Awesome Design Challenge Card by Regina Alber!

Regina played along with our design challenge again.  Look at her adorable reindeer card.  I love this image.   Isn't this a cute card?  I love that she covered the white space with speckles of red ink.  I also love that she off-set the green frame behind the reindeer image.  I'll have to do that more as I really like the way that looks!  The Ho Ho Ho ribbon is just so cute too.

Regina spielte zusammen mit unserem design Herausforderung erneut stellen. Sehen Sie ihr adorable wild card. Ich liebe dieses Bild. Ist das nicht eine süße Karte? Ich liebe, die sie deckte die weißer Raum mit sprenkelung der roten Tinte. Ich liebe es auch, dass sie die grünen Rahmen hinter den rentieren Bild. Ich werde zu tun haben, dass mehr als die Art und Weise, wie ich wirklich aussehen! Der Ho Ho Ho ribbon ist einfach so süß.

Thanks for creating with us, Regina!  We love your work and hope you'll continue to create some more with us each month.  Please join us!

Vielen Dank für die Schaffung von mit uns, Regina! Wir lieben ihre Arbeit und hoffen, dass sie weiter schaffen etwas mehr mit uns jeden Monat. Bitte beteiligen Sie sich an uns!

Please visit Regina's awesome blog and creations here!

December Design Challenge Cards - Merry Christmas Everyone!

Well, here we are - Christmas day!  Merry Christmas to everyone.  I hope Santa has been good to you all :)  I'll find out in a bit ;)

Here was the design challenge sketch and colors:

This first card is mine.  I think when I was making the sketch, I was thinking of a Christmas ornament.  How can you not, right?  Well, I was trying to use stamps/sets I haven't used before.  I don't care for the Build-a-Bear bears, but loved the Christmas accessory stamps.  I've been wanting to use it since I got it!  I just got this adorable little polar bear stamp and thought it would be the perfect match to the tree and sentiment.  I din't want to use too much of the colors on him and the tree - just added some marker to the hearts and scarf.

Next, we have Michelle's beautiful card.  Again, she did such a great job!  I love the sentiment and then the matching ornament hanging below with that great string.  She also spritzed the card to get rid of a lot of white area.  I just love this card - very merry indeed!  What a joy it is to receive a Michelle Arthur card :)

Thanks for looking and I wish you all a very merry day and a Happy New Year!  Michelle, Debbie, and I will be back with new challenges next month.  Please join us!  We'd love for you to create with us.

Last challenge of the year!

Well, here we are!  Here is the December Simply Paper Design Challenge.  Please join us if you can!  I'll be posting our card on the last week of December.  Have a wonderful day.

November Simply Paper Design Challenge Cards

Hello!  I have our November Simply Paper Design Challenge cards.  Here was our sketch and color challenge:

Here we have Michelle's card.  I love the little additions she chose to place on this card.  It adds that little extra something.  The angled frame piece behind the sentiment is brilliant!  I'll be copying that ;)  The textured background stamp gives the card a nice depth and fills in the blank space nicely!  Great job, Michelle - love it!  Please visit Michelle's blog here.

Here is my card.  This was a fun layout, but I had to completely change my plans as the stamp that I thought I'd used just didn't work with this sketch. It was too big. But, I'm happy with the end product.  I originally thought I'd do a Thanksgiving/Fall card, but after having to change the main image, I decided to do a male birthday card.  I think the colors work nicely.  I have a hard time not using ribbon on any card and I know that it isn't too masculine, so I added some metal hodgepodge to help keep it more masculine.  I colored in the stamp image with my markers to get the different colors on the image.  It was a fun sketch and I think I'll use it again!

Debbie is working on her card, so I'll post when she's ready.

Have a very happy day and thanks for looking!

Birthday Cards

I received so many amazing handmade cards for my birthday last weekend.  Thank you so much to all of you.  I love them all!

