Patches of Pink - March Post and Spring Link-up Party!!!

Hello! It's that time again for a Linking Party over at Patches of Pink! Our theme this time around is Spring! I am definitely ready for spring to arrive - and it keeps trying to make an appearance...then fooling us somehow! Yesterday I woke up to a couple inches of surprise SNOW!!! Now, I love snow, but only when it falls during what I consider the wintertime! By now, it is March, and I think it is time for spring to be here! Anyway...enough of my rant! :-) Here is card:

I used the newest Peachy Keen Kit of the Month - for March! If you haven't seen it - you should definitely check it out! TOTALLY the CUTEST gnomes you ever did see! You can find it HERE. 

I stamped and colored it on some pattern paper from My Minds Eye that I first die cut with a Spellbinders Nestabilities Die. I then did just a bit of coloring with my Copic markers. 

I used some pretty pink ribbon from my stash to tie a bow, then added a couple of Prima Flowers, a PTI button, some PTI twine, and a couple of leaf stick pins. 

I curved the sentiment before stamping it, so it fit the edge of the die. And just HAD to add a little bling and a bit of stitching around some of the edges. Oh yes - also rounded the top right corner! 

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit today! Hope you are having a wonderful SPRING day! Make sure and hop on over to Patches of Pink to see what the rest of the Design Team has cooked up, and to link up your own creation! Can't wait to see what you come up with!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Yep - I got that song running through my head! For some reason, I have had a little trouble getting inspired this year to put up Christmas decorations. However, this last weekend I had a moment of inspiration and jumped on it - so we now have some lights up around the house. Will be getting our tree later this week too - my girls are ecstatic!

Anyway, I have a card today that I made for several challenges!  The first is for the Cricut Cardz Challenge #97 - a Christmas card inspired by a favorite Christmas song (as mentioned as the title of this post!) Next is the Scrappy Mom's Stamps "Christmas" theme Terrific Tuesdays challenge. I am also entering this in the weekly challenge on the Cricut Circle blog - "Flower Fusion" - to incorporate store bought pre-made flowers on a project with at least 2 Cricut cuts. Lastly, I am entering this in the Basic Grey Flickr Pool Stitching December Challenge.

Whew! After all that, here is my card this time around:

I used A Child's Year for the ornament cut, as well as the tag. All the paper is from Basic Grey's Picadilly 6x6 paper pad.

Inked the edges of everything with Tim Holtz Distress ink in Vintage Photo, then smeared some Glossy Accents on the ornament, and coated it with Martha Stewart Coarse Glitter. I then attached the ornament to the card with pop-dots for some dimension.

Used some Prima Flowers, tied on with some Crinkle Ribbon and PTI twine with the tag, stamped with a Scrappy Mom's sentiment.

It is kind of hard to see in the picture, but I finished off with some faux stitching around the outside edges of the card.

Thanks for visiting! Hope you have a fabulous day - we are heading out to go for a drive in the snowy mountains! Fun fun fun!



Unity Stamp Friends with Flair

Welcome to Unity Stamps Friends with Flair! For all the details on how to participate, make sure and click on the link! You can link up your own creation, as well as comment on all the other links for a chance to win 25 free random Unity Stamps! I am also entering this in the Unity Opportunity Challenge Blog Tie it up Challenge - to use twine, string, or ribbon.

Here is my card for this week:

For this card I used the Unity stamp July 2011 KOTM. I sprayed a doily with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, let it dry, then stamped my sentiment. Weaved some jute cord around the edges of the doily, and added a Prima flower and button from my stash. The papers are all inked with Tim Holtz distress ink. And when it was all done, it needed just one little extra touch, so I added some bling with my Jolee's heat set tool.

Thanks for visiting! Make sure and head over to the Unity Stamp Company Blog to join in the Friday fun!

Unity KOTM Sketch Challenge

The last few days have been EXTREMELY busy, so when things finally slowed down yesterday a bit, I was excited to sit down and play. Besides, I had a special thank you card I wanted to make, and the Unity KOTM sketch challenge seemed like the perfect starting point! And I hadn't inked up my new September KOTM yet either...

All images are from the September KOTM, and I added some doodling, some stick on pearls, and lots of faux stitching. Finished off with a Prima flower with a button and a bit of Baker's Twine.

