a mini-menn layout

the inspiration photo for the latest challenge at lawnscaping makes me drool! lol! i don't know what it is, but i could stare at it all day! i love the colors and the texture possibilities...it's just perfection!

so of course i wanted to create a layout for this challenege that emitted that same feeling of warmth and homey-ness (and love!).

it's a layout celebrating just how much our little menn love (and look like!!) their dad! i thought the colors and textures were perfect for a more masculine feel (despite the fact that i made felt flowers - for the first time! - on the layout...).

the background of the layout is adhesive corkboard...um yeah...it's pretty awesome! i used some dark red paper to border the pictures, but i distressed them (with my house keys!! lol!) and some grey paint (courtesy of my big little mann). the title was made with lawn fawn's quinn's abc's - i cut each letter out once in red/orange paper and once in grey and then made the shadow effect. i also used, 'harold's abc's'. 'critters in the forest', 'clear to see', 'say cheese too' and 'my silly valentine' throughout the layout. :) yeah you heard me...6 stamp sets!!! lol! *whistle*

everyone says that the boys look just like josh, so i went with the whole idea of 'apples not falling far from the tree' for this layout...

i used some glossy accents for the glasses and wooden letters (representing the boys' names) to pull in the glass bottle in the background. seriously...glass, cork...paper, felt...yeah. i love me some texture, you think? :)

enjoy!

gobble gobble!

last week i went to a petting zoo with my little menn, and there were turkeys there! and boy, i have to be honest here...they're pretty ugly! nothing like the cute little lawn fawn turkey ('turkey day' mini stamp set)!! ha ha!

anyway, it inspired me to make a thanksgiving card, just for fun! no challenges! :)

i came up with the idea of those little winter birds 'dressing' up like turkeys! ha ha!! can you see it? the little birds are from 'making frosty friends' and the turkey feathers are actually flowers from the 'petite floral's set! it made me giggle! my husband just shook his head and walked away.

he knows me too well!

this is how the scene plays out in my head:

real turkey - what the?!

mini fake turkey - yeah, i'm dressed like a turkey. deal with it. :)

anyway, happy thanksgiving to everyone!!

besides the usual gratefullness for family, friends, and health, i'm grateful everyday for the opportunity to share this crafty hobby with so many other like-minded people! i'm inspired every day at the craftiness of others online!

enjoy!

nose and mistletoes

i was inspired by this saying that popped into my head, and it was one of those times that was nagging and nagging at me. so i just HAD to make the card to go with the sentiment as soon as i could!

this card was also created for the challenge to make a christmas card with paper smooches stamps!

so, what was the setiment...well here it is!

from my nose to my mistletoes!

(and inside it says a simple merry christmas!)

i used the stockings and birds from 'hang ups' and the sentiment was created (of course) with alphadots. :) i used some bakers twine that i had, and of course i just adore teal and red and white together! especially for christmas! :)

i heat embossed the sentiment with this new embossing powder that i recently purchased from simon says stamp! instead of giving a shiny, smooth effect, this powder puffs up and gets all texture-y. it's fantastic!

alright that's it.

enjoy!

a very special birthday

my mom's 50th birthday is tomorrow - i can't believe it! and she can't either! i had a hard time turning 30 this year...and she's in the same boat! how does life go by so fast?!

anyway, now that you know my dirty, dark secret (i'm 30!!! ew!)...ha ha! ...i want to share a card i made for her birthday! she lives in florida, so i won't see her on her birthday, but we'll be making our way down there in a few weeks for thanksgiving! anyway, i sent the card in the mail yesterday along with her homemade present from her little grand-menn (my boys! ha ha).

i am playing along with wee memories, since the challenge this week is birthdays and celebrations!

so here's my card:

my mom's favorite color is purple, but as you may have heard me complain about before...purple blocks my creativity! lol! i'm serious, for some reason, i can't create things with purple! i had to rise above for this card though, and actually, i really liked how it turned out! i only used purple as the accents, and i think it really helped! ha ha!

the airplane and clouds are from lawn fawn's 'bon voyage' mini-stamp set. i made the banner and used some glue dots to make it pop up so it looked like it was in flight. :) i used lawn fawn's 'harold's abc's' stamp set to create the sentiment which i heat embossed.


inside the card, i used 'harold's abc's' (heat embossed) again, as well as some american craft's numbers...the name of the stamp set escapes me though... :/

so that's it! it was a blast to make!

enjoy!

if at first you don't succeed

if at first you don't succeed - make another card! lol! i'm really digging paper smooches stamps right now, the images are so quirky and fun! i can't resist them!

