mann-ly love

well, i decided to try my hand at a masculine card...not my usual cup of tea because i'm all about cute and quirky! but since i am in a mann house, filled with boys (even our cat is a boy!), i thought i should take a crack at it! :)

i made this card for the sparks challenge at paper smooches, just take a look at that inspiration photo! and for the young crafters united challenge - masculine cards! (ps - they'll be having a blog hop this weekend starting nov 4th. be there or be square!)

i LOVE it. i love the colors, the textures and the whole feel of the photo!

i just love that little light bulb from the 'perpetual bliss' stamp set! i paper pieced it and popped it up for dimension

the 'sparks' and sentiment are from the 'boob tubes' stamp set, and i heat embossed them so it would really pop on the dark background. the heart is fussy cut (also from boob tubes) and i added a glossy effect to it so it would be dark and shiny too.

i tore the edges because that seemed 'tough' and 'mann-ly' to me! ha ha! i was going to add some red thread to it and then i thought - sam, stop! this is a man card, before you know it, you'll add more hearts and a bow somewhere! lol. so i drew the line at the ripped edges and the asymetrical feel to the card. :)

enjoy!

sending a little lovin

one of my best, longest-known friends, needed some extra loving recently. she's a fellow crafter (Danielle at girlracer scrap), so i knew a handmade card may be able to get the job done! :)

here's the card i made for her:

i'm entering it in two challenges:

CAS-ual friday's - create a card based on the sketch and wee memories challenge - free for all!

there is a lot of dimension going on here: the ears, tail and paws of the puppy (stamp by paper smooches 'chubby chums'- so cute!). the grass was also layered and popped up, as were the clouds...*whistle*

ok, seeing it written like that, i may have popped up too much, but is that even possible?? :) ha ha!

i also, paper pieced the eyes and tongue of the puppy. the hearts were cut out with a punch (a much, much used and loved punch!) and then i added some glossy-coating to them so they would match the sentiment in color and texture.

i heat embossed (in red!) the sentiment, which is also paper smooches (setiment sampler).

so that's it! i hope that little card sent all of my love and hugs to Danielle! that's a lot of responsibility for a little card. :)

enjoy!

many thanks

just a quick post tonight!

i made this card for a few challenges, actually! this will be my first time playing along with jay gee's nook - and what a fun challenge site! check out this challenge's inspiration photo:

i'm also submitting this card for the challenge at lawnscaping - paper piecing (love!!) and wee memories - anything goes!

it's a fairly simple card. i paper pieced and layered a bunch of fabulous paper by sassafrass for the flowers from lawn fawn's judy's blooms stamp set. i love those large flowers, and i just love pairing up different patterned papers! :)

each layer was popped up with for extra dimension.

the sentiment i chose is from lawn fawn's many thanks stamp set. i really liked how 'strict' the letters were, compared to the flowy-ness of the flowers. yeah, those are technical terms! ha ha!! :)

enjoy!

a holiday layout

today i am sharing a layout i made of the oldest little mann's first christmas! :) i'm entering it in the latest challenge at wee memories - 'holiday madness' as well as the latest challenge at lawnscaping - paper piecing, perhaps my most favorite thing to do!

so i just love the color combination of red, teal and lime green...as you can tell! i paper pieced the snowman and lights (both stamp sets from lawn fawn - making frosty friends and cozy christmas). i also used color pencils to color in the presents from lawn fawn's pa-rum-pa-rum-rum stamp set, the ribbon parts of the presents were then cut and popped up for some dimension! :) naturally.

i do like to make my layouts a little interactive, and this one is no exception. there is a mini album hidden in the large present (by the way, those are snowflakes from the 'frosties' stamp set on that large present!) the ribbon on top of the mini album is the ribbon on the present when it's completely hidden! he he he!

i had to include the mini album because there were so many pictures from that first christmas that i wanted included! but at the same time, i wanted to keep a very clean look. :) mission accomplished.

i used various thickers for the title of the layout - can't craft without thickers either! :)

enjoy!

ps meets lf

i have a new card today that i created for the latest challenge over at lawnscaping: dimension and layering! i'm also going to enter this for paper smooches' november guest designer search!

