Rejoice

Hola!

Happy Humpday!  I hope your week is going as well as mine is.  School started on Monday, and because my daughter is a pretty good teenager, we've already gotten into our daily routine without any trouble at all.  What a year it has been for us, and I'm thankful that things continue to get better. 

So, I created this card, just for fun.  I wanted to try a couple things, and I wanted to use colors that I probably never would have combined, had I not been challenged by them.  This is definitely out of my comfort zone, but it's growing on me.  Here's my card.

This is my very first attempt at a one layer card.  I think the butterflies might disqualify me from being a true one layer, but it needed something.  Everything else is stamped on the main panel of my card.  I used a stencil/mask from one of my Simon Says Stamp card kits, and think the added design works well enough.  I stamped my sentiment in the masked center panel, and then I stamped the flourish on the side.  I liked how it seemed to appear layered with all of the elements, but it was still in need of something.  That's when I added the butterflies.  In all, I like my card, even though I don't know if I'd use these colors together again.  I can't lie though, it is pretty bright and bold, and cheerful. :)

I've combined the following challenge in my card today:

Card Crafters Circle #88 - Winged Things
Stampin for the Weekend - Butterflies
Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #224 - Lime, Berry & Eggplant
The Paper Players #159 - One Layer Card (this was my first attempt, not sure I pulled it off though)
Pile It On #33 - No Designer Paper

I hope you have a great rest of the week.  I hope to be back soon, with another crafty project.  It's going to be a busy weekend though, as we've got our last trip planned for this weekend.  Guess we'll see what happens.

Have a wonderful day!
Hugs!

Happy Birthday!

Good day!

How's it going?  I hope you had a great weekend, hopefully, filled with lots of crafty time.  My house was filled with teenage gossip, laughter, and snacking.  All of my daughters friends who stayed with us over the weekend, call me mom, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  It is a bit like herding cattle though, at times.  They had me running in all different directions on Friday night.  Fortunately, they were at the pool for most of the day on Saturday, and then the mall on Sunday.  Thank goodness for small breaks in the action.  I'm getting old, and my body told me this on several occasions throughout the weekend.  lol  I'm glad everyone had a great time though.  School started today, and my daughter was more than excited to go back.  I'm lucky that my child loves school.  I have a feeling this year is going to be a great one.  Can't believe she's a sophomore already though.  Wow!

Anyway, onto why you're here, right?   I have a new card to share with you for our latest House of Cards challenge.  This month there is a sketch, and this weeks challenge is Classic & Elegant.  For all of the details, click HERE.

I have lots of birthdays coming up this fall, so I wanted to get a head start on the cards for everyone.  I was able to get a few cards made for my stash, but mostly I made birthday cards for specific people in our family.  I really like how this card turned out.  I used a page from an extra bible we had in the house.  I just randomly tore one out.  I stamped the leaves on it in two different colors of green and then double matted it in white and blue, which you can't really see that well in my photo (sorry).  I then used my handy dandy distress inks and Nestabilities, to create the sentiment, then added a bit of twine and was done.  Also, I outlined the inside of the Nestie while the paper was still in the die, for added dimension, but you can't really see that in this photo either.  In real life it's really cool and sparkly.  I hope the recipient of this card enjoys it.  I tried to combine many things I thought they'd enjoy.

I've combined the following challenge in my card today:

Sieze the Birthday - Always Anything Goes (Birthday related)
One Crazy Stamper August Challenge - Birthday
Just For Fun Challenge #1 - Anything Goes
Daring Cardmakers - Colors of the Sea

As always, the other cards posted today are stunning!  I do hope you'll head over to see them, and maybe get to play along with us this week.  I'll be back with another something crafty soon.

Enjoy your day!
Hugs!

Two For One

Hello!

How's your day going?  I'm enjoying a bit of a break from the chaos that is 4 teenage girls sleeping over, while they're at the pool.  I can only imagine that they're going to come back sunburned and/or "crispy" from being there most of the afternoon. lol  In the nice, quiet, alone time I have had, I created two cards.  I usually only post one at a time, but I wanted to share both of these right now.  I was a bit impatient in sharing these. :-)

Here is the first.

A few weeks ago I saw a card posted using a crochet mat.  I did some investigating, and found that Jessi Fogan, makes AND sells them.  I was super excited to place my order, and was even more excited when they arrived so quickly at my house the other day (she's awesome!).  I've asked her to try to find some neon thread.  Wouldn't they be awesome?!  It had been a while since I'd created anything but a square card, so I went with round for this one.  My peach/white flourish panel is actually the emboss resist technique, which I really should do more often.  I matted it in a pale yellow, and added it to my sage green crochet mat.  I then added a wood veneer banner that came in one of my Simon Says Stamp card kits, a twine bow, a hand crocheted flower I ordered on Etsy, and a few sequins.  In all, I think this card took me 20 minutes to complete, and I love it!

I've combined the following challenges in this card:

Stampin Royalty #189 - Photo Inspiration (hope I got close enough to the colors)
Drunken Stampers #137 - Twine (Hi Jessi!!)
Totally Gorjuss #197 - Die Cuts/Punches (my shaped card was made with dies)

And, here is the second card. 

