Ombre Butterflies

I've been busy again with my new Flap Happy stamp set from Paper Smooches! This time, I thought I'd play along again with this week's Sparks Challenge, a sketch:

I wanted to see if I could work with this sketch and a one-layer panel along with the ombre color scheme again.  Here's what I came up with:

To be honest, this is the third attempt at this card.  The first time, I thought I'd put a die-cut butterfly on top, but I didn't like it.  Taking it off did not go well.  The second time, I had it all finished - turned it over to crease the fold, and apparently there was ink on my mat, so the front got smudged with some orange ink.  I didn't give up!

Cath, over at Moxie Fab World is celebrating lots of trends this month with the release of Card Creations 11.  This is another one is for her challenge to use ombre color scheme.  You can see all the details if you click here!

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

Teacher Thank You

It's getting to be that time of year - time to thank my son's teachers for their undying patience this year.  He's a handful.  Cute, but a handful.

In my recent order from Paper Smooches, I included the Clipboard stamp set and dies along with the Notebook Paper stamp set.  I like that the 2 lines for the margin are a different stamp, so I can use different colors!

I created this card to enter into the Sparks Challenge this week, which is this sketch:

After stamping and using an impression plate on the red panel, I cut some of the chalkboard paper I found in my stash.  I had a package of back to school paper from August that I never had time to use.  Now - I can use it for end of year cards!  {winning!} I love any ruler ribbon and pick some up any time I see it.  
 
I die cut the clip from a piece of Soft Stone polka dot paper and stamped the image on it.  After I stamped the notebook lines, I used a Fiskars edge punch on the paper.  I used some scissors to make the edges of the paper look a little worn, and bent the tabs of the paper up. That checkmark is from the Clipboard set too!

All of this was mounted on a Kraft base.  I popped the clipboard up and it hangs off the edge a little, so it's not a true A2 size, but that's alright.

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!  Be back tomorrow with another Paper Smooches card for this sketch!

Tuesday Trigger

I don't always get to play along with the Tuesday Triggers that Cath gives us, but this one jumped out at me!  I love the colors in this dress, and the butterfly is beautiful!  So, I went right to work on this one today using my new Paper Smooches set, Leafy Greens.

Here's what I came up with:

I inked the larger single leaf in the set with turquoise ink, and went around the bottom edges of the stamp with green.  I repeated to create the pattern with the medium and small single leaves. I did the opposite with the butterfly from Flap Happy.  The middle has a touch of turquoise.  The sentiment is from Flap Happy too. 

You can play along with this week's Tuesday Trigger and get all the details if you click here. 

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

Flap Happy Hope

I placed a long-awaited order with Paper Smooches on Saturday, and they arrived in my mailbox yesterday.  FAST!  I couldn't wait to get them unpacked and inked up.  My first set to try was Flap Happy - a wonderful set full with butterfly images!  It comes with 3 sets of butterfly dies too!

Here's what I came up with:

I hadn't tried the ombre effect yet, and as I was looking through all of my ink, I realized I had so  many options for color schemes.  You may be seeing more of this soon!  After I stamped the leaves and butterflies, I ran it through with a Woodgrain impression plate to give the panel some texture.

The dots and leaves are from another new Paper Smooches set called Leafy Greens.  This set was free with purchase for me, and I couldn't be happier!  I also ordered a couple of the leaf dies that go with this set. 

Cath, over at Moxie Fab World is celebrating lots of trends this month with the release of Card Creations 11.  This one is for her challenge to use the ombre color scheme.  You can see all the details if you click here!

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

Clear Cardstock

Using clear cardstock has been on my "To Try" list for quite some time now.  Nichole pushed me over the edge with her Make It Monday challenge this week.  She also used one of my favorite stamp sets - Springtime Doodles!

You can see her video and play along if you click here. 

