A card from my oldest daughter!

Whew...we just got home yesterday from back to back trips - and apparently my body was worn out, because I spent the first half of the day with a migraine - one of the worst I have ever had! I rarely get them anymore, but this was a doozy! So much for my plans for the day, which had originally included canning and processing the 3 boxes of peaches, 1 box of pears, 1 box of Gravenstein apples (to make into pies to freeze), 1 box of concord grapes (to juice and can), and a bag of jalapenos and pickling cucumbers - not to mention unpacking from camping, doing laundry, etc...

So, now that I am feeling human again, I thought I would take a few minutes to post the card my daughter made for the Simon Say's Kids Challenge - she even used the optional extra of "ice" for the theme:

She made this card with no help whatsoever from me! I'm so proud of her - definitely a little cardmaker already!

I'll be back next week with the new release for My Craft Spot - it's a super fun one! Here a couple of sneak peeks to hold you over:

Also - My Craft Spot is now selling sequins! I'm SOOOOOO excited about this! Evidently they were popular, because they are already sold out - but Kimberly is taking pre-orders and will ship them out as soon as she gets another shipment in. Look at these fun color combinations:

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great holiday weekend!

Gratitude - Sweet Stamp Shop - UWYH Challenge

Good morning! Another fun challenge card to share today:

I was excited to squeeze in a few minutes this past week to play along with the Use What You Have Challenge over at Sweet Stamp Shop:

I dug into THREE different stashes for this card! First up - the older paper stash:

Then the tangled mass of ribbon stash:

And the Stickles stash that I rarely use anymore:

I used the brand new Fall Gratitude stamp set (so happy this came in the mail in time for me to play with it before leaving on vacation!) I stamped it with MFT ink, then added the sentiment on a separate little banner. I pulled out some pattern paper from an older Crate Paper 6x6 paper pad (On Trend), and layered it all together.

Added some lace trim and ribbon from my stash, a tiny Tim Holtz paper clip, some Neat and Tangled sequins, and finished off by putting some Stickles on parts of the feathers.

{Sigh} A perfect fall card! The trees around our neck of the woods are turning yellow already! YIKES! I guess fall really is on the way! 

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a wonderful day!!!

Flowers and Happiness

Hello! Happy Friday! I'm combining Unity Friends with Flair with the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger for the week - here is what I made:

Here is the Trigger photo - beautiful, isn't it?

I used Now & Always and the July KOTM to make my flower background, using some Versamagic ink. The sentiment came from the August KOTM.

I mounted that piece with foam adhesive on some Avery Elle Sea Glass Cardstock (because of the plate under the teacup) and added a few enamel dots to finish it off.

The day I took these photos was a bit gray and gloomy - sorry for the poor photos! This was the best I could do!

Anyway - hope you are having a great Friday, and have a great weekend too!

Unity Be Inspired Challenge - Fall and Butterflies!

Hello! I took a few minutes yesterday to play along with the Unity {Be Inspired} Challenge:

I decided to use both the color and the card sketch challenge, only changing it to vertical instead of horizontal:

I used the same image on the sketch - from the August Kit of the Month. LOVE it - butterflies together with fall leaves? PERFECT! I stamped it on vellum, then colored it in a bit with Tim Holtz distress markers. I also stamped a sentiment from the same kit on vellum.

Pattern papers are from Crate Paper's Party Day 6x6 paper pad, and I added some natural jute twine, and a bit of May Arts ribbon - attaching the entire thing with foam adhesive to a Avery Elle kraft cardstock cardbase.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you are having a wonderful day!!!

Soft and Dreamy with AE and Curtain Call

Good morning! I managed to sneak in a card for a couple more challenges yesterday - and I LOVE how soft and dreamy this one came out!

The first challenge was the August Avery Elle Sketch Challenge - I pretty much followed the sketch exactly, just elongated it to a vertical design instead of horizontal:

The next challenge was the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge - balloon animals always make me think of the fair - and I loved the soft dreamy colors in this inspiration photo:

I used lots of pretty papers from Crate Paper's 6x6 DIY shop paper pad - one of my fav collections ever! I matted each layer with Avery Elle kraft cardstock, which I also used for my cardbase.

I stamped the balloon animal from Party Animal on my pattern paper with soft MFT ink - again, loving that soft dreamy look! The sentiment is from Handwritten Notes stamped with MFT kraft ink.

I added some ivory jute twine, and a few Winter Blend sequins for embellishment.

Thanks for stopping by this morning! Have a great day!!!

Chevron and Bold Hello

Hello! Sneaking in another card for a couple of challenges - LOVE how it came out! Pretty clean and simple:

So, I started off super inspired by the current Runway Inspired Challenge:

And since I decided to go with distress inks, I thought I use the current Lawnscaping challenge as well:

I started off with my Lawn Fawn Chevron Backdrops stamp set, and I heat embossed the medium sized chevrons on white cardstock with clear powder. 

