Bundle of Joy

Linda, one of my besties, favorite people in the whole world and tennis partner of more than 10 years, is going to be a grandmother next month.  Her son and daughter in law are expecting their first baby.  They are going to let the gender be a surprise....so we all have bets going.  Linda has 4 boys so I see them having a little girl to start balancing things out! LOL!

I crocheted a baby blanket for her that I'm going to go ahead and give and wanted to make a card to go with it.  I used Lawn Fawn's "Plus One"....a really cute set with a ton of stamps on it.  The papers are K & Company's Life's Little Occasions.

 I cut the large star and the moon out twice and then mounted them with foam tape.  I also used a Fiskars scallop punch for a little more fun!  We gotta use our toys, right?

 I also decided to make another Pisanki inspired card with the first image I had made the other day and MESSED UP.  I salvaged it by trimming it a bit more and placing some ribbon over a booboo.  I love when I can save things, don't you?!  The sentiment is a Hero Arts sentiment.

 Success!  Saved!

It's cloudy here today....rain is in our forecast.  I have a tennis  match this afternoon....hoping we get it in before the rain comes!

Happy Crafting!!!

Halloween Treat Bag

A really quick post today as I get ready to head out for the day!
I found this cute little 3D Halloween treat bag in the Silhouette store.  I love that you can buy images for $.99 a piece...or weekly Silhouette has images on clearance for $.50.  I thought this little guy would come in handy to hold some treats for the children

It takes a little while to cut because it has a ton of score lines which are marked....I suppose you could speed it up by erasing the score marks and scoring it yourself.
I used a 12x12 piece of cardstock.
Very simple...very easy...and very cute, I think.

Happy Crafting!!!

The Bold and the Beautiful!

I LOVE bold!  I love subtle, too, to be honest but I do love bold!
I love Wednesdays because Darlene of Darlene Design posts a new video.  I love her videos.  She speeds up her videos while she talks about what she's doing so you can see what she does and it does not drag on and on and on.....time is at a premium for all of us, isn't it?
Yesterday she posted a video about a split background and I loved the idea.  She used a large background stamp and I didn't have anything similar that really caught my eye so I decided to use some cling stamps I got at Michael's a while back on clearance.  I had liked the bold look of these but hadn't used them.
So, I used Versamark and stamped the images randomly to create a background and then used Zing black embossing powder and heat set it.  I never do this....and really for me it's never as easy as it looks!  I have a hard enough time seeing "at my age" and it's hard to see where I used the Versamark....the first time I tried this I over stamped and that didn't work right! Anyway....this was a bit out of my comfort zone.   I colored in the images with various Stampin' Up and Tombow markers.  Once the coloring was finished I cut frames out of it that were all basically 5/8 of an inch and mounted those on black mats cut about an 1/8th of an inch larger.  Then I just stacked them one on top of each other.  It makes for a little dimension without the bulk.  Of course I had to bulk it up by adding some gems for a little extra SPARKLE.  I stamped the sentiment with a Hero Arts clear stamp (Friends) and heat embossed it as well.  And here...is the card:

I love the look....this reminds me of that Russian art for eggs...Pisanki.

I think I will use this over and over....it is so bold and striking!

I entered this in the following challenges:
Baker Designs: Second Floor Challenge #9-Embossing
Stampendous September Challenge: Embossing Techniques 
Simon Says Stamp and Show: For the Love of Sparkle

The Best Things Come in Small Packages

That's what they say anyway....the best things come in small packages.  Being a small person I've used that to my benefit many times.
I don't know if that's true....my Silhouette came in a big box...my Big Shot came in a pretty big box...I guess size is relative though and those boxes were small next to...say...an elephant.

Anyway, I do like small things....and when I was at a local stamp store the other day (Impressive Ideas) I picked up this Memory Box die called Wildflower Patch which was quite teensy and proceeded to put it in my basket.  The teensy sizes of the flowers was just so appealing to me.  I like teensy!

I ran them through my die cut machine and they cut beautifully and they are just so darned cute!  I colored them with Copics and adhered them to a small 3x3 card and used a Papertrey Ink sentiment on it.  Perfect for a teensy eensy gift box! :)

Not much too it....but so cute and tiny.  Clean and crisp.  You know?

