thanks grillfriends!

i made this super fun thank you card for my husband's co-workers! they had us over on saturday (along with two other couples) for some really delicious bbq! it ended being a really good time! there were 8 adults and 8 kids, so it was kind of crazy at times! lol! but everyone was super nice and we all had a good time! so i thought a thank you card was in order!

the latest paper smooches sparks picture perfect challenge had the perfect inspiration photo! 

i used the alphadots and alfresco stamp sets from paper smooches! 

i have been wanting to ink up that grill with the big eyes FOREVER!!! and i am so excited i finally did - i just love that little guy! the fire is paper pieced, and the speech bubble is a chipboard speech bubble from pebbles, which i stamped right on for the sentiment! 

it's a relativuly simple card - but i just think it's so fun and happy! 
enjoy!

think warm thoughts

so as far as winter goes - we don't have much of it in SC! but we have been feeling the bit of a cold snap lately! and 30 degrees feels SO COLD when you're used to 75! :)

either way, i was finally inspired to make a card for two challenges - lawnscaping (winter wonderland!) and pinspired (which is all about the photo below!):

so i went with the current cold temps we're having and made this SUPER fun card that i just LOVE! :)

i went with a grey scale type of card, to really acentuate the message of being warm! so i only made the fire (and the log) a color)! how fun right?! everything is paper pieced and i used a BUNCH of lawn fawn stamps - gnome sweet gnome, cozy christmas, a birdie told me, harold's abc's and winter owl. whew!

the 'grass' i heat embossed in white to make it look like snow! fun! the thought bubble and owl are popped up for dimension and i also added some pearls to make 'snow'! 
the 'warm' part of the sentiment is some old sassafrass stickers that i found in my sash! they matched the fire guy perfectly! 

so stay warm if you can! we're on our way to ice skating lessons for our big little mann! :)
enjoy!

squeal!

i had lots of fun making this card for the latest challenge at paper smooches sparks - cool shades colors challenge!

i just love that little hamster image from the paper smooches stamp set 'party posse', it's so cute!! - LOVE it! it makes me squeal every time i see it, so i knew it would make a super fun, non-traditional valentine's day card! :)

i paper pieced the little fella and then added some glossy accents to his nose and the hearts. i stamped the sentiment out on some light grey washi tape from my minds eye and added a little paper clip heart that i found at target! :)

i love the punches of fushia with the mostly masculine-y colors. so fun! and i wanted the square card shape i made to take on a polaroid feel, too! :) 

enjoy

golden oldie

i made this card while i was in FL. my best friend danielle was kind enough to let me come over to her house for a few hours and take my mind off of things. i didn't have ANY of my crafty supplies!! eek! but she gave me access to all of her goodies, so i was able to create this card for my mom!

i was all about the latest challenge at a blog named hero - using older hero arts sets. and i just LOVE the owl i used. LOVE LOVE LOVE! this was my first time coloring him up - and i went totally girly/lovey colors. :) he he!

i used the hero arts all occasion messages and happy hello! 

so, i colored the owl with some american crafts markers and then popped it up for dimension. then i used this SUPER fun, puffy heart embellishment to match the dimension of the owl! the hearts were fussy cut and then added over the owl and the fun new purple chevron washi! 

that's it! hopefully it brings lots of love and smiles to my mom! :)
enjoy!

a couple of best friends

today i have a card to share that just made for the play date cafe challenge! 
this time, the colors are super pretty and soft! 

i have to admit i was staring at my brand new mama elephant stamps and i just really wanted to get them inky and play! and then the idea came into my head for a best friend (aka friendship) card! and i really like it! i want to run and put it in the mail today!!! ...but no mail today, tomorrow though! :)

so here's my card:

i used the cosmic stars and smitten stamp sets for the card - LOVE!!!! 
the little gemini's are paper pieced and popped up for dimension. and i even added a little blush to their cheeks with 1 of my 5 copic markers! lol! 

the doily is literally from a restaurant!!! they were the 'coasters' and i snagged them for scrapping!! (who needs coasters? napkins it is!) i think i may have a problem! lol! but i'm so glad i did, because i think it adds to the femininity of the card! 

the yellow banners are cut from a MFT banner die, and the pink is some washi - i tried, but just couldn't NOT use washi. i have so much! and i love it , so i want to use it! lol!

so that's it! 
enjoy!

the brave birthday

i have another birthday related project to share. 
this time, it's a card and it's for the lawnscaping challenge - birthdays! (because it's their 2nd year anniversary!! happy birthday to lawnscaping!!!)

this card i made for my best friend's little girl who's turning 4 soon! her birthday party is all brave/merida themed! which i think is FANTASTIC because i LOVE all things scotland! :)

have you seen the movie brave? if you have, this card works! lol! :)
let's see i used lawn fawn's stamp sets: critters in the forest, bannerific, critters in the snow, and harold's abcs!