Here is the sketch for the challenge:

Thanks so much for stopping by! I will be canning tomatoes today, but I have a brand new card tomorrow for the brand new Cricut 360 challenge! Can't wait to share it with you - I LOVE how it came out! See you then!

Unity Friends with Flair and June KOTM sketch challenge

Good morning - and HAPPY FRIDAY!!! Welcome to another Friends with Flair post! I am also submitting this to the Unity Kit of the Month sketch challenge. The sketch we were supposed to follow is at the bottom.

I used the June KOTM - such a great set this time around! Followed the sketch pretty much exactly, just added the pink pearls along the side. Did some faux stitching with a brown pen, and added a Prima flower, a bit of crinkle ribbon, and a button with some jute cord.

Now...don't forget to leave a comment, and hop on over to the Unity blog to join in and get a chance at winning some FABULOUS red rubber!!!

Here is the sketch for the KOTM sketch challenge:

Patches of Pink - Design Team Post!

Hello! Welcome to my first design team post for Patches of Pink!!! I am so excited to see what the year holds! The challenge this week is to create a Spring project, using pastel springy colors. Click HERE to go join the fun and link up your own creation for the challenge! You can link up anytime from today through Sunday, and then vote for your favorite anytime from Monday until Tuesday at noon EST.

For my project, I pulled out my Cindy Loo cartridge - so many perfect spring images on it! This cute little deer is the main reason I got that cartridge, and yet I had never cut it out! So...what better time, right? So, I cut all the layers out from coordinating patterned paper, inked the edges of everything, and layer it together. The deer is pop-dotted from the background to add a little dimension. The sentiment is from a Unity Stamp Company set. I used an brown pen to do the faux stitching around the edges, added some Baker's Twine, a large pink Prima flower, and a tiny Prima flower to tuck into the deers ear (because, isn't it obvious that she's a girl?!?!?)

Thanks for stopping by! Now head on over to Patches of Pink and link your Spring project up!!! Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Mother's Day Gift #2 - Chocolate!

Okay...here we go with post number 2!

This one I am entering in two challenges as well: Creative Cutter Room's Design Time Thursday Challenge, to use all of the required elements from the Design Team Member's blogs, and Flaunt it Friday's - Cindy Loo, anything goes!

For this kit, the letters also were cut from Nursery Rhymes, welded together on my Gypsy. The mushrooms are from Cindy Loo, and the sunshine (with the cute Peachy face) is from Simply Charmed. I inked the edges of all the cuts, except the words. Added some Crinkle ribbon, LOTS of Prima flowers, buttons, stick on pearls, and some faux stitching around the edges.



Glittery butterfly card!

Having more fun with my glitter and Unity stamps! For this card, I used my Unity Stamps February Kit of the Month, stamped the butterflies and sentiment on patterned paper, cut them out, then added glitter. Attached them to the card with pop-dots, added some Baker's Twine with a Prima flower and a button, and finished with a few stick on green pearls on the side and a bit of doodling. Thanks for looking!



Love note

Had a CRAZY day today, so when I got home, I decided to spend a few minutes making a card for the weeks Cricut Circle Challenge that ends tonight! It was supposed to be a love note, include Cuttlebug embossing, and at least 2 Cricut cuts. I also thought I would add it to the new monthly challenge on the Unity Blog as well. Click HERE to read more about that!

So...I cut the card base from Wild Card (a sadly neglected cartridge as of late!), cut the center from Preserves and used the Cuttlebug on it, and cut the word "love" from Home Decor with some Glossy Accents over it. The black hearts I hand cut after stamping in white with one of my grab bag Unity Stamps. I pop-dotted 2 of those when I stuck them down (the second picture shows that a little better). Added a bunch of faux stitching, some Baker's Twine, a couple of tiny Prima flowers, and some stick on pearls.



Glitter and thanks!

Just wanted to share a quick fun card that I have been working on a little here and there over the last couple of days. I discovered that my local Ross store has scrapbooking stuff - dangerous information! But I found this paper that was so yummy...and the price was great, so how could I resist?