Here's my card for her challenge today:

 I used New Leaf polka dot paper and cardstock to create the grass.  I adhered it to the front, along with the sun, cut in Summer Sunrise and some A*Muse gingham paper.

I stamped the inside panel with images from Springtime Doodles, colored them and blended them with a pencil.  Love my colored pencils!!

Here's the inside:

I took inspiration from looking out my window -clear, blue skies, beautiful green trees and flowers blooming!  Spring has sprung in Texas!

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

Smiles!

Details here!

I loved last week's trend watch challenge over on the Paper Smooches blog, and I'm just getting this card in almost to the deadline!  I don't have many Paper Smooches sets in my stash, and I rectified that this weekend and placed a very exciting order!  Now, I just have to stalk the mailman in the next few days and wait for my new dies and stamps. In the meantime, here's my card:

What I do have in Paper Smooches stamps - I love!  And paper-piecing the little bugs from  Giddy Bugs is one of my favorite things to do! I added vellum wings to this little bee - similar to what I did a few days ago with the fireflies.  The smile that is in the speech bubble is from the tomato in Vegtastic. 

Cath, over at Moxie Fab World is celebrating lots of trends this month with the release of Card Creations 11.  This one is for her challenge to use speech bubbles.  You can see all the details if you click here!

 Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

hello!

I am officially on Spring Break - and it's a bit rainy outside - so that makes for a perfect day to get some crafting done!  I have a long list of cards and layouts I want to accomplish on my break, and here is the first one finished:

I wanted to use a new die I picked up from Archivers last week.  I haven't jumped on the hexagon bandwagon yet, so this is a first for me.  I diecut the shapes from a piece of cardstock for a negative effect.  I placed some gingham paper from A*Muse in the background and popped up the panel to add dimension.  The stamp is from My Favorite Things "Say What?" set. 

CAS-ual Fridays has a challenge this week to use color blocking.  You can get all the details and submit your card by clicking here. 

And Cath, over at Moxie Fab World is celebrating lots of trends this month with the release of Card Creations 11.  This one is for her challenge to use negative die-cuts.  You can see all the details if you click here!

Off to check some more things off my crafty list!  Be back soon!  Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

Lots of Love

This is my second post today!

I had a lot of inspiration for this card.  First, the challenge over at CAS-ual Fridays is to create our own stamped background - the Wallpaper challenge. This week the sponsor is Ellen Hutson.

 I also found the colors that Lizzie Jones posted in this month's PTI Newsletter just beautiful, and her sample card for the color-play makes me want to get Fancy Folk Art stamp set even more than I already did.

And finally, the challenge this week for Make It Monday is to glitter up some trim!

So, with all of that, I created this card:

Sending You stamp set, Angled Labels and Leafy Vine Border dies (PTI)

I wanted to create a different type of fold today.  I stamped the flowers and leaves in Terracotta Tile, Summer Sunrise and Ripe Avocado.  The centers were stamped with Harvest Gold ink.  For the Soft Stone color, I outlined all the stamping with a C1 Copic marker.  It doesn't show up very well in the photos.  I inked all the edges with some Tea Dye duo and then popped up the sentiment panel.  On the right side, I made a panel for the Leafy Vine diecut.  After cutting it out, I spread some Diamond Stickles on it and let it dry.  This was my second attempt at glittering that border.  The first time, I ran it through my Xyron and sprinkled Prisma Glitter on it.  It lost the Ripe Avocado color, even with heat setting it.  I think the stickles worked a lot better.  The inside of the card is decorated a bit as well.

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

You Make Life Brighter!

I have a card today that fits two challenges - this week's Make It Monday from PTI and Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge. 

Make It Monday is all about glitter borders, and you can see Dawn's video and play along at the link above.