I then inked it up with two different colors of Tim holtz distress ink, blending it out in the center. I was going to make this one layer, so I masked it off with washi tape, but ended up making a smudge with a dirty finger! Oops! So...I trimmed off the panel, and remounted it on a fresh (clean!) white cardbase.

I added the sentiment from Just My Type, and placed some black enamel dots on each side of it.

I just love these bright fun colors! And I'm still working on that clean and simple stuff! Thanks for stopping by! Have a great night!!!

Lil' Inker's 3rd Birthday and Giveaway Winner!

Good morning! I have been super busy playing with new releases for a couple of different design teams (Can't WAIT to share! LOTS of fun stuff coming!) - but I have had my eye on a few challenges that I wanted to play along with - one of which was Lil' Inker's 3rd Birthday Challenge! So...I took a few minutes last night to make this:

Here is the inspiration photo - I used the balloons and rainbow theme as my inspiration, but took it a little more vintage feeling in my card.

I used my Lil' Inker's Stitched Rectangle Dies to cut a window out of the background paper, attached the outer part flat on my cardbase, and then attached the center part popped up with foam adhesive.

I also cut a plain rectangle, and stamped one of the sweet Sugar Kissed Cottage images called "Surprise" on it in black ink - just to keep it simple. I added a sentiment from Rainbows & Clouds Sentiment Stamp set.

I used some distress ink around the edges, then attached it directly to my popped up center panel, and finished off with a bow tied around the top with Baker's Twine, leaving the tails nice and long!

And...now what you have been waiting for! I picked a winner from my Post 1,001 and Giveaway - using Random.org (because I could NEVER actually choose!)

Which means the lucky winner is:

Big congrats Jessica!!! Please send me an email at housesbuiltofcards@gmail.com with your mailing address, and choice of stamp from either Neat and Tangled or My Craft Spot - and I will get that ordered for you!

And thanks to everyone who left comments! I so enjoyed reading all of the sets from both companies that you loved! 

Have a great day everyone!!!

SPS Post - Sweetie Pie!

Good morning! I'm posting over at Shop Pumpkin Spice with a fun card using some beautiful Echo Park paper from For the Record 2, and some fun Paper Smooches stamps from Bee Mine:

The center panel is Bazzil Classic white cardstock - such a great white cardstock, and perfect for coloring! I cut it using my Lil' Inker's stitched rectangle dies, and used a bit of distress ink on the edges to help it blend in.

I also used some My Mind's Eye decorative tape, and a bit of Charcoal Baker's Twine, then attached it over a doily, and then my pattern papers.

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a wonderful day!!!

MCS Challenge - 3D items

Good morning! Happy Monday, and welcome to a new week's challenge over at My Craft Spot! The challenge this week is 3D items - so I decided to put together a couple of little treat/gift bags for my daughters:

I was only going to make one...but since I have two daughters, I figured I better make it two! Since the beginning of school is coming near, I think I will tuck a few goodies in them, and save them for either the first day, or for making it through the first week or something! We homeschool - so I like to do what I can to make it a special day!

I used some My Mind's Eye fun Kraft papers that I had in my stash for way too long, and used my Silhouette Cameo and a cut file from the online store for my boxes. Love how simple they are to put together!

I added some Midnight black crinkle ribbon and Spring Green Traditional baker's twine from My Craft Spot to tie around and decorate the top.

I cut some cute tags using Tiny Tags Metal Dies, and the coordinating stamp set Tiny Tags 3 to stamp my sentiment using PTI ink.

Can't wait to give these to my daughters! Or to see what you make - hope you join in and play along with us this week! Have a great day!!!

PS SPARKS Challenge - Cool Shades

Hello! It's time for a new challenge over at Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge!

This week it is a Cool Shades Challenge:

Here is the color palette - Sizzle:

As soon as I saw the color palette - I couldn't help but think of fall and Thanksgiving - and I really wanted to use feathers, but didn't have a Paper Smooches set with feathers (at least that I could find!) So...I got creative and made up my own! :-)

The feathers were made using one of the leaves from the stamp set Calico, stamped on kraft paper with MFT inks. I added the center striping with the long thin stem partially inked with white pigment ink. SOOOO fun! I also created the background using the tiny polka dot cluster from the same set stamped with white pigment ink randomly on my card base. I also inked the edges a bit with distress ink.

I used Scallop Frame Dies to make my frame with dark brown cardstock, and my sentiment is from Many Thanks (this months free set with purchase!)

Finished off with a couple of washi strips behind the front panel and a wrap of jute twine tied in a bow, then attached the front panel with foam adhesive.

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit! Please stop by and see what the rest of the SPARKS team put together:

Jamie

Larissa

Heather

Pamela

Savannah