Happy Crafting!

You Are So Thoughtful!

I had a little time in my room yesterday....Hubby was on fixing things and putzing around the house mode and I certainly didn't want to do anything to thwart his progress!  Plus I didn't really want to help! LOL!  So under the guise of "I have some things I need to do downstairs"....I went and played while he worked.  :)

Here is a card I made using some Papertrey Ink products....a Flower Fusion set, some PTI felt and cardstock.

 I also used the fabulous new Tim Holtz embossing diffusers that my friend Melissa at Created by Sunshine Honeybee gave me recently.  They are pretty fun....the set comes with 3 diffusers....I used the circle one.  You can see how it did not emboss in a circle in the center....which then becomes a great place to stamp! 

I plopped a big ole pearl in the center....
I used a little lace that I'd gotten at Hobby Lobby. 

 



Simple but turned out well, I think.  I also stamped on the felt which was easy and worked better than I thought it would.  I just used Memento Ink....nothing special....but it did give a little more dimension to the flower.

Thanks, Melissa, YOU are so thoughtful! :)

I entering this in the following challenge:
Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Simon Says....Emboss!

Happy Crafting!

More Gift Wrap!

I love buying white gift bags and white paper and fixing it up for any gift to be given.  It's not expensive (well, ok, when you figure in the cost of the die cut machine than my gift wrapping is quite pricey! LOL!)....and it certainly is unique and becomes a one of a kind way of presenting a gift.

David likes robots...
And here is another picture of the birthday boy with his wonderful "Frank" cake.  He loved it and it was so very tasty!

He's such a little character!
Oh and just for the heck of it....here's one I took of Taylor who is now 15 months old and fearless!

She loves the slide....no fear at all as I said! And in a quieter moment....

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Happy Crafting!

Expression Through Icing

I love all the different forms of creative expression....I've talked about that many times before...whether it be through paper crafts, sewing, knitting, crocheting, music, painting, etc.  I am amazed at how someone can take a bowl of icing and some cake batter and make something beautiful.  I can't even ice cupcakes so that they don't look something a 5 year old could do. 
My friend, Kelly, who works a full time job in IT makes cakes as a hobby.  She does the most incredible things I've ever seen....they are just so gorgeous and she does them for fun!  Anyway, she made this fabulous cake for David for his birthday party today...
 It's Frank from the CARS movie.  Isn't he great???

Kelly is the one who made this fabulous cake for Taylor for her first birthday:

Just amazing....
Creative Expression through Icing....amazes me....
We are having our big 3 year old birthday party today!  I'm probably as excited as David is!  I gave him his big "pwesent" the other day on his actual birthday.  It was a space shuttle and he just loved it....he's all into rockets and space ships these days! All boy!

Happy Crafting!

David's Day!

Three years ago today my life changed.  I had a great life...no complaints there...didn't really think it could get better but then my daughter and son in law gave me the greatest gift ever....my grandson, David!  And less than 2 years later they did it again with their baby girl, Taylor.  I am one lucky Omie!

Today David turns 3.  He is wise beyond his years....of course we think he is brilliant! He is all boy, of course....loves anything that has wheels and an engine!  His new areas of interest are spaceships, rockets and astronauts.  So that's what he is getting from Omie today....a Fisher Price shuttle and a few astronauts and aliens!

I made a little card with some designs from the Silhouette store....it's really a very simple card...not too much glitz and finery as he won't care.  He will just love the astronaut, though!

Then I wrapped his gift in some white paper and cut some additional images to spruce up the wrapping a bit.  I cut out his name with the Arial font with my Silhouette.

Here you go:

Happy Birthday, David....and happy crafting to you!

More Halloweeny Stuff!

I almost titled this RIP but was worried my followers would think something bad happened! LOL! Nope...all is good!
Here is another mini card that I think is just so darned cute!  I love the punched "fence" and the way it is bowed out and stapled with Tim Holtz's tiny attacher.  The punched bats are a Martha Stewart punch.  The tombstones were hand cut and stamped with Hero Arts stamps.  Very simple and oh so cute!
I love these little pre printed (with the white stitching) mini cards from Doodlebug.  You can buy them individually which is great.