so, with that said, it's paper smooches SPARKS challenge time again! here is the inspiration photo:

i love the color combo of blues with oranges, so this is totally up my ally. here's the card i came up with:

obviously i was inspired by the colors, but i also loved how the apples in the inspiration photo go up and down, it reminded me of someone falling. which reminded me the 'if at first you don't succeed, try, try again' saying! so this is my interpretation of all that!

note - the cat is supposed to be 'falling' and 'bouncing'. my husband looked at the card, and said, 'oh is the cat floating in space?'

doh!

anyway, i fussy cut out the cats (chubby chums stamp set), and paper pieced their eyes on, so they were bright white. then i colored in the stripes and eyebrows with - no not copics! ha ha - sharpies! my very first office supply love! :)

i used the alphadots stamp set to make my sentiment. the word bubbles are an october afternoon stamp. :)

i also stamped the inside, something i haven't done much of, but i am starting to do more of! :) it like, surprise! extra hand crafted love for you! :)

i double stamped the sentiment with two different yellow stamp pads - another technique i'm starting to like more and more! :)

so that's it!

enjoy!

thanks friendly fox!

have you seen the entries so far for the current lawnscaping challenge: all about thanks? holy moly, they're all amazing! go look right now! i'll wait.



*whistle*

ok, you're back! aren't they crazy good? i was almost discouraged to play this week because the talent there is unbeleivable!

almost.

but then i remembered, wait, i love being scrappy and crafty! so i'm playing anyway, and i had a ton of fun making this card! :) so it was totally worth it! and that's all that matters!

so here it is:

i used some die cuts from papertrey ink for the clouds, and then put some very bright and fun ribbon behind them! i think it's so fun!

i paperpieced the fox and colored the mushroom with some colored pencils. i used my new grass punch (i can't get enough of it!) and layered it with the fox and mushroom for dimension. i also stamped the sentiment twice (with two different yellow inks), and i really like how it looks! (even if i look at it sometimes and feel like my eyes are out of focus! lol)

of course the stamps are lawn fawn - critters in the forest. who doesn't love lawn fawn critters?!

so that's the card in a nutshell! it's short and sweet! and i can't wait to send it to someone special!

enjoy!

young crafters unite blog hop!

**if you're looking for the 'Cards that Care' blog hop post - please click here**

today is the blog hop for young crafters unite - masculine cards!

you should have arrived here from Bee's blog! if you're just arriving here, please head over to the young crafters unite blog for all of the details! there are some awesome sponsers for this blog hop: Simon Says Stamp and Paper Smooches! Simon Says has generously donated two $25 gift certificates, and PS has donated their brand new My Guy stamp set for one lucky winner!

so, here we go, here's my card:

i have a hard time making masculine cards, that's why i wanted to participate in this hop - to challenge myself! so when i made this card, i went with as many masculine cliche's as i could think of!

- muted colors - check

- a phrase about being a man - check

- 'math-y' and graphic type paper - check

- oh, and of course, mustaches!! - check!!

i think this card still captures my sense of humor, even though it's not girly! i used paper smooches stamps (vegtastic) and the craft's meow stamps (Fun{tache}tic) to make them 'macho!' :) the sentiment and the mustaches are popped up for dimension. each veggie was paper pieced, too.

there, i hope i made it masculine, and i hope you enjoyed it!! next up on the hop is Melissa's blog! check it out!!

enjoy the rest of the hop!

cards that care blog hop

hello!!

welcome to the Cards that Care blog hop! you should have made your way here from Annette's blog! if not, no problem! just head on over to Vera's blog and start there! it's such a fantastic cause! i know last year i made a bunch of christmas cards...and then forgot to send them out!!! so i'm going to send them in for Cards that Care and hopefully brighten someone's day! because, let's be honest...i'll be making more christmas cards this year!

The hop runs from November 4th until Sunday, November 6th at midnight (CST). Make sure to comment on all of the blogs because there are LOTS of prizes to be won! These companies generously offer prizes for the hop: Lawn Fawn, Penny Black, Sweet Stamps Shop, Avocado Arts, I Love It All, Hero Arts and onlinecardclasses.com. All the details can be found on the here! Winners will be selected randomly from comments left on the participants blog. The more blogs you leave comments on the better your chances of winning!

on to my card:

i made a very CAS card using non-traditional holiday stamps from paper smooches! :)

i paper pieced the peas from 'fruitastic' and popped up the peas themselves for dimension. the sentiment is from the same set, and then i used the 'alphadots' stamp set to add 'this christmas'. :) all of that is on a white background that is also popped up on the card. i added a little sparkle with my viva pen in the corners!

that's it! you're almost done with the hop! now head on over to Karin's blog for some more holiday card fun!

enjoy the rest of the hop, and i hope it has inspired you to contribute some christmas cards to the cause!