Shades of Purple Sympathy

Last week my downline Michelle hosted a shoebox swap and invited me to come along.  I was so happy to! Her theme was 'life events' weddings, babys, death....major life events.  I made this sympathy card.  I'm not sure I've ever paired Wisteria Wonder and Elegant Eggplant together but I love the look of them together.  I used my Penned and Painted set which makes the most beautiful flowers. I white heat embossed the greeting and added a doily because....why not!?

I love the look of the embossed polka dots with stamped stripes.  It's so pretty.  I have a bunch of cards to share with your tomorrow from the swap!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Non Traditional Christmas

I issued a challenge to my downline to make cards with non traditional colors.  Some of my favorite cards are ones that don't have your typical red and greens.  When I give them a challenge I do it too!  This was my card, I couldn't love it more!!!  First of all there's gold. That's all there's Gold Glimmer Paper.....that's literally all you need! But that gold glimmer paper is in the shape of a reindeer so now it's unstoppable!  Then I added in some trees in Flirty Flamingo and Peekaboo Peach....come on that is the best color combo ever!  There's really not a lot of stamping on here.  I pulled out the Santa's Sleigh and Christmas greetings framelits for this card.

I wanted to add a little something behind the trees so I used my diagonal strip background stamp and added some subtle stripes back there in Pink Pirouette.  I also embossed some snowflakes in clear to give it some extra texture!  It's such a pretty card and I can't wait to share the cards that my fellow demonstrators will make too!  Look for those in a couple weeks!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

I'm Back With Two Cards

I am back! I decided as long as the kids were out of school last week I was going to take a mini vacation from my blog as well.  I was able to catch up and get some work done as well as enjoy Thanksgiving and family time!  I have lots to share this week!  Today I have two cards, they're the same card with different greetings, but it's so easy to make a stack of them and add the proper greeting later.  

I am completely in love with this card.  The pop of Peekaboo Peach is so pretty against the Sahara Sand and Black backgrounds.  I love the white embossed greeting on the black cardstock.  You can substitute any greeting too.  I think this card would work for any occasion.   

I pulled out my Touches of Texture stamp set.  It's such a pretty stamp set and I haven't used it as much as I should!  I love the little piece of doily sticking out and the black metallic thread.

Of course it all had to sparkle so the greeting and the flower are brushed with some wink of stella.  If you have a friend who maybe doesn't love the Peekaboo Peach color (first question why, cause it's amazing!), you could easily substitute any color of the flower with this card. 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Shaker Ornament

Do you have the Made With Love set?  Stop using it for baby cards and be like me and turn the deer into the sweetest Christmas Shaker Ornament.  Now I wish that I could say that a shaker ornament is my original brilliant idea, but I can't take credit for this idea, I've seen shaker ornament ideas all over Pintrest.  Creating a shaker ornament is not that different than creating a shaker card.  The biggest difference is that usually in shaker cards you would use the foam adhesive strips to create the shaker area but since I didn't want the foam adhesive strips visible from the side I cut out scallop frames, and tons of them!!!!! 

I don't remember off the top of my head how many frames I used but it was a lot.  I would guess around 10.  I wanted it build up enough to add lots of shaker bits.  To create the frames I used the Layering Circles Framelits and I used the large scallop and I think the 2nd biggest circle.  I taped them together with some post it tape and ran them over and over through the big shot with some black cardstock until I had enough frames.  Then I just used some Tombow glue and stuck them all together, stacking up until I had a depth I was happy with.

The reindeer was colored and cut out I made him standing behind a snowy hill.  Then I added all my shaker bits and finally added some bakers twine on top.  It's so cute!!  These would make adorable gifts! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

You're The Friend

I'm pretty happy with this card.  I really love the simple rainbow pattern, can you tell I'm loving playing with my sponge daubers lately?  This card showcases embossing resist at it's best!  If you've never tried embossing resist what are you waiting for!?!  I simple embossed the greeting, and used my sponge dauber to add some ink over it. The embossed areas resist the ink and your stamped image shines through!  You don't have to use sponge daubers to add ink you can also use a brayer or color spritzer or stamp another solid image over it too. 

I finished the card with some Gold Glimmer stars and a strip of Gold Glimmer under the tag.  Everything is layered up on a piece of our Glassine Sheets.  These are such awesome sheets and I think are underrated in the catalog.  But they add this slightly shiny fun texture to any card!  That is layered on a polka dot embossed layer of white cardstock.  I just LOVE it all!!!! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Online Extravaganza Starts Monday!!!!

Time to save!!! The Online Extravaganza deals are here!!! These discounts start on Monday! See the PDF  for all the details on everything on sale-some items up to 40% off!!!
-Don't miss the 24 hour Flash Sales on November 21st and 28th!!!!
-All orders over $25 placed online at my website will receive a free gift from me!
-All orders over $35 placed online at my website will qualify for punches on your punch card!
Don't miss these deals! Shop here on Monday!!!