this is another one of those cards that i have had as an idea in my head for a while, and just finally was able to make it come into fruition! as soon as bought lawn fawn's 'clear to see' stamp set, i KNEW i wanted to use the glasses on one of the critters from their stapms! but alas, they are just a smidge too big. enter paper smooches' stamps! the 'fruitastic' stamps are the perfect size for adding glasses! lol!

here's a little breakdown on what i did:

i fussy cut and paper pieced the paper smooches fruit and then heat embossed the glasses onto the orange. after i adhered the orange onto the base of the card and stamped the first part of the sentiment, i added a layer of velum.

then i added the polaroid from lawn fawn's 'say cheese' stamp set with the lemon on it (which is also popped up). lastly, i stamped the rest of the sentiment onto the polaroid.

the reason i added the velum was because i wanted it to be 'fuzzy' with the orange, and 'clear' with the lemon to really emphasize the sentiment! fun, huh? :) i hope you thought so!

ok, off to the beach!

enjoy!

a little loopy layout

today i have a layout that i made for my newest little mann! my first layout with him on it (if you don't count the one i made showing his ultrasound (here). anyway, i wanted to make it just perfect, and i hope i came close to that, at least! i was inspired by the latest challenge going on at CAS-ual Fridays - feeling loopy!

i knew i wanted to do a banner-type layout, and when i read the challenge, i was like BAM, that's it, ribbon loops! here it is:

i looped ribbon around the twine to look like a banner! you may think this color combo is a little odd (grey, teal and yellow), but i LOVE it. we did all of his room in this color scheme! so i knew i had to incorporate those colors on his 'welcome' layout! :)

i used two different lawn fawn stamp sets (harold's abc's and plus one) for this layout. LOVE me some lawn fawn! :) the moon and stars that hang next to the ribbons on the banners are actually part of the mobile on the 'plus one' set that i isolated. :) i really liked the look of the mixing the 'harold's abcs' stamp set with thickers for the main title of the page. that's one of my favorite parts!

i also added some buttons to a few of the ribbon's to add some dimension and hidden delights! :)

i then added nolan's 'stats' and some pictures of him from the hospital, and vwa-la! another CAS layout in the bank. :)

well, that's it!

enjoy!

my favorite technique

the current challenge going on at wee memories is using your favorite technique! and the technique i chose was paper-piecing!

i was thinking this may be one of my favorite challenges because i had so much fun making this card - i just love paper-piecing! but in reality, i just love getting crafty!

so here it is:

the stamps i used are from the craft's meow and one of the sets (owl be thinking of you) was actually designed by jenny (wee memories) herself! seriously, give it up, those owls are too cute for words aren't they! :) and the other stamp set is fun(tashe)tic and it really is. LOVE it! ha ha!

the owls are all paper-pieced of course. but they are also popped up for dimension, as is the sentiment. it's a very clean card, but i adore it. and i love the personality that each different patterned paper gives the owls! :) especially the 'super snazzy' owl with the 'stache!'

side note - sorry the pictures are so dark! my camera was clearly acting up and not cooperating for this shoot. it's now in the shame corner.

:)

well it's the beginning of another week, only 4 more days until friday! :) let the countdown begin! :)

enjoy!

world card making day challenges

world card making day was today! yahoo! i almost made some scrapbook layouts, i had to stop myself! lol!

anyway, did you see that lawn fawn is having a little challenge to celebrate world card making day? the challenge is to create a thank you card AND send it. i am definately guilty of making cards and then saving them! i don't know what i save them for! ha ha! anyway, we just moved across town into a house and i made this card for my father-in-law who helped us move! he came all the way from california to help, so he definately deserved at least a card! lol!

i am also submitting this card in the lawnscaping challenge - create a project celebrating world card making day! :)

anyway, it wasn't hard at all to create a thank you card with lawn fawn stamps, they're amazing! lol! and in this card, i used 3 different lawn fawn stamp sets (critters in the snow, making frosty friends, and many thanks).

i heat embossed with clear, the background of the card. i love how it the clear embossing powder looks on the white cardstock. especially since this is a winter scene, i think it adds to the 'snow' effect. at the bottom of the card are little pom-pom's that i cut off of some ribbon i had. i adhered them on to look like snow balls!

the snowman and penguin are paper-pieced and popped up for dimension. :)

well, that's my card! i hope i can get crafty even more tonight! once the short people go down for sleep that is! :)

enjoy!