Paper Smooches challenged us this week with this photo:

I used the inspiration and my favorite Paper Smooches set, Giddy Bugs, to create this:

I stamped the fireflies on Harvest Gold cardstock, gingham patterned paper, and vellum.  Then I paperpieced the two bugs on the Blueberry Sky mat, rolling up the vellum wings a little. After diecutting the grass, I ran it through my Xyron and then poured glitter on it.  The clouds from Up, Up and Away were stamped with Fresh Snow ink.  I popped up the heart and used my Sakura pen to add a little sparkle to the bugs' faces and tails. 

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Giddy Bugs (Paper Smooches), Up, Up and Away (PTI)

Cardstock: Blueberry Sky, Harvest Gold, New Leaf (PTI)

Patterned Paper:  Gingham (A*Muse)

Dies:  Grass (MFT), Tiny Tags (PTI)

Ink:  Summer Sunrise, Blueberry Sky, Pure Poppy, Fresh Snow (PTI)

Other: Glitter, Sakura pen

Let It Go!

Click here for challenge details!

I have a couple of more cards for this week's challenge at CAS-ual Fridays.  The challenge is to use silver on our projects, and is sponsored by:

Click here!

As I was browsing Pinterest the other day, I ran across this little gem:

Credit

I knew it would make a great card for any number of my friends, so I created this:

Closed card

Open card

I stamped part of the sentiment with Lawn Fawn's Smitty's Alphabet stamps, and tucked in the colorful part of the sentiment with die cut letters. (PTI's Block Alphabet)  The balloon tail is the silver part of the card to fit CAS-ual Friday's theme this week, along with the silver beads to mimic the reflection on the balloon.  If you look closely, you can see that I inked the edges of the cloud to create the "silver lining," because we all know that every cloud has one.

As I was going back through Pinterest re-searching for the original picture I had found, I ran across this second little gem:

I searched for this link, but couldn't find it!

So, before I put away my ballon die and silver embossing powder, I created this:

Again, the balloon string is the silver here that fits CAS-ual Friday's challenge.

I need to make at least 25 more of these cards.  Just to leave around my friends' classrooms!

Click on the link above to participate in this week's challenge!  It's a fun one!

 

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

PTI February Blog Hop and a Sketch Challenge

Today I have a layout that covers two challenges!  I always love it when I can multi-task, don't you?

It's the 25th of the month, which always means Blog Hop time at Papertrey Ink!

Nichole challenged us this month with this:

Pull out your letter stamps and alphabet dies and create something monogrammed!  It can be a gift for someone special or a treat to keep for yourself!  You could monogram a set of notecards, stationery, coasters, journals, home decor or anything else you can dream up!

You can see the details of the blog hop and participate over on Nichole's blog - here.

So, I dream of scrapbooking - during the day, during the night - most of the time, it's on my mind.  Even though I spend a lot of time making cards or doing 1,000,001 other things - scrapbooking was my first love, and the love to which I will always return.  

As usual, I'm behind in my scrapbooking - this time, almost a year.  I created a title page layout for my son's 1st grade scrapbook.  Here it is:

PTI Supplies: New Leaf cardstock, Block Alphabet, Seeing Stars, Simple Circles border dies

This is his Spring picture from around this time last year.  It's one of my favorite he's ever taken, so I wanted it highlighted on the title page.  I kept with the monogram theme with which Nichole challenged us by adding his initials in the stars as part of the title.  I even researched monograms and found that the common format for monograms for males is to use their initials in order of their names.

(Does anyone else think of Major Monogram from Phineas and Ferb when they hear the word "monogram?"  Ahh, the life of a mother with a boy!)

To continue with this scrapbook means I have to reverse time and start scrapping the summer of 2011.  I'll get there.  I need to just focus on doing some clean and simple layouts and not get too bogged down in design and embellishments.  After all, they are for me to enjoy, right?


For the layout, I used this sketch from the Core'dinations blog, which is new to me.  I discovered it when I was perusing one of my crafty friend's Pinterest pages.  Thanks, Kristin!

Click here for details!

Since it's a title page, I have no journaling, so I just left that area blank. 


Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!