A bunch of "thanks a bunch!" + blog candy

A neighbor is having her first baby and she had a huge shower in PA (last week on August 23rd). She needed 50 thank you notes for the shower gifts. She contacted me a month ago and she had a picture of a very similar card she saw on SCS. I couldn't find it myself, so I don't know who to credit with the design. (If you know, tell me, and I will happily edit my post!) The original had designer paper where I have the Real Red card stock Cuttlebug embossed with Swiss Dots. I practiced my water coloring using reinkers, then markers, then my SU! friend, Sue, loaned me her SU! water color crayons. I had never tried them, but they are easy to work with! I may be investing in these...
I was not a fan of the sock monkey, and I expected to really not like him after making 50 cards. (I usually prefer my one-of-a-kind cards.) But you know what? I like him! He is pretty cute. I will be delivering these tonight. Phew!
And now for some blog candy from my friend, Tara. She will ship anywhere in the world, so head on over to Happily Ever Crafting to enter.

Happy Monday!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday :) This card was inspired by my sweet Stampin' Up! friend, Tamra Davis. I love So Saffron, and my mom's favorite color is yellow. I made this at Tamra's house when I was in North Carolina this past week. We returned home late last night. Tamra has a laser cutter and SU! has agreed to let her sell acrylic shapes that match SU! punches. I purchased 3 dozen from her :) Doesn't it look cool behind the butterfly? I bought some to go with my curly label punch, scallop oval, modern label, the butterfly...you may be seeing them a lot on my blog! If you are interested, contact Tamra. Anyway, I loved this card. Thanks, Tam!

Be Inspired # 46- Cuttlebug Challenge blog

Cosmo Cricket is this week's sponsor at Cuttlebug Challenge blog!!!! I used "The Boyfriend" papers and ribbons from Cosmo Cricket. I love Cosmo Cricket, but I usually buy their girly papers. Guy stuff is harder for me. I have to say that with each of the four projects I made using The Boyfriend papers, I fell in love with this collection. It's trendy, fun, and cool :)
Shall we check out each item? I'm in the back-to-school frame of mind:
Isn't this little back pack adorable? I used Core'dinations color core card stock and the Provo Craft Cuttlebug "Diamond Plate" embossing folder. I found the tutorial on split coast stampers.

Magnet picture frames for a locker: I used Cosmo Cricket chipboard frames from my stash; perfect to put a boyfriend picture or pop idol. I was thinking of my LFL (lovely friend Lauren) so I used Daniel Craig pictures. LFL is very happily married to LHJ (lovely husband Jeff), but Daniel Craig is Lauren's back-up guy. But I am wondering if Daniel Craig knows terms like "vellum", "embossing", etc. LHJ does :)

Then I covered a small clipboard that I purchased at Staples with Cosmo Cricket "The Boyfriend" paper (pencils) and striped ribbon, and Core'dinations paper on the bottom.

What items can you create? I want to see! Then go to Cuttlebug Challenge blog and upload your creation to Mr. Linky. The prize this week is yummy Cosmo Cricket!!!

A Five Minute Card & Five Awards

Yes, literally, a five minute card. The swirl, lady bug label, and flower are all from a K&Co. kit that was on sale at ACMoore. It was on sale for $15 and was valued at $45. I can't pass up a deal, right? Except that I have never used anything from the kit *sigh*. I was working on some Cosmo Cricket projects this week (they are the sponsor for the upcoming challenge at Cuttlebug Challenge blog, so come back Wednesday to see my post!) I came across this Cosmo Cricket base card that I had never used in my Cosmo Cricket stash. I needed a little break from my Cuttlebug Challenge projects, glanced at my K&Co. $15 deal (I do guilt well), and decided they coordinated well enough. The brad is DCWV. I found a dark grey scrap in my card stock scrap bag, mounted the lady bug label, die cut "hi" from a QuicKutz font, and called it done. A $15 card ;)




These five (5?!) awards are from my LFH (lovely friend Heather) of Rica's Haven. If you don't follow her already, I highly recommend it! She creates gorgeous cards, and she is an equally fabulous friend to have.