This first card is a really special card I received from my friend Regina Alber (Germany).  It is a 3D card and there is a mini birthday cake and candles inside!  She also sent this cute bag and it held some fantastic chocolates and fun crafting embellishments.  I don't know how she did it and I know it must have taken a lot of time.  I love it!

Ich habe so viele tolle handgemachte karten für meinen Geburtstag letztes Wochenende. Vielen Dank an euch alle. Ich liebe sie alle! Die erste Karte ist eine wirklich besondere karte erhielt ich von meinem Freund Regina Alber (Deutschland). Es ist ein 3D-Karte und es gibt einen mini kuchen und kerzen drin! Sie sandte auch diese süße Tasche und fand einige fantastische schokolade und spass basteln ausschmückungen. Ich weiß nicht, wie sie es gemacht, und ich weiß, es muß eine Menge Zeit. Ich liebe es!

 Isn't it amazing inside?  Look at this mini cake!  You put the candles inside the little holes and they stand up.  Fantastic!  Thanks, Regina!!!!

Ist es nicht erstaunlich? Schauen Sie sich dieses mini cake! Sie die Kerzen im inneren der kleine Löcher und sie stehen zu bleiben. Fantastisch! Vielen Dank, Regina! ! !!

This next card is from Debbie Williams.  I absolutely love her brilliance in this card.  She made the bunny and cats look like mine!  That first one is Emmie, my tortie girl - she's the one in the picture on this blog header!  The bunny is our long haired, black and white mini lop - Fluffles.  And last, but not least, is our gray tabby - Kimba. 

These colors are so me and I love polka dots.  The buttons are even poka dotted!  I just think this card is so much fun and I love it!

This next card is from my friend Michelle.  I just love everything about this card.  Look at all of the layers and textures.  I love swirly patters and could stare at this all day :)  I love that she ran the layers through an embossing folder after layering it up.  I have got to try that - doesn't it look cool?  Love it!  The button flowers are just so adorable and the ribbon just "ties" it all together so creatively.  I just love it!

The next two cards are from my sister and mother.  I love them both too!  Debbie's card is so beautiful and feminine.  Mom's is so playful.  I love that pig and just got this set, so can't wait to make something with it.  Pink is my favorite color and they know how much I love ribbon!  They both know me well :) 

Thank you all for the wishes and I have a couple more cards to post! 

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful day!

November Simply Paper Design Challenge!

Here is the November Simply Paper Design Challenge.  Please join us if you can!

First of the Christmas Cards

I have been thinking about Christmas cards and made one for one of the challenges, then realized that I couldn't use it since my card didn't use the right colors!  But, I do like how this one turned out and it might be one of the Christmas card designs I make this year.  I loved this little reindeer stamp from the minute I saw it!  I had the idea of using it on a tag and making the card look like a present.  I used one of the chipboard tags and inked it up with my ink pad.  I think I'll use a punched tag if I make a lot of these.  The chipboard piece took a lot of ink and time to dry and didn't really give the tag as much depth as I would have liked.  But, I have to say that I love this new embossing folder - the stripes give the paper such a rich look.  I can't even tell you how in love I am with this new quilted ribbon!  I just wish it came in more colors.  I think I should have embossed the reindeer image though.  Well, next time, right?  LOL

Thanks for looking!

October Challenge - Check!

Hello everyone!  Here are the cards done for the October color and sketch challenge.  Here was the challenge:

This is my card.  I used a couple of jumbo wheels for the bottom portion of the cards.  I then used a retired set for the bat and moon image.  I used this new owl stamp for the main image and in lieu of a sentiment.  I was happy to be able to use my wide pumpkin pie striped ribbon as well as my grosgrain ribbon!  To jazz up my owl, I used my two way glue pen and the pumpkin pie glitter.  Happy Halloween!

Next up are Michelle's cards.  She made two!  She's so darn creative.  Take a look on her blog here.  Michelle did a great job with the backgrounds on these two, didn't she?  I love the main images and matching sentiments with the added googly eyes.  Looks like Michelle is definitely ready for Halloween fun!

