Simply Paper Design Challenge Posting

Hi there! Well, we had one taker on our design challenge - thank you Michelle! We love that you did two cards, one for the colors and one for the design. Michelle does gorgeous work. Please check out her blog here!

Here is the design challenge again with Debbie's, Michelle's and my take on them.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

One Sheet Wonder Cards

As I posted last week, I wanted to do some One Sheet Wonder cards using the Cottage Garden stamp set and the new In Colors. I haven't been using the In Colors at all and really wanted to work with them. So, I stamped an 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheet of white cardstock and then decided to make a card using each In Color. The matching ribbon really helps "tie" it all together ;)

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Simple Thank You

I love this Lap of Luxury paper. It's so elegant. I decided to make a Thank You card and I love this stamp because it is simple and elegant. I just stamped it in matching Concord Crush ink, punched it out, punched out a frame piece, tied some matching ribbon, and done! It was a very quick and easy card; not my usual! haaaa

Thanks for looking and have a great day :)

Bless you!

I've been covering tissue boxes for years, but haven't done it in a while. My sister asked me to make some projects to be featured on her blog. I've never been a featured guest on a blog before - thanks, Debbie! Anyway, I was going to cover another tissue box anyway and this was the perfect time.

I love this paper - it's just happy and Springy! With all of the cold weather lately, I think I wanted some cheery paper. I embellished with die-cut butterflies and cherry blossoms in matching papers. I finished it off with matching ribbon and some pearls.

I'll be ready if I get that nasty flu that seems to be going around! Surround yourself with beauty and have a great day!

More Little Purses...

I made these purses for my mom and friends (Debbie and Sarah). Each expressed how much they liked the one I posted a couple weeks ago. I really appreciate the nice feedback and wanted to make each of them a personalized little purse. I tried to use DSP or colors I know each one likes. I also stamped their initials and mounted each on a punched piece of matching cardstock/DSP. Again, I made some matching flowers with the DSP leftover after I ran it through the Big Shot Pro. Lastly, I added some pearls to the initials to make it just a little more snazzy :) I love the bling!

Thanks for looking and have a beautiful day!

And the last challenge for the week...

I just had to try this colour Q challenge! Check out this group of colors! Aren't they awesome? Well, they really spoke to me, so I had to try. I pulled the cardstock and thought "what the heck am I going to do with these?" I remembered I had the Cottage Garden set that I've never used. It was the perfect set! I stamped 3/4 of a sheet of white cardstock with the different images in the challenge colors. Then, I decided to add the melon ribbon and add a sentiment. I used the punch for the sentiment and put some Tangerine behind it so that it would pop a little. I really love this set and see using it for One Sheet Wonders in the future! Perhaps my weekend project? :)

Thanks for looking and have a great weekend!

Just can't get enough of the butterflies!

I am just loving all of my butterfly stamps, punches, dies, embosslits, etc. They are so easy to use and just adds such a nice touch to any creation. They can be fun and light or serious and elegant. The colors I used for this card were more elegant, so I decided to use my Beautiful Wings embosslits. I haven't use them in some time, so I was happy to break it out again. The colors I used are from the Stampin' Royalty Challenge #54. I love the sketch - it is from Stamping 411.

I wanted to use my Just Believe stamp set. I've only used it once, but think it has some beautiful images. So, I broke it out and stamped and assembled. It looked too dull, so that is when I added the butterflies. I like the end result :)

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

I love this happy doggie!

Again, I used some challenges to make this card. For some reason, I thought the D is for Dog stamp set would be a good choice for these colors from the Inking Aloud Color Throw down Challenge #124. Early Espresso is quickly becoming one of my favorite colors. It is so rich and goes so well with just about every color! It can be fun when paired with a bright color or elegant when paired with a rich color. Anyway, I though these color would be fun with this set. I decided not to use any sentiment in case it was to be happy. But, if I needed it as a dog sympathy card, I can add that sentiment later.

I used the Repeat Impressions Sketch Challenge #J1211 as well. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. It looks like a simple sketch, but I had a hard time with it! Anyway, thanks for looking and give your furry ones big hugs and head rubs for me!

Getting back into challenges

I had a lovely day of stamping on Sunday. I pulled up some challenges and got to work. One of my resolutions this year was to use stamp sets I haven't used before. I pulled out the Punch Potpourri set for the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge (#93) and the Diva Coffee Break Designs Color Challenge (#210). But, I realized that I needed something more. So, I pulled out my old French Script Background stamp. I haven't used it in a long time, so it was nice to use again! I love these colors together - they are very calm and beautiful. I used the matching bird and heart punches after I stamped the images. The only other things I used was some mini silver brads and a corner punch. I can't believe I didn't use any ribbon on this card!

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

I'm thankful for...

I am really blessed to have so many strong and wonderful women in my life. Each month, I'm going to thank some of my favorite women by making them something and letting them know what I've learned from them and how much I appreciate them!

First, I'd like to thank my sister, Debbie Naylor. She's taught me about the wonderful world of SU! and stamping. I tried so hard to resist her in this, but I'm glad she won out ;) She is so creative, especially on the fly, and so darn passionate about her craft that it is just so contagious! Debbie, thank you for instilling the passion of stamping in me. I do love it and regret what I said about 5 or 6 years ago, "Oh, I'm a scrapbooker. I'll never get into stamping." haaaaaaa

Please take a look at Debbie's lovely creations here!

