First time for everything!

I'm certainly not short on crafting supplies, but I needed to go to Michael's today to get a new gluepen to replace the one my 9-year old used up.  A few things caught my eye, so I decided to give them a try.  One was a butterfly stencil by Heidi Swapp and the other was a package of Liquid Pearls.  I've never used either of these products, so I was excited to make this tonight:

Sentiment from MFT's Words of Inspiration

There's certainly a learning curve, and photographing it was a little challenging, but I am happy with the results.  I can't wait to get busy with these products again!

Here's a close up:

I used this week's color scheme at MFT Challenge and Inspiration Blog.  It made things very easy!

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Hello!

Good Sunday evening!  I'm off tomorrow, so I was able to relax a little bit today and not chase the laundry around the house all day.  I organized my patterned paper and discovered I have way too much - from kits to single pages to almost used up pieces that I can't bear to throw away.  I vowed to start using it more often and to go back and review the Pattern Play card class I took last year.  

So, my first attempt at using up a little patterned paper is here:

Paper Smooches: Quote Tag set, Botanicals 1

I stamped the flowers in Versamark and clear embossed them on the tag. Then I used a blending tool to add color to the tag in the palette for this week's challenge at Color Throwdown.  I mounted it on a piece of cream cardstock that I ran through my Big Shot with an impression plate.  All of this was mounted on a sheet of distressed purple (PATTERNED) paper!  I also cut the sentiment and heart from the same paper. 

I continued to use the sketch for this week from the MFT Challenge and Inspiration Blog, but instead of placing the strip at the bottom of my card as in the sketch, I placed my sentiment at the top.  It's a little different, and I think it works!

All of this wouldn't be possible without the Paper Smooches products, so I'll turn this in to this week's challenge - Anything Goes!

That's a lot of challenges wrapped up in one card!

Thanks for visiting my Happy Place!

MFT Sketch Take 2

I'm back again today with another card for this week's sketch challenge on the MFT Challenge and Inspiration Blog.  Here's the sketch we were given:

Click here for more details!

Sentiment from My Favorite Things Watt's Up? stamp set

I used some scor-tape on the top and bottom of the card to add some glitter strips in white and yellow glitter.  The lightbulb is mounted on a piece of Soft Stone cardstock that I ran through my Big Shot with an impression plate to give it some texture.  I highlighted the filaments and outline of the lightbulb with my favorite Gelly Roll pen, Clear Star.  To create the sentiment, I masked part of it so that I could stamp the top portion above the light bulb and emboss the "Brighter" segment in silver and add it to the bottom.   


 This was a fun one to make!

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MFT Sketch 211

I'm play along with this week's sketch challenge at My Favorite Things.  You can get all the details and see a lot of fabulous samples if you click here.

After a few weeks of gray skies, the sun has finally broken out and the temperatures should rise to the mid-60s!  That is all the inspiration I needed for this card:

The sun (from MFT) was diecut from yellow cardstock, and before I pieced it together, I ran the center through my Xyron and covered it with some glitter.  I cut the panel in white cardstock and used my blending tool to give it some color.  After stamping it with a sentiment from Words of Inspiration (MFT) and a few butterflies, I ran it through my Big Shot with an impression plate to give it a little texture.  I used some patterned paper from Bo Bunny to cut out the grass with MFT's Fresh Cut Grass die. 

I didn't want to neglect the inside, so I repeated a few of the elements from the front and added another sentiment from Words of Inspiration.

Thank you for visiting My Happy Place!  

Sending Prayers

Click here for details.

I'm back today with a card for the Picture Perfect challenge at Paper Smooches.  Although the inspiration definitely has a winter-white Christmas theme, I went with just the colors and textures for my card, and I tried to keep it simple.

I had some bonus points at Amazon that I needed to spend, so I ordered Blueprints #15 from My Favorite Things.  It came to my door yesterday (on a SUNDAY!) and I couldn't wait to use it. I love the stitching on the edge, and I'm sure this will be my go-to die for most projects from now on.  After cutting out the cream panel,  I ran it through my Big Shot with an inked-up impression plate to highlight the texture in the pattern.  I did the same for the sentiment panel and the butterfly. Both the butterfly and sentiment are from one of my favorite Paper Smooches sets, Flap Happy.  

I highlighted a few of the butterfly's features with a Sakura pen to give the card a little sparkle.  

Again, I followed the sketch from MFT Challenge and Inspiration Blog.

Click here for details.

That challenge is almost over, and I can't wait to see what Susan comes up with next!



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Embrace Today

I was able to make another card today using the new sketch and color scheme from the My Favorite Things Challenge and Inspiration blog and some Paper Smooches stamps.

I used Leafy Greens from Paper Smooches for the background stamping on the cream panel.  Then I layered a piece of vellum over that to soften the colors a bit.  I die cut a a few Loopy Leaves from Paper Smooches and then used My Favorite Things Rolled Rose die for the focal point.  The sentiment on the tag is from Captured Moments by Paper Smooches.