Here is Debbie's card.  She used the same owl image, but look at the great texture she got on her card.  She's so clever with those embossing folders and you can see she used textured paper.  I love all of the layers too.  Nice use of the colors, Debbie!  They really pop on this card!



Here is my friend Regina's card.  You have to visit Regina's blog (here).  She's so talented and creative with paper creations!  She made this card for this challenge and I just love it!  Look at those adorable pumpkins with the ghost peeking out.  The purple really pops against the black and with the orange in front - love this card!  That ribbon is fantastic too - shimmery and just perfect for Halloween!  Thanks Regina, for joining us.  Please keep on joining us each month.  I love to see your projects!

Hier ist mein Freund die Karte von Regina. Sie müssen das Blog von Regina (hier) besuchen. Sie ist so talentiert und schöpferisch mit Papierschöpfungen! Sie hat diese Karte für diese Herausforderung gemacht und ich liebe nur es! Schauen Sie die bezaubernden Kürbisse mit dem Geist guckend draußen an. Die purpurnen wirklich Knalle gegen den Schwarz und mit der Apfelsine in Front - liebt diese Karte! Jenes Band ist phantastisch auch - schimmerndes und gerecht perfekt für den Halloween! Dankt Regina, für Anschließen uns. Bitte behalten Sie auf Anschließen uns jeden Monat. Ich mag Ihre Projekte sehen!

Thank you all for visiting and looking.  Please join us in our monthly challenges.  Have a safe and wonderful Halloween!

For My Friend Regina!

Hi Regina -

Hier ist die Skizze im Oktober und Farbenherausforderung. Schließen Sie sich uns bitte beim Bilden einer Karte an, entweder die Skizze oder Farbe oder beide verwendend! Wenn Sie eine Karte machen, verlassen Sie bitte eine Anmerkung mit einer Verbindung zu Ihrem blog oder schicken Sie mir mit einem Bild Ihrer Karte per E-Mail, so kann ich es laden. Dank!

October Design Challenge

How is it already October????  Well, here's this month's design and color challenge.  Join us!

September Design Challenge Cards

I really love what everyone did for their design challenge cards!  Here is the design challenge:

This first card is Michelle's.  Isn't it great?  I love how she used the jumbo eyelets and threaded the ribbon through - very nice!  I also like that she stamped the pink card stock with pink ink - it is subtle and really adds that extra special touch.  Love it, Michelle!  To check out this card and Michelle's other amazing pieces of work, please visit her blog here.

Next up is Debbie's card.  Isn't this adorable?  I love the little images and the flower brads really look pretty with this design.  I love how Debbie punched the corners of the navy card stock and gave so many layers to the whole card.  I just love it!

Here is my card.  I decided to make a longer card that could fit in a legal size envelope.  I used the new scallop polka dotted ribbon and matching buttons.   I wanted to color in the images, but thought it would clash with the colors of the challenge, so I decided to leave as is. 

Well, another month down!  I'll be posting October's challenge this weekend.  Thank you for looking and have a great day!

Happy Anniversary, Dimitrios!

Each year gets better and better.  :)

I was inspired by Zeva's card found here. 

I wanted to change it up a little so that the penguins were floating on ice blocks that were very shimmery.  I cut out the ice blocks from shimmery white paper.  Next, I added some glue and sprinkled dazzling diamonds.  I wasn't satisfied, so I then added crystal effects on top.  Now, the shimmer is set and I like the way it looks in person :)  I used new In Colors so I could use my new ribbon :)

That's about it - thanks for looking!

Happy Birthday, Joe!

Happy Birthday, Bro!  haaa  I hope you have a great day.

This card is for my brother-in-law.  I wish this designer paper didn't retire since the colors are current!  I started with a card sketch, but it was just too girly.  So, I changed it all up and really like the off-set sentiment.  It really is off though - I didn't center it well, did I?  But, I like the look with the buttons.  Since I couldn't use my usual bow, I thought these buttons added that little extra something that it needed.

Anyway, thanks for looking!

September Challenge!

