surf's up!

i have a quick post today! my parents are up visiting and we're having a great time together! 
but i wanted to share the layout i made for the current avery elle AEi(love)U challenge! :)

there was a sketch and i thought, i can make a layout with that! :)

now, i only have a few avery elle stamp sets...but that will change soon - i just placed a new order! i couldn't resist those new releases!! ha ha!
here's my layout!

it's from 4 years ago, (wow!) but it is still one of my favorite pictures ever. it's when my little mann was actually little! he was only one and there he is all about the surf board! :)
the stamp sets i used were hipster-potomus and celebrate!

the birds and hat (LOVE that hat) were paper pieced and popped up. i also outlined the birds with a grey copic -if you've ever been to a florida beach, you know that there are always seagulls everywhere! ha ha! so i had to add them to my layout!

the sentiment was created with thickers i used lots of stars from the celebrate stamps set too!

there is also a glycene bag that holds other memories and pictures, as well as a little tag that i journalled on about that day. :)

so that's it!
i'm so glad i was able to play along! i was almost thinking i couldn't make my stamp sets work! 
i am so excited to get my new ones in the mail!
enjoy!

love moo so much!

hey all! today i made a card and i think it's just so cute! :)
i used the sketch from CAS(E) this sketch - i think it's just fantastic! 

my card uses four mama elephant stamp sets, even though it's super clean and simple (for me!)!

i used the clouds to represent the banner! :) ha ha! (the clouds are from sunny skies).
everything is popped up for dimensionand i even added glossy accents to the 'moo'! 

speaking of the sentiment, i used one of the speech bubbles from the 'hello' stamp set and then added the fun part of the sentiment with the midnight letters - love those! :)

the little cow (he he!) was paper pieced and is from the cosmic stars stamp set. i finished off the card with some pearls and that's it! 

super soft and fun card! i was stiffling some laughs the whole time i was making the card (love moo!). so i hope it made you chuckle a little.
enjoy!

magnets are dino-mite!

i'm over on the newton's nook designs blog today! 

and today i'm sharing a cute project i made for my little menn!

we take lots of road trips - mostly to see my parents in FL and the boys do great! but sometimes they get a little car crazy! (and so do i!!) so i thought i would make something for them to play with while we were in the car!

and i thought the stamp set for this would be prehistoric pals!

it's a magnet/dry erase board!! and aren't those little dino's cute? :) and since it's also a dry erase board, the boys can color, draw and outline whatever else needs to be added to this scene!

i had to add googly eyes again since they were magnets and the boys would be handling them! :)

i fussy cut out all of the dinosaurs and then added a little bit of extra color to them for some fun! once that was done, i just used an old magnet i had, cut it to size and attached it to the pieces. :) 

here's a teeeeeny tiny video showing this in action (no sound!):

the clouds are just a punch, as is the grass! :)

so that's it! lots of (portable!!) fun for my little menn! :)

here's my biggest little mann playing it below - i had JUST finished it and he had to check it out! :)

enjoy!

happy birthday cupcake toppers sneak

the month long birthday celebration is still in full swing over at the little tangles challenge blog! 
neat and tangled is celebrating their FIRST year and there have been prizes, projects and celebrating every day on the little tangles challenge blog all month long!

today i'm one of the guests on the blog with fun cupcake toppers! 
here's a sneak of what i'm talking about:

so head on over and see what's going on - there is so much inspiration! there are even a few challenges for you to try too!
enjoy!

inky paws sketch challenge #2

hey there! it's time for another inky paws sketch challenge at newton's nook designs!!

and here it is:

i know! lots of fun! :)
for my card, i just flipped the sketch upside down this time! i thought winged wishes was a perfect fit for this sketch!! 

i used my distress markers to color in the images from and then fussy cut them out.
i used twine for my clothes line and then popped up the little clothes with foam dots (i also added some glossy accents to the hearts on the onesies!).

the clouds were also colored with distress markers and then stuck onto the white woodgrain background.
the yellow pattern in the back is actually washi tape! love washi tape! :) and i created my own sentiment with all of the fun 'builder' words included in the winged wishes stamp set! :)

so that's it! 
time to get out your newton's nook designs stamps and play along! 
enjoy!

i love you more than cupcakes

there has an unbelievable party going on at little tangles and neat and tangled all month long because neat and tangled turned 1! there have have been contests, challenges, blog hops and prizes! and it's still going on!

today i had to play along with the latest challenge - let them eat cake! 

there's a free digi over there too, and it's super fun and modern!

i love how my card turned out! and it's a little deceiving because it looks like it is pretty straight forward but i used two different stamp sets for the sentiment (and then sketchy cupcakes for the main image!).