yes, i know there is a lot going on, but i wanted to make it FUN and exciting for a 4 year old to look at! (at least for the .2 seconds she'll look at it before moving on to her presents! :)

the bear and the banners are popped up for dimension. and i even used my sewing machine to sew around the edges! although...that's hard to tell...because, er..there's a lot going on! :) ha ha!
anyway, enjoy!

hey cupcake

just a quick post here. 
(tmi alert: things took a turn towards the worst with my grandpa - so i may be quiet on the blog for a while)

since i haven't been in the mood to get crafty (my mind has been elsewhere), i've been feeling low. so i decided to make myself get crafty, forcing myself to get happy. :) 
i decided to play along with a brand new challenge site on the block - pinspired! it's all abut taking inspiration from things found on pinterest and getting crafty! love!

here's the very first challenge: 

so that was easy, right? i took the cake-yness and the birthday-yness from the photo and made this little gift box:

for the most part i used things at my desk. and odd note - i made this whole thing standing up! lol! i usually sit down at my desk, but i made while my littlest mann was sitting at my desk 'hard at work', read: banging on the computer keyboad. lol! 

i used stamps from the alley way stamps: cover-ups and hey cupcake. the little cherry and the heart are all popped up, and i even added a little sparkle to the heart - it needed it!  i used some washi tape on the sentiment and added some ribbon with flairs out, but it also goes around the whole box.

inside are some hershey kisses and m&m's. just a little treat! the box was made using a template i found on...you guessed it!! pinterest!

so that's it!
have a good weekend! and get inky for the new challenge site too!
enjoy!

love you more!

today i'm sharing another card i made for my grandpa. he's still not doing so well, and since i don't live near him, i want to do whatever i can to brighten his day, and right now, that's sending happy mail!

so, this card i made with the latest challenge from a blog named hero in mind! it's such a fun and appropriate challenge for the first one in january! :) use something new! :)

i happened to use this set that i just got from simon says stamp! it's the oh snap stamp set from hero arts/studio calico. it's SUPER awesome, to recap, it has feathers, arrows, hexagons and camera sentiments - sold!! :) ha ha!

so here's my card:

i used some washi (which i am in LOVE with, but haven't had a chance to use yet!!) as my jumping off point! the sentiment and arrows are from the stamp set, and the little potty people (LOVE) are wood veneers from studio calico. and i made the boy bigger than the girl to represent me and my grandpa! :) silly? 

so that's it! hope it got you going to make get crafty, or at least made you smile!
enjoy!

celebrate good times - come on!

i'm feeling it today! :) it's saturday, it's sunny and i'm feeling the craftiness vibe! :)
last night i made this card for the current challenge over at the play date cafe - and what a unique and different color story for me! 

at first i thought there was no way i could make this color combination work! but it turned out to be so FUN to work with and i'm totally diggin it now! :) and great for a masculine card, perhaps!?

i used some mama elephant stamps to create a fun birthday card for my dad! he's all about going to the shooting range and...i'm not exactly sure what it's called, but it's something where he dresses up and shoots through a mock city and saves 'hostages'. it's basically a real life video game i think! lol! anyway, that's what he's in to! so i thought the bullseye image from 'on target' was just perfect for his birthday card!!! 

i used the sentiment from 'good times' and stamped it right onto my washi tape! some of my favorite washi tape, too! i'm totally into the grid design right now...not sure why! just feelin' it! 

i also used the heart from 'on target' and popped it up (as well as the target itself). the heart has been glossified too! 

*note: 
you may notice a few smudges...yes. i can't even point the blame to my curious, nosy little menn for that. nope! the blame goes RIGHT to my hubby! i had JUST stamped the sentiment, when he picked it up and BAM!! smudge. sigh. such is life, right? :)

anyway, i hope your day is filled with sun, smiles and ink!
enjoy!

anything goes!

i'm so excited to be able to get crafty again! the holidays were AMAZING! filled with family and fun and fantastic memories for my little menn, but i didn't have that much time to get inky or sticky or crafty! so i'm ready for the routine of everyday life to settle back! and to start it off, i made a layout last night for the current challenge at paper smooches sparks - anything goes! what's not to love, and more importantly, how can i resist?! it's anything goes!! lol!

(plus it gives me an excuse to make a layout!) :)

i used lots of stamp sets from paper smooches - get outta town, happy camper, swanky snowdudes, alphadot and perpetual bliss! whew! 

 please excuse the photos - i'm clearly still a newbie when it comes to photographing my layouts, and that dang flash on my camera always floods my images! lol!

let's see, i did some layering, and paper piecing (the campfire and the suitcases!) and added some super fun vellum arrows from studio calico - which are just plain fun! and of course, there are thickers for the main title. 

i included a tag i made in the stripped grey bag with some journalling - something i RARELY do! ha ha! i totally love journaling on other people's layouts, but i always forget to include a spot on my layout for it! so it's either hidden or not there, because hey, i know what it's about, right?! lol! :)

ha! sigh...i still have some learning and tweaking to do on my style! so anyway, that's it! and it's friday - so good things all around!! 
enjoy!