I am going to pass these awards on to the five most inspiring blogs I have seen today:
1. Chat (who I have actually followed for a long time...actually "lurked". I was too afraid to comment much because her blog is so awesome!)
2. Kay (her cards are as pretty as she is!)
3. Steph (an amazingly talented blogger, and super sweet)
4. Nathalia (be prepared to be awed!)
5. Jenn (maybe her blog should be named Simply Elegant???)

Okay, that's all from me until Wednesday. I am packing and taking the girls to North Carolina to see some friends and do a lot of stamping, laughing, and chatting. I'll be gone all week, so other than Wednesday, I don't know when I will post again. I will be checking in on your blog, though :)

BasicGrey Challenges # 2 : Color Challenge

BasicGrey Challenges blog has a tri-color challenge this week, and it reminds me of Neapolitan ice cream: chocolate, vanilla (cream/ivory/yellow), and strawberry (pink). I used BasicGrey Infuse papers. Remember the challenges run for two weeks, so you have lots of time to enter your creation. The DT created lots of beautiful cards, so hop over there and check 'em out!

Recipe:
BasicGrey papers: Infuse collection
card stock: Stampin' Up! chocolate chip
marker (doodling): Stampin' Up! chocolate chip
dimensionals (bunny tails & sentiment): Stampin' Up!
punches (sentiment): Stampin' Up!
die cuts (main image): Stampin' Up! Top Note die
black ink: Ancient Page
stamps: My Favorite Things
ribbon: stash...from either Michael's or JoAnn's

Happy Saturday!

Caardvarks & My Stamp Box Challenge + an award

Caardvarks' current challenge is sponsored by MyStampBox. The challenge is to use MSB logo colors,: black, white, and hot pink. I have had this acetate frame for a while, but could never make it work. I planned my card around this item :) I looked through Julee's Mojo Monday sketches (this one is #74). Then I went in search of papers. You know I chose BasicGrey! This is from the Urban Prairie collection that Michael's had on clearance last Spring. The "love" n slide is Making Memories and the ribbon is American Crafts. I used white linen and black linen card stock. Inside the frame is various rub-ons. I know you are thinking, "What, no stamping?" Some days are like that...
This lovely award is from my Cuttlebug Challenge blog DT sister, Roe. She is a sweetie! Please check out her wonderful blog, Creative Liberties. Now I am supposed to list five things I like:
1. My wonderful husband
2. My beautiful girls
3. Skeeziks, our furry daughter (some people might say "cat")
4. Chocolate
5. Decorative papers

Now to pass this on to five more bloggers...
Chrissie
Chris
Steph
Deanna
Lauren

Happy weekend! I'll be posting another BasicGrey card tomorrow; y'all come back now, ya hear?

A Gift for You

Paper Popsicles, Core'dinations color core card stock, and Scor-it are sponsoring this week's challenge at Cuttlebug Challenge blog. The challenge this week: make a shape card! I chose to use the present image from Paper Popsicles to cretae my card.

I used Provo Craft Cuttlebug embossing folders: Herringbone on the "ribbon" and Stars for the "lid". I used a Scor-it to make the vertical lines on the green box base.

To create the tag I used 3 SU! punches and a sentiment stamp by My Favorite Things (MFT).

Hop over to Cuttlebug Challenge blog to play along...link your project (not your blog) to Mr. Linky . I'm headed there right now to see what my 'bug sisters made !

***Don't forget today is the last day at the Caardvarks blog hop; some of my Cuttlebug Design Team sisters are on the design team there as well***

Caardvarks blog hop & an award

The 'Varks are having a blog hop sponsored by Core'dinations! Today is Caard hop day one. Head over to Caardvarks to get started and play along. Lots of eye candy!
My sweet and uber-talented blog friend, Chrissie, nominated me for this award. Thank you, Chrissie!

