February 2012 Simply Paper Design Challenge Cards

I can't believe another month is almost over!  That means it is time to post Michelle's and my cards that we created for our monthly challenge.  Here is February's challenge:

First up is Michelle's card.  Wow, I couldn't think past Valentine's when Michelle came up with the colors!  I love that she's thinking outside the box and used Circle Circus for her card.  I love this set - she did an awesome job randomly stamping - it doesn't look random, yet it is if you start to look closely.  That's excellent!  I also love the layers she added with cardstock and two ribbons for the horizontal striped section.  The buttons are a bonus touch!  Nice job, Michelle - as always!  Please check out Michelle's other creations here.

Next up is my card.  Like I said, I couldn't get past thinking of Valentine's Day when she told me the colors.  I broke out an older set of hearts to stamp the background on my card.  I also used my spritzing tool with my marker to add some splotches to the white area.  I just don't like too much white space on my cards.  I found some really old heart charms and the and decided to thread them and place them on the card.  I also found a really old "I love you" tile and knew it would be perfect for this card.  I think I've been holding on to these things for over 6 years!  Glad I finally had an opportunitly to use them :)  I colored in the sentiment with my markers and assembled.  Here's my finished card that I gave to my husband for Valentine's Day:

I'm so happy to show you this next card.  My sister and our upline, Debbie Naylor, joined us in our challenge this month (and promises to join us more this year!).  She used the sketch for this card and I love her take on it.  She used some great new products on her card.  I think she nailed that vintage look and feel with the stamp set, paper, and colors.  It is a beautiful card and I'm sure someone will feel extra special receiving this birthday card!  Thanks for joining us, Debbie :)  Please visit her blog for wonderful ideas and creations here.

Well, that wraps up another month!  I'll be posting March's challenge next weekend.  Hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful weekend and have a wonderful week!  Thanks for looking :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

I wish you all a very Happy Valentine's Day!

Altered Calendars

Oh, what a wonderful day I had today. I got to stamp! I can't believe how long it takes me to make anything though! Every time I looked at the clock, another hour had passed and I had only finished like 1 card! But, I had fun and felt like I got a little of my creative juices back.

My friend went to India last year, to visit her in-laws. She brought back these handmade calendars. I decided to alter it for this year instead of putting it in the trash when the year was through. This is what the original looked like.  The calendar was pretty big - you can see it tore the paper where I took it off:

I've been thinking about the outgoing SU! In-Colors a lot lately and wanted to use them since I just got a stack of DSP and wanted to use the ribbon. I'm going to miss the colors. Truth be told, I like them better than the current colors. I'm already looking forward to the next set of In-Colors :)

So, I made one for myself and one for a co-worker. I told her I'd make one for her since she also received one of these from our friend. I'm going to keep the Concord Crush one and give her the Pear Pizazz one. I like how they both turned out and I'll be able to use them every year by just changing the little calendar.

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful day!

February Simply Paper Design Challenge

Simply put - join us!

Up Up And Away!

I just had to have this set when I saw it!  I recently made this card for a friend's birthday.  I used the colors from January's color challenge, but this is the card I made and realized I hadn't followed the sketch!  Anyway, I think the balloons are so cute!  I bought the cloud punches on-line and sponged them to give them some depth.  I also cut out the balloons and popped them up with dimensionals as it was really hard to line up the basket with the balloon!  But, I like the way the balloon looks better being popped up.  And that's about it :)  Thanks for looking and have a great day!