Shaker Flamingo

I love shaker cards, they're some of my favorite cards to make, ever! This is a pretty simple shaker but it's oh. so. cute!!!!!  To start with a shaker you need a window.  For my window I decided I wanted it to go through the card base too so I used my Layering Circles Framelits and cut a hole in both the card front and the card base.  Make sure to add your widow sheet over any and all 'windows' you've cut out. Our Foam Adhesive Strips makes shaker cards sooooo easy!  They're flexible and wrap around your window effortlessly!    Then you just fill your shaker and add the front or back.  They're so much fun!!!!!

I fussy cut the flamingo and the leaves but they're so cute and worth the time to fussy cut!!!  If you're interested in shaker cards, I'll be hosting a shaker card class in the new year.  Look for it coming soon in January! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Ink Blended Stripes

This card actually came out really pretty.  I know that makes me sound like I wasn't expecting it to but since I'd never done a card like this I wasn't sure.  But in the end I LOVE the results!  So pretty!!!  It was a little time consuming because each stripe had to be done one at a time but it's worth it!  I would also be really pretty to maybe to larger stripes in an ombre pattern!  

I made one tall and one long card.  I can't decide which I like better.  To get the stripes I used post it tape, ink and a sponge dauber.  I blocked off a section on the card with the post it tape and used my sponge dauber to blend in the ink in that area.  Then I removed the post it tape, taped it down either above or below and did it again alternating colors and widths of each stripe.  The colors I used were Flirty Flamingo, Peekaboo Peach, So Saffron, Pear Pizazz, Pool Party and Wisteria Wonder.  I love the rainbow look! 

Each card was finished with a gold embossed greeting and some Gold Glimmer stars.  I loved doing this technique and I'll be revisiting versions of this technique in the future it was soooo much fun!!!! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Grease Weekend Wrap-Up!

Today's post is a little later than usual but it's jam packed with fun wrap up pictures from our Grease Weekend, which was soooooooooooo much fun! I've been fortunate to be able to assist my downline Michelle in planning these weekends and I know I say it every time but every time she just astounds me with her creativity, organization and planning.  She amazes me every time in every way!  Like I said our weekend was Grease (the movie) themed.  We were all transported back to Rydell High and a fun 50's atmosphere!  

The tables were set up in a black checkered pattern with lots of Rydell goodies at each spot!  There's the Rydell High School ID, we had to harass people to please send us photos of themselves for these ID's but they're sooooo cute!!!  There's a pencil holder with pencils, a Rydell High Pennant.  A little composition book for notes and our schedule.  The tables before everyone gets there is always so cute!  I love seeing the rooms set up!

From there the weekend was full of fun! There were 50's scarfs, Pink Ladies, friends, crafts, snacks, activities, hula hooping, laughing, food, games, and yes perhaps an adult drink or two ;)

Every weekend Michelle pulls us together and we pull in a local non-profit agency to work with.  This time we collected shoe boxes with gifts for children of the Safe House.  The Safe House is a place where people needing to get away from domestic violence can live safely.  Currently they house women, children and yes sometimes men.  Abusers can come in any gender.  Between our group of about 28 people we were able to collect nearly 70 boxes for the children of the Safe House for Christmas.    

It took a couple days to unpack this time, normally I'm pretty anxious to get my stuff unpacked but even as I type this I still have a bag of stamp sets needing to be put away.  One of my favorite things about unpacking is seeing how much love was wrapped around me at the weekend.  I brought home so many wonderful lovely gifts.  From handmade necklaces to mini bottles of wine and everything in between!  I have the best friends at these weekends and they're all so generous!  Thank you! Thank you friends!!!!!!

I'm not only spoiled by my friends, Michelle does a really good job at spoiling us too!  I came home with so many amazing goodies!  I got a paper piercer, some candy dots, some brights enamel dots, dimensionals, and other adhesives of every kind, so much DSP (not pictured-cause it was already put away) and my favorite-the Tin of Tags!!!  EEEEKK!!!  I love it!  Thank you so much to Michelle for all your hard work for this weekend!  I'm already looking forward to Mardi Gras in February!!!!  For more information on these weekends visit Michelle's blog here. 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

Caffeine Fix

We have some late nights at our craft weekends for sure!!!  What better way to get that boost of caffeine than a sweet gift like this.  I made these little gifts for a few good friends at our Grease Themed Craft Weekend.  I just love them to pieces!!!!  First the little jars, they're pretty cute!!!  I found them at a big box craft store in the clearance section.  This was a few months ago, there was a bunch and of course I had no plans for them at the time but they were too cute to pass up and at such a great price at 80% off!  I grabbed almost all of them LOL.  I'm so glad I did though because they were the perfect holder for all these treats!   

The jars are filled with some coffee and chocolate, of course chocolate!  I count myself as a chocolate snob too.  I'm pretty picky about my chocolate and I definitely don't like milk chocolate.  I love getting chocolate at See's they're my favorite.  And if you're ever gonna pick me up some chocolate I love their scotchmallows the best!  Mmmmmmmmm!!! I bet you didn't stop by today to learn about my chocolate preferences though LOL. 