I followed the sketch and color combination from the MFT Challenges this week. 

Click here

Click here.

And I'm adding this to the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge this week.  Anything Goes - which makes things so very easy!

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Let's Chat

One of my personal resolutions this year is to create something at least once a week.  That may seem like so little to most people, but last year lacked a whole lot of creativity.  Baby steps.

It's rainy and cold here today, so it's a perfect time to catch up on the new challenges at the MFT Challenge and Inspiration Blog.

The Sketch Challenge:

The Color Challenge:

My take on both challenges:

I used the "Say What?" stamp set and die from My Favorite Things for this cad.  I inked up three of the speech bubbles in the set to create the background on the white panel.  The sentiments were used on the green strip, stamped in Versamark.  I diecut the largest speech bubbles in teal and white and layered them for the main sentiment.

This will probably be in the mailbox this afternoon on its way to one of my dearest friends.  We haven't seen each other in a while, and she has a lot going on.  She was on my mind the whole time I was making this.  We need to catch up.

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

Thanks - MFT

This card is made for this week's Get Sketchy challenge at My Favorite Things. They are in the middle of a release right now, and I have been adding a lot of goodies to my wish list this week! 

Here's the sketch for this week's challenge, which you can play along with if you click here.

I had a thought in my head all day for this sketch, but when I sat down to work on it, nothing turned out the way I thought it would.  So, I grabbed some of this patterned paper that I had used for another project and everything fell into place. 

Sentiment from "Say What?" Stamp set by MFT.

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This Rocks

Three posts in one day - quite unheard of lately.  It's been nice being able to relax and craft again.  I'm here to share the last card I made this afternoon for this week's sketch challenge for Paper Smooches. 

You can get all the details here, at the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge blog. 

Here's my last take on the challenge:

I used four Paper Smooches sets on this one!  I used Notebook Paper for the lines, Clipboard and the coordinating die for the little clip, Captured Moments for the sentiments, and the heart is from Giddy Bugs.

I have visions of my son doing really well when we return to school next week, so I have this ready to tuck under his pillow one night. 

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

One Layer - Enjoy This Day

I made two more cards for this week's sketch challenge for Paper Smooches.  Oh, the joys of being off work for a couple of weeks!

You can get all the details here, at the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge blog. 

Here's another take on the challenge:

I wanted to see if the sketch would work with a one-layer card, so I masked off the border of the white card base and stamped images from Botanicals 1 in the open panel.  The sentiment is from Flap Happy.  I wanted to give the card some texture, so I wrapped some twine around the middle of the base and placed a dot of glossy accents in the middle of each flower. 

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Paper Smooches Designer Draft

I'm heading back into my crafting room with full-steam ahead.  2014 brought many changes for me, including buying a new home, moving and selling our old home.  It took six months for me to really feel like the new place was under control, so my crafting time really suffered.  With the turn of the calendar, I have new goals for the year, and one of them is to craft more.

This week's challenge at Paper Smooches is a sketch challenge:

You can get all the details here, at the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge blog.

Here's my take on the challenge:

Botanicals 1, Flap Happy stamps and die

I stamped the sprigs from Botanicals 1 on the green base and cream panel.  The butterflies were stamped in differed shades of pink.  I wanted one butterfly to stand out, so I used the die to cut out one butterfly, stamped it, and colored it with Prismacolor pencils.  After adhering the panel and stamping the sentiment, I added a few rhinestones to add some texture.

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place - which will be a lot more happy in the new year!

MIM #194 - Stamping Borders

This card is for this week's Make It Monday from Melissa.  She used regular stamps to create a border around the cardstock.  You can find more details if you click on Nichole's blog here.

Scattered Showers 2, Hello Sunshine, Phrase Play #1 die
Harvest Gold, Stampers Select, Summer Sunrise cardstocks

 

 

I created a border using the sun image from Scattered Showers 2, stamping in three different yellows - Harvest Gold and Summer Sunrise from PTI, and Lemon Drop from Jenni Bowlin.


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Thank you!

My son and I spent the 4th of July with family - immediate, extended, and once or twice removed. 

My sisters and I grew up with all of our cousins in the same town, and often vacationed with both of our parents' cousins and their children.  We've attended graduations, weddings, and funerals together, and now we have our own children.  Circle of Life.

I wanted to make a couple of thank you cards for my mom's cousin, for housing us, and her son, for driving us up and down the river on his boat, so this is what I came up with.

Excuse the photos! I wasn't planning on blogging about these and only took the pictures to send to my sister.

Beautiful Blooms paper, Instant Photo Die #1, Super Stars Border Die, Inside and Out: Thank You (all PTI), Say What die (MFT)

Tropical Teal paper/ink, Instant Photo Die #1, Inside and Out: Thank You (all PTI) Patterned Paper (My Mind's Eye), Say What die (MFT)

Thanks for stopping by My Happy Place!