Happy Saturday!  I hope everyone is having a nice weekend so far.  It's a long one, so I'm excited :)

Here is the September Simply Paper Design Challenge.  Play along and join us! 

August Design Challenge Cards

Can you believe the month is almost over?  Where did it go?  Although I'm ready for cooler weather, I'm not ready for the summer to be over quite yet.

Anyway, it is time to post our August design cards and here they are!  First, here is the design challenge sketch and colors:

Here is my card.  I had come up with my card this week and then realized I had forgotten the colors!  I was going to do a Christmas card!  I thnk I'll use this sketch for one of my Christmas cards - I like it!  I thought the colors would go well with this Fluffles stamp.  I found the corner of the image too blank, so added a bow.  I just love to add bows - I think they finish off any project!

Here is Michelle's card - isn't it adorable? What a cute card for a new baby! I love how she cut out part of the turtle and popped it up with a dimensional. It definitely adds depth - love that!  The pearls are an excellent touch; so soft on this card.

I think I like this sketch because it reminds me of a present.  It will go well with any gift!

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful day!



Happy Birthday, Ellen!

Happy Birthday, Ellen!  I wish you a very happy day!!!  I know you will be enjoying your garden, swimming, and reading :)  Hope it is a wonderful day - just like you!

I just had to use this image - it cracks me up and I think it will crack Ellen up too.  We have a good time and laugh a lot.  I've had these beautiful frames for a while and just never had the chance to use it until now.  I thought it was perfect for this image and I matched it with some old dsp I've had sitting and waiting for the perfect card.  I was so happy to get to use the seam binding too.  The pearls just added that little something - they were already on the frame, but I added to the sentiment piece.

Happy Birthday, Shelley!

Happy Birthday, Shelley!  I sure hope you have a terrific day.  May it be filled with all of your favorite things and be a relaxing, fun-filled day!  I miss you!

For Shelley's card, I used the Friday Mashup challenge - sketch only - found here.  This was a very simple sketch and one that was perfect for my new DSP.  This paper comes with lacy die-cuts.  I decided to cut two of them out and layer them as the focal point of the card.  I fastened them to the card using matching pink brad.  I sure hope Shelley will like this card - the paper and lace just reminded me of her. 

Thank you all for looking and have a wonderful day :)

Happy Birthday, Michelle!

Happy Birthday, Michelle!  I sure hope you have a wonderful, fun-filled, family-loving, and chocolatey good day :)  Love ya!

Michelle has a dog and I was itching to use this stamp!  So, I paired it with the Taylored Expressions sketch challenge 98 found here.  I wanted to use some DSP, so found some retired paper that had chocolate chip in it.  I love how this turned out.  That dog is just too cute!  I used some retired buttons to match and cut thin strips of paper to use as the "thread" in each.  There was too much white space in the corners of the image, so I used the corner punch to cut out some of the matching DSP and added it.  Because the buttons were so high, I decided to pop up the image using dimensionals. 

Anyway, thank you for looking and I wish everyone a very happy day!

Happy Birthday, Michael!

Happy Birthday, Michael!  I wish you an awesome birthday - hope all your dreams come true.

Michael and I share a passion for Hawaii.  We both think we could live on any beach on any island and be happy!  Well, that is if we have a cocktail to go with that beautiful beach :)

I found this great scrapbook/stamp store on Maui when my husband and I vacationed there last year.  I bought a ton of stamps and haven't really had a chance to use them yet.  I just love them all and it was hard deciding which to use other than the "Hau'oli La Hanau" (Happy Birthday in Hawaiian) stamp.  The paddles came in a pack that is more for scrapbooking, but I wanted to use it, so I did!  The honu (turtles) came in a pack with 8 different sizes.  Aren't they cute?  I have a pack of these flower charms and they remind me of the beautiful plumeria on the islands.  I thought it would be a nice touch hanging from the ribbon. 

Michael - hope you like this card made especially with you in mind!  Love and Hugs!!!!