OK, so I wanted to make Debbie something lovely and hope she'll think this is. I made a shadowbox creation using the Greenhouse Gala DSP. I have to admit that I was a late bloomer (no pun intended!) to this paper. I didn't love it at first, but have come to really appreciate the richness in color in this pack of papers. I do love it now! I bought some shadowbox frames from IKEA and have been wondering how to use them. I was thinking about this DSP one morning and it hit! The one paper screams vines to me (probably because it is!). So, I created a 3D flower and made a 3D butterfly with the Big Shot. I used some older rub-ons on the glass and assembled. I really like how this turned out and hope she will too!

Thank the lovely women in your life and have a great day!

A Christmas Card

I totally forgot to post a picture of the Christmas card I made my husband! I saw these adorable, hinged Christmas box cards and had to try one. Problem was, I didn't see instructions or dimensions anywhere. So, I winged it. I like the end result, but it did take me some time! I used the Jolly Holiday paper - love it! I also was able to use some matching rub-ons and a vanilla hodgepodge hardware pieces. Inside, I just used a plain piece of vanilla paper and decorated it with more matching rub-ons. I can't show that though; I'd already written my sentiments ;) Anyway, thanks for looking and have a great day!

Greenhouse Gala Box

Here is another one of my BS Pro projects. It is a little box with a matching lid. I used a sheet of the Greenhouse Gala papers and ran it through. Again, there was some leftover paper after cutting out the box. So, I grabbed the scallop circle punch and punched out as many circles as there was space. I then crinkled them up and put a Real Red corduroy brad in the middle. I adhered the flower to the top of the box and felt it was done. I see a lot of possibilities for this little box too! I think it will be really cute to dress up the box for a birthday and for Christmas. I can't wait to decorate with ribbon and a little tag - cute, right? Anyway, just wanted to make one to get the idea and creative juices flowing.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Blueberry Crisp Purse

Here is one of the things I made with the BS Pro - a cute little purse. I used Blueberry Crisp DSP. I used one sheet, ran it through the machine, and assembled the purse. There was some extra space on the paper, so I used my scallop circle punch and punched out as many circles as I could. I then balled each up, unraveled them, and put a Pacific Point corduroy brad in the middle. I really like making these flowers now that I can! My first attempts were pretty bad... Anyway, I used some Vanilla satin ribbon for the handle and adhered the flower with a little red sticky tape. I then adhered a little piece of thin velcro so the purse can be opened and closed. It's a good size, so you could fit a nice gift or lots of treats inside. I can see a lot of possibilities for this one: little girl's tea party, book club gifts, ladies night party, etc. I'll be working with this one for sure!

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Big Shot Pro

I decided to do a little pre-Christmas shopping on-line and saw some dies that I really liked on sale. Well, in typical "me" fashion, I didn't really read the specs and ended up ordering these ginormous dies that are pretty heavy! I thought about sending them back, but the postage to send them would be really expensive. So, I did the next best thing; I ordered the Big Shot Pro that they were made for! Of course, again, I didn't read the specs of the machine and it is huge! I took a picture of it next to my regular Big Shot to show the size difference.

Now, having said that, I love it! You use a whole sheet of 12" x 12" paper and it is really easy to run through. Plus, you can use all of your regular Big Shot dies, Sizzlits, embossing folders, etc. I've only had a chance to make one of each of the three dies I purchased, but see a lot of possibilities. I often used to think it would be nice if I could put the regular XL dies in diagonally to get a certain part of designer paper. Now I can! My friend also helped me see that the Pro will be very helpful when cranking out craft show items.

I received some craft store gift cards for Christmas and can now get back on-line and shop for more dies :) I plan to do that soon. I'll post the projects I made in the next couple of days.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

It's a new year and here come the challenges!

Hi there! In my effort to keep my craft resolutions this year, I've persuaded my friend Debbie Williams to join me in starting some sketch and color challenges. We want to make sure to use our products and try to use items we haven't used before. This is our first challenge. We will be doing one a month and it combines a sketch and colors. Please feel free to play along and link (I'm trying to figure this out!) or leave a comment with your blog address so we can check out your creation! We will post challenges at the beginning of the month and will post our creations on the last Saturday of the month, or around there ;) This is totally for fun; no pressure! So, let's create!

Happy New Year - Year of the Rabbit

Happy New Year, Everyone! I have several craft resolutions this year and I am going to try my darnedest to keep them this year! Here they are: (1) Use one new stamp set a week, (2) Make one Christmas card design a month and then make 5 cards of that design, and (3) Start a monthly sketch/color challenge with my stamping friend, Debbie Williams. I'm hoping that this will help me continue to create, use more of my products, and challenge me! Plus, I should have enough Christmas cards ready by December - a definite plus! How about you - did you make any craft resolutions this year? I'd love to hear them if you did!

One of my friends commissioned me to make some New Year cards for her to send to friends and relatives in Japan. So, I was very excited to make this card for her. It is the Year of the Rabbit and I love this year. I have had house rabbits for over 17 years and love them; they make wonderful (but high maintenance!) pets. So, it just makes me happy to be celebrating the rabbit this year. To all of you born in the year of the rabbit - may you have a wonderful year!

OK, so back to the card. I used a set I bought that has all 12 Chinese zodiac stamps. I also used a sentiment stamp I bought in Japan a couple years ago. I stamped both with Versa Mark and embossed them. I colored in the rabbit image with my Copics, layered using some origami paper, and was done! I like the simplicity of it.

Again, Happy New Year!!!!