I used the Cheerful Tags Framelits from the Holiday Catalog for my tags.  I added a tiny white card in there so that I'd have room to write a quick message.  I also used the Tin of Tags Stamp set for the greeting and tied it all onto the jar with some Thick White Bakers Twine.  I made a few of these in different colors and made sure the tags coordinated with the colors, but this turquoise one is my favorite!!!! 

I'll have more from our Grease Weekend soon!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!

Stamp Set Of The Month

My December and final stamp set of the month for 2016 is Places You'll Go.  I really love this simplicity of this set and the really fun cards that you can create!  When you purchase this stamp set from me in December you'll receive the supplies and instructions to make these three cards.

Purchase the stamp set before December 1st and get a free gift with your kit too!!

I love that this set is perfect for masculine cards, yet you can still make a fun girly one too!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

Cable Knit Sweaters

Last month I gave my downline and fellow demonstrators a challenge to create Christmas sweaters with the Cable Knit Embossing Folder.  Boy did they deliver!  They're all amazing!!!  Crystal did this one.  Isn't that gingerbread man peeking out the pocket cute! 

Anne did this one.  It's so cute!!! I love the cropped top sweater and the belly button ring!!!!  Super cute!!!! 

This is from Tracy, she went above and beyond!!  There's so much detail on this card!  I love it all!!!!! 

Kim made this one, and holy cleavage Batman!  This card is for that special someone ;)

Cindi did this one, I love all the torn pieces of cardstock to make the camo pattern!  So creative.  Oh and did you notice the chest hair. LOL!

This is Kristin's very classic and pretty. I love all of them!!!!  Big THANKS to my demos who participated!!!!!! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Grateful For Friends and Watercoloring

Tomorrow is the day!  I leave for craft weekend!  Yay!!!!!!  I really can't wait.  These weekends are so much fun and I've made so many new friends and have gotten to know old friends even better!  I'm so thankful for all my friends old and new!!!! 

Earlier this month I issued a challenge to my downline, that in this month of being Thankful I wanted them to send at least 3 cards this month to 3 people who they are grateful to have in their lives.  Like with all challenges I don't give them one without making good on it myself.

I made a stack of these cards using the Remarkable You stamp set.  This is my favorite floral set to watercolor.  The images are large and bold!  I love that!  I picked 4 colors, I used Real Red, Bermuda Bay, Wisteria Wonder and Melon Mambo.  The cards are all made the same with the exception of the color.

I put them all on Black card bases to really make that bright flower pop! I finished each card with a splatter of Gold Wink of Stella, Gold Glimmer Paper, a gold embossed greeting and some Black Bakers Twine.  

I really love how all of these cards came out.  What about you?  Who are you thankful to have in your life?  I am challenging you the same challenge I made to my downline this month, send at least 3 cards (you can send more but send at least 3) to 3 people who you are thankful are in your life.  I promise it will brighten their day!

As I mentioned above I'll be away at craft weekend for the weekend.  I have one more post for this week and more next week, make sure to follow me on my Facebook page for updates all weekend from our Grease (the movie) themed Craft Weekend!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Birthday Vellum Overlay

I wasn't sure how this card was going to come out.  Truth be told the first version didn't go so well.  But thankfully this one is beautiful.  So much more than photos can capture.  In real life the colors are much more vivid and stunning!  The flowers are stamped on some shimmery white cardstock then vellum is attached over it. It gives the flowers a more muted look but without loosing any of the detail.  

I embossed the greeting in gold to match the gold glitter.  I really love the final result of this card!  It's so pretty!!!  If you don't have the Penned and Painted stamp set, make sure you put it on your list! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Clean And Simple Class

I had a class on Saturday themed Clean and Simple.  My guests got to make 5 cards that are all easy and quick to put together.  You could easily make any of these quickly and in larger quantities.  This Christmas one is super cute!!!  I used the Tin of Tags set and the Tag Topper Punch.  The greeting is embossed with Silver Embossing Powder and really that is the part that takes the longest on this card, and we all know how quickly embossing works :) 

This card is one of my favorites.  This is a great one just to have on hand for anyone.  The hardest part on this card is cutting the cardstock at an angle like that.  I just eyeballed my example then made a template to cut off of after that.  The top and the bottom pieces are the same size so you could have a bunch cut and just pull them out when needed. 

I love this super cute and simple Christmas card.  With the help of the Candy Cane Lane DSP and the Gold Foil star this card really looks complete in just a few minutes. 

I love this card! I love that the Flower Flair Framelits are used on their own without the coordinating stamp set Flower Flair (we used that stamp set on the Daffodil Delight card above!).  Even though it's a great stamp set, sometimes the framelits are awesome enough to stand on their own.  This card has quick stamping and quick die cutting. 

This is my favorite card of the class.  I love that there's a window sheet that makes the butterfly look as if it's floating.  Sometimes cards don't have to be elaborate and layered to be beautiful!  Sometimes we need a quick go to card that we can make.

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!!