i just love that little 'dollop' shape for frosting on the cupcake!! it makes me smile everytime! 
the setiment was created using my heart sings and sparkle and shine! lots of masking and trial runs to get it right! ha ha!

i love that neutral base because it really makes the cupcake pop! i used some foam adheasive to elevate the background and put some of my favorite ever washi behind it to up the fun factor! 

so that's it! 
join in with the fun!
enjoy!

lawnscaping challenge - distress maniacs

it's time for another lawnscaping challenge, and this time is all about distress inks! love it!

i made a super fun card and the proof is in the pudding people - i have inks all over my hands!! no joke, the little menn saw my hands and then colored their hands too (not with distress inks, with straight on markers!). we have a lot of monkey see, monkey do happenings here. :)

here's my card for the challenge! every color is a ditress ink!

for the ocean, i used peacock feathers and salty ocean. i pressed the ink pads directly to my craft sheet and then spritzed liberally with water and pressed my watercolor paper into it. i did the same technique for the sunset sky, too! the inks i used for the sky are squeezed lemonade, spiced marmalade, and festive berries! (the sentiment was made with harold's abc's)

the dolphins were colored by watercoloring with the iced spruce distress ink and adding a just a dab of picked raspberries on their cheeks! 

oh, and you may have noticed...the dolphins spin! well technically, they 'flip!' ha ha! here's a little video:

so. your turn! get your lawn fawn stamps and your distress inks, markers and tools and get to crafting! :)
(and maybe keep some wipes on hand!)
and for even more inspiration (if you can stand it!), check out the lawnscaping facebook page! we're dedicated to keeping your creative juices flowing! :)
so, enjoy!

lawnscaping facebook inspiration team post (sneak peak)

hey there! it's my turn to share some lawn fawn fun at the lawnscaping challenge blog!!
i'm talking about the one-ders of one layers for the challnege that just ended! :)

just because the challenge is over, doesn't mean you can't continue to make one layers, right?

here are few sneak peaks of what you'll find at the lawnscaping blog:

and if you're still looking at your stamps and need more inspiration, head over to the lawnscaping facebook page! 
enjoy!

guest designer at little tangles!

i'm beyond excited!! today, i'm over at the little tangles challenge blog as a guest designer! :)

but wait, there's more! :) 
neat and tangled is celebrating their 1st birthday...ALL MONTH LONG! it's a great time over there with TONS of inspiration, FUN and prizes!! so be sure to check back each day to see what's in store!

here's a sneak peak of my card there today:

and because i couldn't make just one birthday card for the neat and tangled birthday bash, i made a second card! :) i was going for the 'and one to grow on' theme! 

so that's it! help neat and tangled celebrate turning 1!!! i can't wait to see what another year brings!! and for all the fun and excitement, check out the little tangles challenge blog!
enjoy!

Newton's Nook Designs August Release - wagon of wishes

what a great day today! 
newton's nook is releasing their next round of stamps - and they're awesome!!

today's focus is all about wagon of wishes - a perfectly adorable fall stamp set!
and i just had to make 2 projects for this stamp set too!!

for my first card, i channeled my inner duck dynasty for the sentiment (does anyone else watch that show? i LOVE it! lol!)

i used my distress markers to color in the images. then i fussy cut them out and popped them up for dimension.

i also added some sequins to jazz up the sentiment. this card definitely makes me happy happy happy! :)

my next card was really fun to make! lots and lots of paper piecing and layering! :)

i het embossed the sentiment and chose some warm, fall colors for the leaves and some cool, cozy colors for the backgrounds! (a perfect fall day if you ask me!)

i combined two of the images from the stamp set and hid little newton in some of the leaves! then i added some of the leaves to look like they were falling down. lots of cutting and glueing, but lots of fun too!

Would you like to win Wagon of Wishes?This set will be given away to Two lucky winners! 

Here's how to win: 

1. Comment on Newton's Nook Design blog: http://www.newtonsnookblog.com. One Winner will be randomly chosen from the comments on the August release posts.

2. Comment on the Design Team Member and Guest blogs (see list below)! One winner will be chosen at random from the collective blogs in the August release blog hop. Make sure to check out each of their blogs and comment for your chance to win. You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning! You have until Thursday, August 15th at 9 pm Central Standard Time to comment  -- winners will be announced on the blog post on Friday, August 16th.

Make sure you check out all the blogs participating in the Launch Party below to enter:

Tessa Wise

Jocelyn Olson 

Samantha Mann  (that's me!)

Emily Leiphart

Jennifer Ingle
Elena Roussakis

thanks so much for visiting, and don't forget to comment for your chance to win! :)

enjoy!

