Sweetheart Blog Hop!!!

I wanted to announce that I will be doing my FIRST ever blog hop soon! Thanks to Carri at Double Click Connections for inviting me to join in! The date this will be happening is coming up very soon!!! February 5th to be exact! I will have something fun to give away, as I know at least some of the other ladies will, so make sure and check in. I have seen some of the projects planned, and they are going to be so much fun! The line-up is listed below, so feel free to check out some of the other blogs in advance if you want!

Georgiana http://www.carsonscricutcreations.blogspot.com/

Cheryl http://cardsbycg.blogspot.com/

Jen http://www.purplescrapbooker.com/

Carri http://doubleclickconnections.blogspot.com/

Celeste http://ccscards.blogspot.com/

Libby http://beachcreationsforyou.blogspot.com/

Heather http://housesbuiltofcards.blogspot.com/  (That's me!!!)

Lisa http://ljsscrapshack.blogspot.com/

Tracy http://www.craftjunkietoo.com/

Star http://starspaperpassion.blogspot.com/



3 Challenges - 1 Card!!!

I had 3 different challenges on my list that I wanted to get to, and due to busy schedule at the moment, I was able to combine them all into ONE!!! It was a challenge, and took a bit of a stretch to accomplish it - but I really like the results.

The first challenge was the Cricut Circle weekly challenge, which had to include at least 3 cuts from the Cricut, but they all had to be from the cartridges that came with your Cricut or Gypsy. So, the flower border and sentiment both came from Gypsy Wanderings, as well as the two rounded corner rectangles. The butterfly was built out of 2 hearts, an oval, some circles, and some little squiggles all welded and shaped on my Gypsy, and all from Plantin Schoolbook - a cartridge I don't use nearly as often as I should.

The next challenge was the Peachy Keen sketch challenge with a twist - the twist was to use a monochromatic color scheme. I have been struggling with that one since I saw it - cause that one is HARD for me!

The third and final challenge was a Love Bug challenge at Double Click Connections. And for that, obviously, the butterfly!

I also ran the bottom rectangle through the Cuttlebug, added some bling, a bit of black inking, some doodling and faux stitching, and pop dotted the butterfly, flower border, and sentiment. Almost forgot - also used a Peachy Keen face for the butterfly, and added a little bow with some Baker's Twine!!!



My daughter's cards!

So...as I said a little earlier, here are a couple of pictures of the cards my daughters made, after going "dumpster diving" in my scrapbooking garbage can! They took some of the negatives of cuts I have made recently (do you recognize some of them?), and used them as stencils and colored them in. I still makes me happy that, not only do they want to do this because it's fun, but they also want to help others with it! The whole goal for them is to help build a house for a widow! Like I have said before, they were definately my inspiration for what I do with my cards! I love them so much!!!



Anyone excited for spring?

Anyone else gettting excited for spring to arrive? This image just makes me wish it was here already!

The image and sentiment, as well as the background shape, came from Unity Stamps. I colored them in with my Prismacolor pencils and cut them out by hand. Added some Baker's Twine, a torn piece of paper for the background, and a little doodling with my gel pen around the edges.

Short and sweet today! I will try to post a little later or tomorrow though...my two daughters ages 6 and 7 decided to go through my garbage can by my scrapbooking desk and scavenge all the things they could so they could make some cards too! They have been working so busily on it - and they said they want to sell their cards too - to help the widows have a house!!! They asked me if I thought people would buy them for 25 cents!!! Made me cry (yes...I'm an emotional mom!), but I LOVE their heart and desire to help others! The truth is, we don't coach or encourage them to think of others - I think it is the other way around! They are constantly reminding me to think of others. Anyway, I took some pictures of what they made and told them I would post them and share them on here - so be looking for that!

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!)



Sending love your way...

I love using both stamps and my Cricut on the same card! This one I especially had fun with! Also entered this in the Cooking with Cricut birthday challenge!

I started off with the little present from Unity Stamps, and after I colored it in with my Prismacolor colored pencils and cut it out, I suddenly pictured it needing someone (or something) holding it! So...I pulled out Birthday Bash, found a shaped card base, and the cute little critter! He was supposed to be holding the number one, but I skipped that part, as well as his party hat, and hid the face with my Gypsy. Added a Peachy Keen Face, a sentiment which is also from Unity Stamps, some faux stitching with my white gel pen, and a little bit of Baker's Twine on the side for a bow. Fun, fun, fun!!!



Moon and Stars...

Since I received my Unity Kit of the month for January yesterday, and my husband had to head into work extra early, I decided to sit down and play with them. These are two of the cards that I came up with - very different than anything else I have made before, but I love how elegant looking they came out!

The stamp and sentiment for both of them are, of course, Unity Stamps. The backgrounds are both metalic paper than I ran through my Cuttlebug. Added ribbon and corners punched from a Fiskars corner punch to both of them, as well as a little faux stitching with some glittery gel pens. Added some buttons and string to the first one, and some bling with my Jolee's heat set tool to the second one.