To everyone, may you have a wonderful day.  Thanks for looking :)

August Design Challenge

Here is our August sketch and color challenge.  Please feel free to play along!  Thanks and have a great day :)

Happy Birthday, Diane!

Today is the first of many August friends' birthdays :) 

Diane - I hope you have a very, very happy birthday.  May your day be filled with fun, good wine, and may your cats be extra good today!

For Diane's card, I used the Card Patterns Sketch 112 found here.  I like this sketch a lot.  Since Diane loves cats, I had to use one of my fun cat stamps.  I've had this one for a while, but haven't had the chance to use it.  I tried stamping it on colored card stock, but it just didn't work.  Sine I have a pack of kitty designer paper and matching card stock, I decided to use it for the base.  I bought this adorable pet paw punch and it was perfect for this sketch.  I punched out a paw print from the paper and built a brad that went through some SU! retired ribbon that happened to match the paper...love when that happens!

Thanks for looking and have a great day.

July Swap Meeting Card

Here is the card I made for the annual July stamp swap meeting I attend.  I love the new SU! hostess butterfly stamp set and wanted to use it for the card.  When I saw the one "wreath" stamp, I knew I wanted to use ribbon to "hang" it.  I had originally designed the card using Rich Razzleberry ribbon.  Luckily, a friend told me it had retired.  I hadn't realized that!  One of the rules to our swap is that only current catalog items can be used.  So, I scrambled and thought about changing the card altogether, but liked the ivory satin ribbon; it was a good compromise.  I used the Naturals White paper for this card - it is such a beautiful paper; nice heavy weight, and very rich in feel and look.  It goes well with natural colors.  I stamped the corner images in Early Espresso.  The wreath is stamped using Rich Razzleberry ink on RR paper.  I stamped the sentiment in Night of Navy.  One of the rules to the swap is that you must use an embellishment.  Since I use ribbon on just about every card I make, I don't think of it as an embellishment!  So, I decided to add some pearls to the flowers. 

Thanks for looking and have a great day!  Stay cool!

July Challenge Cards

How is it the end of July already?  Wow, the year is going by way too fast!  Since it is the end of the month, it is time to post the Simply Paper Design Challenge cards.  Here is the sketch and color challenge:

Here is Michelle's card.  Isn't it wonderful?  It's a celebration in a card!  The background is mesmerizing with all of the fireworks going off.  I love the double ribbon in the middle too - nice!  There are so many people with July 4th birthdays - wouldn't this be a wonderful card to receive?  Love it Michelle!

Here is my card.  I decided that since I need so many birthday cards for August, I'd try to make one with the challenge.  I know exactly who is going to get this too :)  I needed one more color to off-set the two primary colors, so added a little chocolate chip in the mix.  I love the cupcake punch - it makes for a very easy card focal point! 

As always, thanks for looking and have a great day!

Swap Meeting Gifts

Last weekend was our stamping group's annual summer meeting of demonstrators.  I love these meetings.  I get to meet new people, make a ton of cards, see new items, etc.  It's just a great day of friends, stamps, and great food (it's really what everyone goes for!)  Haaa - just kidding. 

Each year, we have a gift swap and I decided to alter items with my new favorite Designer Paper. Here are the items I made.

Here is a group shot of the gifts.  I ended up covering a king sized Hershey bar too, but forgot to take a picture of it.

This is an altered note pad.  I had a heck of a time with this one and pretty much disassembled and reassembled the whole thing by the time I was done.  But, I like how it turned out and that it stays shut with a little Velcro; keeps your notes secret!

This is an altered pocket calendar.  I am probably one of the last people standing to still use a paper calendar instead of one on-line/phone/etc. :)

This is an altered mug for a favorite beverage.  I think I'd use it to put pencils and pens in though, to keep with the desk set.

I found this mini tissue box and altered it - so cute!

This is a little scratch paper holder - again, not the easiest thing to alter!  Then again, it may be  me.  I tend to complicate things ;)

And here is the bag I altered to put everything in.  Isn't this paper just beautiful?  I love it!

Anyway, thanks for looking and have a great day!