I am supposed to list seven random things about myself...
1. I do not eat corn-on-the-cob like a typewriter. Starting on the right side, I eat around the cob. Once I make it all the way around, I move slightly left. Repeat until every kernel is eaten :)
2. I love chocolate. Especially dark chocolate, but not white chocolate.
3. I like fish and seafood, especially crab, shrimp, salmon, sea bass, cod, and scallops. Maryland crabs are the best!
4. My favorite spices are Old Bay (see #3 for crab and shrimp!!!), cinnamon, and cumin.
5. The most famous persons I've actually met (and shook hands with) are James Earl Jones and Joe Theismann.
6. I love every ethnic food I have ever tried, but Indian food is my favorite! Mmmm, veggie samosas, biryani, chili chicken, chicken 65, butter chicken (aka Makhani), and palak paneer!!!
7. Apparently I think too much about food :)

Now to nominate 7 people:
Bea ( a new friend I made at scrapbook.com)
Bree ( a new friend from Get Sketchy and on Twitter)
Deanna (my Design Diva friend)
Lauren (one of my first ever blog friends)
Leslie (a blog friend that I have actually met in person!)
Kristie ( a friend I made from my first blogoversary)
Silke (a friend who leaves me such lovely comments...sometimes twice in the same post!)

If friends were flowers, I could walk forever in my garden.

Doesn't Tilda look cute sitting on that Bazzill bling flower? I was inspired by Martine's card that she posted here for Just Magnolia Challenge- Friendship. I also used the sketch from Get Sketchy Challenge #1. My Tilda was stamped and sent from sweet Kristie. I don't "do cute", and I wasn't a fan of Tilda or MFT's Flopsey, and now I can't get enough of either one. Love them both :)

The brown card stock is Bazzill and the decorative papers are BasicGrey Granola.

I hope you are having a nice weekend!

Create a Scene

This week's challenge at Cuttlebug Challenge blog is to create a scene. I knew immediately that I wanted to use Core'dinations Whitewash collection with my Provo Craft Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles embossing folder and my newest My Favorite Things (MFT) stamp set. Isn't he the cutest Flopsey ever? I figured it would be cheating to only use the MFT stamp, so I created a rug (SU! oval punch). I added the soap (Jolee's sticker) and a rubber ducky (PSX). I added diamond glaze to Flopsey's white bubbles. I used BasicGrey Granola papers for Flopsey, his rug & scalloped oval, and the tub. All the background papers (plaid is cut from SU! top note die) are BasicGrey June Bug papers. The yellow fiber is from my stash.

I thought scene cards would be difficult. But you know what? They are so much FUN!!! This is my second scene card. My first scene card is here, and it is one of my favorite cards I have ever made. Wouldn't that Core'dinations whitewash paper look fab embossed with the Cuttlebug snowflakes folder? If you have never created a scene (card-wise...LOL), I hope you will give it a try and link your creation to Cuttlebug Challenge blog.

Happy Wednesday!

My Snuggle Bunny card is at Use It this week!!!!

We spent a nice weekend at our cousins' new home. We returned last night. We had a blast! Today I've done the usual stuff...laundry, pay bills, catch up on email, etc. Then I decided to check my fave challenge blogs for some inspiration, and guess what? Rae has this snuggle bunny card as this week's Use It challenge.

Here are the details:
1. Try a new technique...
it can be an old technique,
but one you have not tried.
On my card I die cut the blue stars paper
and chocolate chip layers
by using the Sizzix/Stampin' Up! Top Note die.
Rotate the paper 90 degrees,
then die cut using the top note die again.
It creates a funky square :) (Thanks for teaching me, Leslie!!!)
I also used the SU! curly label punch
the same way for the sentiment:
punch once, rotate 90 degrees
and punch a second time.

2. Use a virgin stamp...
I purchased this MFT stamp set when it was brand new,
but I had not used it until now :)

3. Use papers you have never used before...
I fell in love with these DCWV Garden Party papers,
but they were too pretty to cut
(well, *almost* to pretty to cut!)

