outdoor scene has a tree.

Here's my sample:

More Crop Cards

I had a few cards still from the CardMaker Crop in February that I forgot to show off. Remember, I had my Pamper Yourself Challenge for the Crop and I already showed you the other cards I made that weekend.

But, HERE are the cards I didn't show you.

Sadly, I can't remember what the challenge was for this one... Yikes! (If you played that challenge and you remember, leave me a comment please.)

This one was for a challenge called "Rock and Roll" you were suppose to use something to make some shoes look like... you guessed it! Blue Suede Shoes! I loved this challenge!! I made the "flock" by rubbing really sharp scissors along the edge of Stampin Up's super thick card stock. It was pretty messy with lots of fibers floating in the air but I love, love the finished product!

I cut the shoes and the dress form from my Cricut using the Forever Young Cartridge.

Embrace Your Inner Picasso!

I'm the hostess this week for the "Anything Goes" challenge at CardMaker Magazine's CardSwaps Board.

This is my challenge sample.

The challenge is to create your own designer or printed paper. I created the butterfly background paper using a stamp from SU's Branch Out Set.

I got the idea for the Tu-tu from Diane over at Rubber n' Rafters. She did a great job on her card and I knew I had to make one of my very own!!!


I didn't have the best of luck attaching the skirt...I ended up sewing it to the paper. It worked fine but I was hoping for a faster fix! I tried a Zig pen which never really dried properly and Tacky Tape (you know that stuff that looks red on the roll). The lace wouldn't stick to the Tape but that may have been because of the Zig pen.

I must say, I really like this card!! I have the Forever Young Cricut cartridge that will cut out the dress form which would make this card faster...I just need to figure out a better/faster way for attaching the skirt!

What would you do to efficiently attach the lace?

Stinking Cute Gift Card Holder

Seems like everyone's Christmas list this year contains gift cards. I guess that's ok. They are certainly easy enough to locate... and you get to choose from all the cute styles. But, I really like to wrap presents. I like the way they look under our tree; I like to see the look on the recipient's face as they discover their gift hiding inside.

Where am I going with this?

Well, I wanted to find a cool/cute/neat/creative way to give our gift cards besides just sticking them inside a regular card. So, short of wrapping up big boxes that contain only a tiny gift card... I made these! And I was spurred into action by a swap (now closed) on CardMaker.

Somewhere on the internet, I saw this idea... I think it was a little different but I lost the paper so I really don't know, nor can I give credit. (If this is your idea, thank you and let me know so I can give you all the credit.)

So anyway, I busted out my Deck the Halls paper and my new Top Note die and got to work!

This is where I started. Cute. But not Stinking Cute! Although, those tiny pearls are nearly Stinking Cute all by their sweet little selves!

So, I added this sentiment. Of course the "Naughty deserve something nice". After all, there are different levels of naughty. We are only talking about the ornery people, here. Not the really bad ones... they still get coal!

I used all the snazzy twill tape I had so I busted out this crochet lace that I got in the fabric section at Wal-Mart. I big-fat-squishy {heart} it! Anyway, after I got this one complete, I just thought it eeked my Mom. Looks like it walked right out of a Flapper Party circa 1922. Not that my Mom looks like she was around in 1922 but we both love that era! (We aren't suppose to get Mom Christmas presents; we are suppose to spend it at the beach instead. But, I may just have to get her a gift card so she can have this holder!)

This last one is just to show you that it opens/closes with a brad at the top. Easy peasy and stinkin cute!

Iris Folding Answers

First of all, thanks for stopping by on World Card Making Day. In case you missed my iris folding card, you can see that whole post here. I must say, I was really impressed with how my card turned out!!

I received so many lovely comments {thank you} and a few questions. I'd like to take this time to answer the questions.

1. Percy the Black Cat commented that she thought it "would be interesting with fabric". I had not thought of that before the Cat's comment but I immediately thought of Stampin Up's new Christmas fabric! Now that would be fancy!!!

2. Several comments including one from Gail Varland mused that making the card must have taken a long time. Honestly, it took about an hour. This was my FIRST try, I had to choose papers, then choose again :) and then re-cut them because I had been too chincy the first time and my strips weren't long enough.

3. Several people said they love the technique and the card, then followed with "but I can't do that". To which I say, "Yes you can!". Seriously, with a pattern, the directions I wrote and the Youtube video (check the original post)... it is super easy...for real!!

4. Lora, you can come over to my Cavern anytime!! :)

5. There was one more comment with several questions but... I accidently deleted it and I can't seem to locate it now. Sorry!

(If you left a question and I missed or deleted it or you have another, please leave me a comment or shoot me an email. If I know the answer, I would love to help you out. Even if I don't know the answer, I will post your question and see if my friend Terrie stops by...she's the iris folding Queen!!)

CardSwaps World Cardmaking Day Blog Hop!