The card base is cut from Birthday Bash cartridge. It was actually intended for something else that didn't work out, but it was perfect for this! Did LOTS of stitching with my white gel pen as I went around it. The stamps are, of course, from Unity Stamps. Added some glitter with zip dry glue to one of the grab bag stamps (that I used yesterday in a different way), as well as a sentiment from a set I got on sale from them. Added some dew drops, a Prima flower with a button and some Baker's Twine for a bow.



Women can do everything better...in heels!

Just a quick card to share today that I managed to sneak in between homeschooling my dear daughters the other day! Used my Unity stamps from the January Kit of the month, a sentiment from Pink by Design, some ribbon and Prima flowers with stick on pearls, corners punched from my Fiskars corner punch and covered with Glossy Accents, and some faux stitching to finish it off. (I think I also love pink and brown!)



Having too much fun with stamps!!!

Oh my goodness!!! I can't believe how much fun I am having mixing together stamps and my Cricut!!! There are so many possibilities!!! I probably need to slow down - but it is just so much fun! I love how each of these is so unique and different too! I think my Prismacolor pencils are making a difference too - those really do color SUPER nice! I always loved coloring when I was a kid - now I just get to do it as a grown up!

So the stamp on all of these is from Unity Stamps, all colored in with the Prismacolor pencils. The first one also has some black string wrapped around, a button, and some bling added with my Jolee's heat set gun. Topped off the sentiment with some Glossy Accents, and added some lace at the top and bottom. This is the only one I didn't use the Cricut on.

On the second one, after I colored it in, I cut it out, and topped the whole thing with Glossy Accents. Added a neat finish too it! The scallop background was cut from Preserves, then I cut a smaller square and ran it through the Cuttlebug. Layered everything, added lots of doodling, some ribbon, Stickles, some Prima flowers, and some bling with my Jolee's heat set tool. 

The last one I just layered several times on different colored cardstock, then welded together some of the letters from Nifty Fifties on my Gypsy to cut out "Let's Roll!" Added some doodling, then Glossy Accents over the letters, and around the black edge of the matting around the skates.



Hope you have a "groovy" day!!!

My Pink Stamper Blog Hop Challenge!!!

Made this for the challenge at My Pink Stampers Blog Hop! For some reason this just popped into my head! (Almost forgot that I also wanted to enter it in the Scrappy Moms Terrific Tuesday Challenge! The challenge was to use Birthday Bash - which I did!) 

All cuts, including the shaped card, are from Birthday Bash. Added a Peachy Keen Face, a Prima flower with a stick on pearl for the center, and then pop-dotted the bird from the background. The sentiment is from My Pink Stampers Tweety Hoo Puns stamp set. Also added some pink pearls to the corners, and some doodlin', as well as LOTS of inking on everything! 



I am humbled...

Sometimes something happens that reminds you what is important. I was so humbled to receive a private message yesterday from an older woman living on Social Security. She said she had seen how I support Sister Connection with my card sales, and even though she couldn't afford $30 a month to support a widow, she wanted to send something to help the ladies and their families out. I was speechless! I cannot believe how much God has grown and stretched me since I began this project!!! I think I enjoy making cards more now than I EVER did before! It truly is a gift of the heart...so from my heart - I want to thank each of you who has encouraged me along the way, who have contributed to this cause, or ANYTHING that helps someone in need, and those in whom I have been blessed to see the Father's heart!

And quickly, here are a couple of cards that I made over the weekend.

The first one is from a stamp set (by Fiskars I think...) that I colored with colored pencils, added some bling with my Jolee's heat set tool, some ribbon, and some doodling.

This second one is a stamp from Unity Stamp Company, colored with colored pencils. The sentiment is from a Pink by Design stamp set. Added a Prima flower with a button center, baker's twine bow, and some ribbon - as well as double matting on the stamped images.

May God bless you today!



Getting a little carried away with the stamps!

Figured I better post about 3 of these this morning, if I EVER wanted to catch up! I have been making cards so much here and there lately, that I was starting to get a backlog! Guess that's a good problem to have though...

So...the first two of these were from some miscellaneous stamps. I have had the snowman for a long time, and I think the frog is a from a set by Fiskars. Colored them both in with colored pencils, added some ribbon, doodling, and buttons on the second one. The snowman got a sentiment from one of my Pink by Design sets, and the sentiment on the cute little frog came with the set.