I hope you have time to play along. Remember, just Use It!

BasicGrey Challenges Blog is back!

BasicGrey Challenges has re-opened! Make a card following this sketch for a chance to win. This sketch is by BGC DT member, Tara G. Winners are chosen randomly, so grab something from your stash that is BasicGrey (stamps, papers, buttons, etc.) and make a card. BGC will no longer be offering weekly prizes, instead 5 lucky people chosen at random from this challenge will go through to the monthly prize drawing. Be sure to link your creation (not your blog) to this post.

Challenges will be held every fortnight and are sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. The next challenge will begin on August 22nd.

I used...
BasicGrey Lemonade papers and button
Bazzill card stock (lime green) and flower (pink)
Nestibilities oval
Got Flowers? aqua prima (behind pink flower)
DMC floss (button)
Magnolia stamp (Tilda...thanks, Kristie!)
Copic & Bic Mark-it markers: flesh & swimsuit, respectively
Stampin' Up! dimensionals (behind Tilda)
Michael's ribbon and Value Pack base card

I hope you are having a great weekend!

Hey, Chick + Two Awards

I made a quick card today using a DCWV card base, white cs, BasicGrey June Bug papers & sticker, the Fiskars threading water border punch, SU! oval punches and dimensionals, and some doodles with a CM marker.

I received these two awards yesterday from Julie M. of Oh Well....

I have followed Julie unofficially for about a year and a half; now that I figured out how to officially follow in google reader, I am keeping up with my favorite blogs much better! I find I miss some posts, though. I *think* it takes 30 minutes or so for blogger to take a new post and put in google reader. That's my theory anyway...

I think Julie's style is similar to my own; check her out and see if you agree :)

Be Inspired # 43 - Digital stamps by MlamarreDesigns

This week at Cuttlebug Challenges is to use a digital stamp provided by MlamarreDesigns. I chose to use "You R the Best". I challenged myself to make a masculine card, which can be a challenge in itself, am I right?

Cool tools/Ingredients:

• A new Provo Craft Cuttlebug embossing folder: Harlequin
• Use Scor-it to create diamond pattern (top half of card)
• Core'dinations card stock (red) for added dimension
• MlamarreDesigns digital stamp
• Nestibilities circles and scalloped circle
• Stampin' Up! ribbon, dimensionals and card stock: chocolate chip and old olive
  

Warm Thoughts from Flopsey & Jenny

I purchased this Flopsey stamp (My Favorite Things) on Sunday. The Sunday sketch at 365 Cards blog seemed perfect to try him out. I used SU! Candy Lane papers, SU! Very Vanilla card stock, and a DCWV card base. I was inspired by the great number of Christmas cards I have seen on blogs lately...I felt like I needed to catch up :)

I love to check out challenges. Sketches are my favorite challenges, but I like any and all challenges. Especially if the challenge forces me out of my box :) Speaking of sketch challenges, there is a new sketch blog starting up August 14th. It is called Get Sketchy. Check out their blinkie on my left sidebar.

I received this blog award from Jenny of Jenny's Creations blog. Thank you, sweet Jenny! I love Jenny's fun style. She creates the cutest cards :) Now there are rules for this award, but I am not gonna follow them. If you are still with me and are reading this post, then you truly are a Kreativ Blogger...consider yourself nominated!

All that glitters here is gold leaf

Here are two uses of gold leaf: the dress stamped on acetate and the page pebbles. I also used black magic Core'dinations card stock and the new Cuttlebug embossing folder Moroccan Screen. The circles are Nesties, but the ovals and photo corner are SU! punches.
On this critter (a small rubber lizard purchased from the dollar store) I used multi-colored leafing flakes. The red card stock is Core'dinations embossed in the new Victoria folder from Cuttlebug.

I have a tutorial on gold leaf over at Cuttlebug Challenge blog. I hope you have time to check it out :)