Iris Folding!!! It's new to me but how stinking cute is this!?! (OK, don't skip to the pictures quite yet!!)

Ok, the dirt: You are on the CardSwaps World Cardmaking Day Blog Hop! Welcome!! You should have arrived here from Jeanette's. Doesn't she have cute stuff!? If you got here differently, make sure you start at the beginning and work your way around. You won't be disappointed, I promise!!

Challenge: CASE challenge. I found a thread on Iris folding on CardMaker message board and decided to try my hand! The thread references recipes found on Circle of Crafters for inspiration. I chose this cutie. There's also an article in CM News Letter!

Technique: I watched this video posted by nightcats (very well done) to get my feet wet. Did I mention that I had never done Iris Folding??

I traced the pattern onto card stock (held it up to the patio door).

Next, cut out the inside only. You will want to preserve the outside or the negative image. Then, tape your negative image over the recipe or map and start laying your papers down, following the pattern.

Oh! About the papers... Choose your papers (4 different ones for this pattern), cut them into 3/4" strips. The video said 5/8 but I found these to be just a little too small given the size of my pattern. Then start taping them down:

I just used scotch tape. Keep going, and going, and going. Once you have covered all the numbers, flip it over and here's what you will have from the pretty side:

I added a Rich Razzleberry center and a sparkly gold topper. Love it!!

Be sure to hop around!! Leave a comment on every blog by midnight CST, October 3, 2010, to be entered in to a drawing for prizes (Waa--hoo!!). The full list of prizes are on Lora's blog.

My story: I started papercrafting...dabbling in scrapbooking over 10 years ago. I was in college, had no money so I just used whatever I could come up with.... And I loved it!! I had made a few cards here and there but just wasn't too happy with the way they turned out. Then!! About a year and a half ago, my friend Lora (who was really just my neighbor back then) invited me to a Stampin UP party. My cards and my wallet haven't been the same since!! But I love it! I have made some new great new friends and met tons of people through playing with paper. Probably the coolest thing that has came about primarily because of paper was an extremely successful fundraiser to benefit my Relay for Life team for the American Cancer Society. Last winter I hosted a Cancer Crop and raised over $1200 for my Relay team. WOW!!

Your next stop on the hop is Faith Skrdla at Designed 2 Delight. Hop on over and See her!! But before you go, leave me some love so you can win!!

Here's the whole list:

Lora

Jeanette

Laura <--- You are here!!

Faith Skrdla (Designed 2 Delight)

Redonna

SusieQ - http://lilbitofme-susan.blogspot.com/

Jane - http://jane-notsuchaplainjane.blogspot.com/

Lori (representing Stretch N Bubbles) -http://lorispurplegiraffes.blogspot.com/

Irina - http://sami-creativityworld.blogspot.com

Meredith - http://whatsnextma.blogspot.com/

Ana - http://anaggarciam.blogspot.com/

Dustin Pike - http://dustinpike.blogspot.com/

Diana - http://b4ustamp.blogspot.com

Angelina - http://angel-artdesign.blogspot.com/

Ashley - http://handstampedbyashley.blogspot.com/

Sketch Challenge...Vintage Christmas

I am the Sketch hostess this week at CardMaker. They have two challenges each week. Check it out, it's a great site!! I guess I loaded these backwards...oops. Well anyway, above is my card. The background paper (dark red) is a little shiny and was incredibly hard to photograph... it came out looking like cheap plastic in the picture. I inked the edges of the background paper using a used dryer sheet and SU Craft ink; It worked well but was messy!!

I really like this stamp set. It's cute, has a bit of nostalgia to it and gives me a great reason to use my Stamp-a-ma-jig!

Obviously not a graphic design guru here! Actually, I was going to just draw the sketch in Word but after two clicks decided that it wasn't really that big of a deal!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Father's Day!

I made this card for a challenge of at CardMaker The challenge was to follow a sketch. I think my Dad will like it!

Happy Father's Day Daddio!!

"O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree"

I love this card. I totally cased it but I have no idea from where... a friend has a giant book of ideas ripped from other magazines... so much fun to look through. I made this for 2 challenges:

*Magical Melodies where you are suppose to use a song of some sorts. I used the background stamp of music (I've had this stamp for awhile and couldn't find the perfect place for it... it goes good).

*ABC Christmas "L is for Lights". The "L is for Lights" challenge had the extra of adding a tree. The pictures don't really show it but the black looking brads are actually silver... for tiny white lights. Then of course, the reds are for Christmas balls.

My Grandma's church has a Bazaar each fall for craft items. Last winter, I made her several card sets to sell. She sold them all before the event even happened! So this year, I am starting early!

Paper: from my stash

Brads: Circle/tree topper (SU), Red (Brazzil Basics Paper), Silver (Recollections)

Stamp: Stampabilities "Composer's Dream"