The last one, I made early yesterday morning - after the idea popped into my head the night before! I was a good girl though, and went to bed, and waited until morning to make it! The stamp on that one is from a retired set by Unity Stamps, and I colored it with colored pencils as well. Added some doodling, several ribbons, and a Prima flower with a button center.



A sad card...

This is one card that was hard to make. Another blogger that I follow, Courts Crafts posted this on her blog the other day:

" I have a request - most of us are card makers and a dear friend of mine and his wife just lost their 13 month old baby girl. It was something rare and in 30 hours she went from perfectly healthy to gone from their lives. There was nothing they could do. They were incredibly brave and donated her organs and already 5 children's lives have been saved. They are seeing the blessing in this storm and are leaning on God to guide them through this horrific time. Their names are Sean and Kjersten Post and their daughter's name was Brynnley.

I don't want to invade on their privacy, but if you would like to send a card to them, I would really love it if they knew how many people are praying for them and their situation." 

If you would like to help, please click on her name above to follow the link for more information.

I almost didn't post this, because I didn't want it to be in poor taste. But I truly struggled with this card - sympathy cards are a lot harder to begin with - but making one for someone who lost their daughter was particularly difficult, especially since I have two daughters of my own, and can't imagine going through such a loss. But after some prayer, I felt like the Lord led me to this poem, and I built the card around that.

The shapes were cut from Preserves, and I simply inked them a little, added some flowers and stick on pearls, and a ribbon bow. Please keep this family in your prayers - I plan on it.



Owls and birds

Couldn't resist making a couple more cards with my Unity Stamps yesterday, snuck in between homeschooling my two daughters and all the other things that get thrown at me in a day! These were really quick though - so that helped!

On the first one, I colored it in with colored pencils for the birds, and a brown scrapbooking wide tip pen for the brown parts on the tree. Cut the leaves on my Cricut from the Give a Hoot cartridge, and covered them with Glossy Accents - not sure if that shows on the picture or not. Finished with pearls and ribbon.

The second one came out so elegant! Stamped the images on pattern paper, added some pretty lace, a flower, and buttons. Different than what I normally make, but I really like how it came out.

Thanks for looking!



Happy New Year!!!

Just was looking at someone's blog, and they were commenting on how they had just noticed all the 1's in today's date: 1/1/11!!! Thought it was kind of funny! Anyway, just thought I would start off the New Year, by posting the last two cards I made LAST year! I somehow managed to sneak in making two cards yesterday with my Unity Stamps - in between the other events of the day!

In addition to some Unity Stamps, this first one also has a sentiment from Pink By Design's set called Take the Cake. Colored a bit on the stamped image with some colored pencils, and pop dotted it from the background. Added some ribbon, a bit of doodling, and some buttons.

I LOVE the colors on this second one! Teal and black! I stamped the tea cup, cut it out, matted it on black, and cut that out again. I ran the black background through my Cuttlebug folder, then layered everything together. On a whim, I decided to put some Glossy accents over the tea cup. What I didn't count on was it kind of wrinkling up! At first I was dissappointed, but when it dried, I found that I really liked it - kind of gave it a distressed/vintage look to it! Added some stick on pearls, a little ribbon, a Prima flower with a button, and stickles all around the outside! Stuck my fingers in Glossy Accents and Stickles more than once while making this card (Grrrr!), but it was worth it - because I love how it came out!



I believe in angels...

Just a quick one to share today. Made this one with one of my Unity Stamp sets. Stamped it in deep red ink (I think the color is called rhubarb - love that, it makes me hungry!), then filled it in a little with my white gel pen. Did a little faux stitching, added some ribbon with a Prima flower and button, and there it was!



Fairytale...

Well...can't say that this is my favorite, but it is finished! Ever have one of those, that you just want to like, but can't seem to? Yep...this is one of those! Oh well - guess there has to be some of those too!

Used my Unity Stamps again - I think I have finally used every stamp from that one set I got - must mean it is time to get more! Added Prima flowers with a button for the center, some ribbon, and flower border stamp done with white ink and some Stickles for the centers, some white gel pen stitching around the outside.