 A closeup of the tombstone....love that spider web stamp. 

That's it for today.  I was a bit under the weather the last couple of days but feel like a new person today!  I'm heading down to my craft room shortly to play!

I'm putting this in the following challenge:

Scrappy Moms Stamps: Terrific Tuesday Challenge: Halloween

Happy Crafting!

Congratulations!

A friend of mine commissioned me to make a card for her college freshman daughter who pledged the Sigma Kappa sorority at Auburn, University.
The sorority "things" (don't know what they are called) are doves, pearls and hearts so I incorporated all of those into this card:

 The dove was cut on my Silhouette Cameo with a design from the Silhouette Store.  Isn't she pretty?  Love the swirly layer which cut so nicely!  I used some Bazzill cardstock as well as some purple cardstock from a huge pack I had been hanging onto following a baby shower for a friend several years ago.  I don't use purples all that much, I guess....because that pack has just been sitting here!
The backgrounds were embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder run through my Big Shot.  The hearts were punched out with a Martha Stewart punch.
I found the Greek font at DAFONT and it is called "Ancient Geek" (not Greek, mind you!) and cut them out with offset to create a nice backing.  The banner was from cut with a Die-Namic die and stamped with a Papertrey Ink stamp.  I added some pearls and a purple pearl for the little doves eye.
Oh, and the border was cut with a Papertrey ink edger die (which I LOVE!).

 I adhered some of the pieces with foam tape to give more dimension.
And I also decorated an envelope....with the young lady's name as well as  few more hearts....and....

 ...Sigma Kappa symbols on the back.

That's it for today!
I entered this in the following challenge:
Use it Tuesday: Challenge #39: Anything Goes! (what have you been hoarding?  I've hoarded that purple paper pack!)

Happy Crafting!!!

Tote-owlly Cute!

Here is another card I made at Archiver's....one of my favorites.  It's a little matchbook card.  A few scored lines and folds made this cute little baby.
I just loved that a Martha Stewart punch was used for the owl feathers.  How smart was that?!

 Below you can see the matchbook type fold:

 The flap was adhered with some velcro.  We punched some circles for eyes and adhered some whopping gems on top.
Simple....yet oh so cute!!!

Hoping to get into my craft room today.  I went downstairs yesterday to do a few things and marveled at how neat it was! LOL!  I forgot I had cleaned it up before I left for my beach vacation.

But first....things to do, places, to go, and errands to run including a trip to the grocery store!

Happy Crafting!

A Whole Week with No Crafting....

....but a whole week at the beach!

Kids, grandkids, hubby and I spent a week on Okaloosa Island in Florida.  Although I didn't get to do any crafting it was the PERFECT week.  We had great weather and the water was clear and fabulous.

But before I left I made a couple of cute little mini cards at Archiver's.
Nothing terribly special in terms of techniques on these.... a little heat embossing...a little punching and mostly just gluing...but they sure turned out cute!

Happy Crafting!  I may need to a few days to recover from my vacation but will get back into my room to create soon! :)

I entered this in the following challenge:
Simple Salutations #11

Mini Cards

Quick post today...places to go and things to do!

Without much ado...here are a couple of little Halloween cards I made at Archiver's recently:

Very simple...the little ghost card was done with a scalloped edged card....you just cut off some of the scallops to make him a bit thinner and more ghostly.  Rounding the edges help, too!  A little gray ink around the edges, some baker's twine and some googly eyes finished him off.
The candy corn card was just done with a piece of cardstock folded and then cut into the shape of the candy corn and layered with some papers.  An edge punch was used for the scallop and I stamped the sentiment with a Hero Arts set.
And that's it!

I entered this int he following challenge:
Simple Salutations #11

Happy Crafting!

Not My Design....but....

....it's still stinkin' cute!
And how easy to make!
This little gift box or bag would be so cute to put some treats in.  Archiver's provided the directions during a recent class I took.

 Basically you take a 6x9 inch sheet of cardstock...double sided prints work nicely.  With a couple of score lines and a couple of snips and cuts you end up with two sides which you adhere together.
I used a Martha Stewart punch to emboss and punch the jack o'lantern and a scalloped punch to frame it...added a little ribbon and some baker's twine and was done.