Newton's Nook Designs August Release - prehistoric pals

what a great day today! 
newton's nook is releasing their next round of stamps - and they're awesome (or should i say, rawr-some!)!!

today we're looking at prehistoric pals - and it's an amazingly cute dinosaur stamp set!
i made two projects with this stamp set - 1 card and 1 layout!

my card was made for my littlest mann - he just turned two a few weeks ago! 

i fussy cut out the little brontosaurus guy and colored in his spots and tummy with a darker green. then i added glossy accents to teh dark areas for some texture. and i had to add a googly eye! i think it's so cute!

oh and that cupcake - the top part is the cloud from winged wishes!! and then i just made my own cupcake wrapper!

my layout is of the little mann himself! he has a pair of dino shoes that he loves and when he wears them, he feels like the big kid on campus! :)

i cut out a bunch of dinos and then placed them all over the layout.
the bottom of the layout was stamped with the 'rawr' sentiment over and over. i also made sure to add some of the dino footprints to my layout since the mann himself is out taking a stroll. 

and i love those little boulders included in the set! they really help build a scene, and i was totally loving just randomly adding them to the layout.

Would you like to win Prehistoric Pals?This set will be given away to Two lucky winners! 

Here's how to win: 

1. Comment on Newton's Nook Design blog: http://www.newtonsnookblog.com. One Winner will be randomly chosen from the comments on the August release posts.

2. Comment on the Design Team Member and Guest blogs (see list below)! One winner will be chosen at random from the collective blogs in the August release blog hop. Make sure to check out each of their blogs and comment for your chance to win. You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning! You have until Thursday, August 15th at 9 pm Central Standard Time to comment  -- winners will be announced on the blog post on Friday, August 16th.

Make sure you check out all the blogs participating in the Launch Party below to enter:

Tessa Wise

Jocelyn Olson 

Samantha Mann  (that's me!)

Emily Leiphart

Jennifer Ingle

thanks so much for visiting, and have fun seeing all of the amazing cards!! they're AWESOME!!

enjoy!

a happy birthday card

well, i meant to post this card hours ago...but then i lost power for 6 hours. that was NOT FUN. it was 106 here with the heat index. we were melting. ugh.

on to good things!! i made a card this morning (before melting!) for the sweet stamp shop's use what you have challenge! love that challenge! 

i used up some of my scraps...i have a few scraps...

*whistle*
i have a LOT of scraps. sigh.

anyway! :) my big little mann is turning 5 tomorrow!!!! so i had to make him a birthday card!! and he loves all things hockey - so that made this card pretty easy! :)

i actually used three stamp sets - alpha tabs (LOVE it), sports fever and scootin' by (only for the 'th' which i masked from the happy birthday sentiment ironically). 

first i added some black and white washi to the base of the card, then added the 'happy birthday' and the 5 (a super fun thicker set!). 

since he's still my little mann (always!!), i had to add an i love you to the front! i love those alpha tabs so much, and i thought a staple was 'manly' so there.

so that's it!
enjoy!

xo

hey there! happy friday!
today i have  a card to share that i made for the newest mama elephant challenge! :) LOVE when they have challenges! :) this time is a photo inspiration, and WOW. i'm in love!! it's everything i'm totally digging now: clean, graphic, yellow, pink and black. *swoon*

so i had to play along, i couldn't sit by the side lines. 
i had the privilege honor ashonishment joy (well i don't know the right word, but it was humbling and exciting and amazing!) of being a guest designer for mama elephant in may, and it was so fun and so wonderful! i can't say enough good things about the whole mama elephant team! they're amazing! i can't wait to see who is chosen for the next release! 

anyway, here's my card:

i used three mama elephant stamps: we click, bling and midnight letters.
i stamped the speech bubble multiple times on various patterned paper and vellum. then i layered them on top of the polaroid (which was popped up).
some of the speech bubbles are popped up too! 
the 'xo' was stamped and fussy cut out. and the background is some awesome woodgrain paper! LOVE it! i added some (more!) texture by sewing some lines on the top and bottom of the card. 

i finished it off with a few sequins and pearls! i was totally going for that clean white-on-white look, but i also wanted to add some interest...hence the woodgrain, sewing and pearls. :) fun! 

so that's it! it's totally one of my favorite cards! 

we're heading down to FL for a quick weekend trip, so i don't know how crafty i'll be...eek! so if you're in FL, look for the girl with the shakes mumbling about pop dots, patterned paper and sequins. i'll be going through withdrawls. :) ha ha!! (just kidding - i'm going to have a wonderful time with my family and bf - danielle!)
enjoy!