March Simply Paper Design Challenge Post

Hi there! I hope everyone is having a nice weekend so far. It's gone so quickly!

Here are our cards for the March design challenge. When I looked at the sketch, I immediately thought of a donut! I wanted to try to make one since the Crumb Cake and Early Espresso colors would be perfect for a chocolate glazed cake donut. I punched out the "donut" and then colored in the "icing" with my Espresso marker. Then, I used Crystal Effects on top of the colored area to make it look glazed. I used my new Cupcake punch and punched out the "sprinkles" and adhered them. I love the new chocolate set from the Occasions mini and knew I'd use one of the stamps to go with my donut. I ended up stamping on both the So Saffron and Crumb Cake papers. I decided to use the So Saffron to meet the challenge colors, but cut out the little chocolate from the Crumb Cake paper and popped it up over the So Saffron one with a dimensional. I got a little carried away when I was tying my Espresso ribbon - you can see I accidentally tore a little of the Turquoise paper :( But, I'm still happy with my final product.

Debbie was thinking along the same lines as me with her adorable and blingy cupcakes! I love the detail Debbie adds to her cards. Look at the layers of texture, perfect lines/edges, and symmetry! This card is perfect for anyone at any age and any gender. I love that she "iced" her cupcakes with glitter and used the rhinestones in the corners. I also like that she put the sentiment at the top. What a fun card! Who wouldn't want for their birthday, right?

Thanks for looking. Hope you've enjoyed our cards and hope you'll join us for a challenge or two! I'll be posting another card I made using this challenge next month. The group I belong to used this challenge for our group's April swap, thanks to the hostess and wonderfully talented Michelle Arthur. She created the card on the post right before this one. Be sure to check out her blog for her fun and sensational creations!

She's done it again!

Good Monday Morning! Well, Michelle has done it again! Look at this owldorable card she made for this month's design challenge! I swear, she's making me really want that bird cage set! I think it is going on my list!

Michelle used both the sketch and colors from the design. I love how this card turned out. It could be for anyone and that's hard to do! Fantastic job, Michelle! Thanks again for creating with us!

To find out more about Michelle's card, please visit her blog here.

March Simply Paper Design Challeng

Hi there - hope everyone is well. I have a nasty cold, so forgot to post the March challenge. A big thank you to Michelle for reminding me! Here it is. I sure hope you can play along with us. I'll post Debbie's and my cards on the last weekend of the month. If you do play along, please leave a comment with a link to your blog or send me an email with a picture of your creation. I'll be happy to then post it. Happy crafting!

Card Box - Matching Cards Set 2

And the rest of the matching Card Box cards... Thanks again for stopping by - have a wonderful weekend!

Card Box - Matching Cards Set 1

Here are some of the matching cards I made to put in to the card box I posted yesterday. I used the Sale-a-Bration DSP and some birthday/thank you stamps that fit nicely into the punches. I'll post the rest tomorrow. Have a great day!

Card Box

In preparation for upcoming birthdays at the end of this month, I decided I better get crackin' and make some cards and gifts! One of my friends loves cards and is so good about giving/sending handmade cards. She usually buys a set of cards from me each year. So, I thought it would be a nice gift to make her a card box with a matching set of cards. I do love that Sale-a-Bration DSP and decided to see what I could do. I've made this card box before, but didn't make matching cards. I thought it was so pretty, I couldn't part with it and it hangs in my craft room :) I found the instructions for this box on Chiaki Haversticks' blog. I can't find the instructions, so she might have removed it, but she has amazing instruction sheets on her blog - thank you Chiaki! Anyway, here is the box. I'll be posting the cards over the next couple days. Thanks so much for looking!

Kaleidoscope Scor-Pal Gift Bag

I love the colors of the Kaleidoscope designer paper and wondered how this little bag would turn out. So, I grabbed a piece and went to work. I don't know if I like the one side better than the other, so I didn't make the little pocket on the front. I had some matching brads, so added them and some ribbon to finish it off. I just love it - this was made using half of one 12x12 sheet of paper. I believe the original instructions use two sheets of 12x12 paper. The instructions I used were from Nancy Morgan's blog. You can actually make two bags out of one piece of 12x12 designer paper using her modified instructions - love that!

Thanks for looking and have a great and colorful day!

Bag-in-a-box Polka Dotted Style

I've been wanting to make a Bag-in-a-Box for a long time now. I found my instructions from a friend who got the step-by-step instructions from Paula Goff. Well, this bag was not easy for me! I had a really hard time and destroyed a whole sheet of designer paper in the process! I had to start all over. But, I am happy with the results and am going to give to my dear friend, Debbie Williams. She's so special and I want her to know it :) I filled it with Hershey's kisses. Yes, I seem to love the Hershey's chocolates! haaaa Debbie is the second woman and second Debbie that I'd like to show my appreciate to. I met Debbie through a mutual friend about 13 years ago and we've been close friends ever since. We share a lot of same likes, dislikes, habits, etc. She laughs at my stupid jokes and can always calm me down from one of my crazy rants. She's a true friend, through and through and I'm so thankful to have gotten to know her. So, thank you, Debbie - for being the wonderful woman and friend that you are.

I absolutely love the new SU! Sale-a-bration designer paper and matching stickers, buttons, and ribbon. As soon as I saw this paper, I knew it was the one I wanted to use. I used the matching stickers to decorate the front and use as the scallop piece for the bottom.

Anyway, hope you have a great and crafty day! Thanks for looking :)