I love Halloween....it will be here before we know it!

Happy Crafting!

Sympathy Card

Sympathy cards....not the "funnest" to make, perhaps, but it's nice knowing you are making for someone who may receive a bit of comfort from it.
A friend on one of my tennis teams lost her mother a few days ago and I made this card to mail to her.

 I used Basic Grey's Little Black Dress papers.  The border was punched with a Martha Stewart punch (one of my favorites!).  The 3 layer flower is from Recollections and had a little Glimmer Mist Sprayed on it.  The brad if you're interested is from Basic Grey....I know we should give credit or acknowledgement for the products we used in cases someone wants to know or use them too...but seriously...a brad, an eyelet?....where a clear button came from?  What 4 types of adhesive I used?  LOL!  OK, I digress....
Here's a closer up photo of the flower...it has a little gauzy shimmery layer which is so pretty to me....

The sentiment is from Hero Arts Everyday Sayings....a wonderful stamp set that I've used several times.

I entered this in the Basic Grey Challenge 76: Punch It!!!

That's it for today....off to get some errands done and hope to get into my craft room later today!

Happy Crafting!

More Copic Coloring

I love the cute little Mimi stamps from Penny Black.  They make me think of my little granddaughter, Taylor.  Although she's not quite as "big" as Mimi is....I can see a lot of Taylor's sweetness in cute little Mimi.
This is a wood block stamp....I don't usually buy woodblocks anymore because of the storage space they require but I couldn't resist this cute one.
After stamping with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Neenah Solar Crest cardstock I colored with lots of different Copics.

 I actually stamped her and then cut her out.  I don't know why....probably could have saved myself that step but initially I was going to mount her on some colored paper.  That just didn't look right so I went back to putting this cute little gal on white to make her stand out.  I cut the mat out with a Spellbinders die.  The printed paper is from Imaginisce and I also used an embossing border from Cuttlebug.

I added a little Scattered Straw Stickles on the little bluebirds beaks and the flower centers. The sentiment was From Papertrey Ink's Fillable Frames #6.  The rickrack border was cut with a Papertrey Ink die.
And 4 hours later she was done!  OK, she didn't really take that long!  LOL!  And every second spent was total fun! :)
I heart Copics.
I hate Copics.
It's a love/hate relationship.  A definite learning curve which I am still at the bottom of! LOL!

I'm entering this in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Simon Says Put a Stamp on It
Perfect Sentiments Challenge: PSC48: All Creatures Great and Small
Simple Salutations Challenge 10: Animal

Happy Crafting!

Papercrafting Can Be Hazardous to Your Health!

I made this lovely card:

Just as I finished it up and was oh so proud of it I noticed some ugly spots of ick right next to the sentiment.  See?  Oh no!!!  I've done that before...finished up something and touched it to ink!  Aaarghhhh....but this time....no....it wasn't ink....It was BLOOD!  I had nicked my finger with my scissors and didn't realize I was bleeding!!! I was soooo mad at myself.  Ruined card!  All that work! LOL!!!
So yes....paper crafting can be hazardous to your health!  Beware!
Luckily I did this card with an image from the Silhouette store and I was able to duplicate it pretty easily.
I used some watercolor paper and the summer series Tim Holtz Ranger Inks as well as some water on a wide paintbrush and dabbed color on the paper.  Then I just adhered the Silhouette cut image over the watercolor paper and stamped a sentiment with a Papertrey ink stamp.  Very Clean and Simple in my opinion.

Here is a closer look:

 And here is another version where I put foam tape between the watercolor image and the die cut:

I love this idea....I love this card.  I could improve on it but I love the technique.  And of course I stole borrowed this idea from something I saw on Pinterest.  Here is the link to the original post I pinned.
I am going to a wedding celebration today and so I made a card for the bride and groom similar to one I made recently and shared HERE.
Here is my new version....the diecut is from the Silhouette store.  The sentiment is Papertrey ink and was embossed on a little banner cut with a Die-Namics die.

Update:  I entered this in Simple Salutations Anything Goes HERE!

Now...what to wear to the wedding celebration?  I know one accessory I'll have....a big old bandaid on my finger!!!

Happy Crafting and Happy Labor Day!