If you know me, you know I LOVE blue.  I reminded myself about the need to continue my use of the emboss resist technique, and wound up with this beauty.  I made two identical panels, only one is embossed with snowflakes and has Mr. Huey's mist on it.  For a bit of added interest, I matted them in opposite directions.  The bottom layer starts with the darker colors at the top, and the focal panel starts with the lighter colors at the top.  I have to say, this turned out much better than I expected.  I added an MFT snowflake, a beautiful I Am Roses paper flower, and some cork paper leaves on top of my ribbon and sentiment, and was finished.  I think the emboss resist technique will be used again this afternoon, for some gift tags.  Or maybe a couple of bookmarks.  Ooooh, yeah...that would work!

I've combined the following challenges in this card:

Cards Galore August Challenge - Bingo (embossing/masks, sprays/inks, ribbon)
Cardabilities #81 - Sketch
Jingle Belles - Tic Tac Toe (embossing heat or dry, ribbon, stamping)
Just Add Ink #178 - Just Add Snowflakes
Just Us Girls #202 - Monochromatic Blues

Now that my long post is done, I've got a question to ask you awesome crafty people!  I recently started thinking that I might want to try my hand at getting published.  I've added it to my bucket list, but am in no hurry.  What advice would you give someone who's never tried this?  Any tips or hints at anything to help me out would be greatly appreciated. 

I'm off to try to create something else to share later in the week.  I'll be back on Monday with my next House of Cards project.  Hopefully, you'll get the chance to stop by and check out what I've made for that.  I do hope the rest of your weekend is fantastic!

Stay crafty my friends!

Believe In Miracles

Hi there!

I hope your week has been going pretty well.  It's been nice for me, but I'm sure that won't last long.  Nothing in transportation ever stays the same.  School starts on Monday, and I'm going to have a house full of teenage girls for the weekend, so I'm hoping to be able to hide and get a few cards made to add to my stash.  Guess we'll see how that goes. lol

It's the 15th of August, and I have a new Use Your Words project for you.  Our challenge word is: Believe.  For all of the details, click HERE.

I was really trying to focus on making more layouts for this DT, but I couldn't find any photos or papers that really went together, for me.  It just wasn't clicking.  So, I did what I usually do, and made a card.  I LOVE my new Simon Says Stamp Card Kit papers and couldn't wait to dive into them.  I think they are gorgeous.  I'm very happy to report that I have a friend who sent an email a couple weeks ago, stating that her latest check up shows no sign of cancer, after a year.  She is officially a survivor, according to her.  Amen!  I wanted to send her some happy mail, and let her know that I'm still praying for her.  What amazing news though. *happy sigh*  When we were hanging out in Dallas, I remember going to the fair with her, just about every year.  How perfect that these papers have a carousel on them.  And, the Believe stamp set from Verve was perfect for this card.  I know she'll love it!

I've combined the following challenges in my card today:

Card Mania #27 - Your Favorite Embellishment (Love my twine!)
Scrapping Everyday Miracles August Main Challenge #31 - An Accomplishment
Creative Craft Challenges2 #16 - Tic, Tac, Toe (I chose twine, ivory, distress)
Ribbon Carousel Challenge #84 - Summertime Fun (hoping my patterned papers will work)

That's all for me.  I do hope you'll head over to the Use Your Words blog to see the beautiful projects the other designers have posted.  I'm lucky to be on a team with such talented women.

Have a wonderful day!
Hugs!

Blue Skies

Greetings!

I hope everyone is having a good week, so far!  It was a lazy weekend around our house, but I was able to get a couple of crafty things done.  Here is a card I made for a friend in need of encouragement.

I wanted to try a technique that Dawn McVey introduced on a weekly tutorial for PTI, that uses two different background stamps together.  You can barely see the light pink polka dots in my photo, but in real life, they're pretty cool.  I have a feeling I'll be trying this technique again.  It's easy.  I've had this stamp in my stash forever, and decided it was time to ink her up after neglecting her for about a year.  I paper pieced the umbrella, and cut her out so I could pop her up.  I think this card is bright, and cheerful, and I'm hoping it will bring a smile to my friend.

I've combined the following challenges in my card today:

Crazy 4 Challenges #197 - Paper Piecing
Sketchbook Saturday #102 - Sketch
Dynamic Duos #64 - Strawberry Slush & Daffodil Delight (I tried to get as close as I could)
Our Creative Corner - Words, Words, Words
Kaboodle Doodles #183 - Anything With Scallops (my lace has scallops)
The Pink Elephant #211 - Texture
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #232 - Backgrounds (using your stamps)

I am hoping to get more crafting done this week, as we're expecting rain over the next few days.  Great time to make a bit pot of homemade veggie beef soup too, I think.

Have a great day!
Hugs!

Use Your Words - Moment

Hi everyone!

How's your week been?  Mine has been pretty good, considering I was on vacation for three days.  Luckily, I was able to work ahead, which made it nice and easy for me when I returned and there was nothing major going on. 

I'm excited to bring you the next prompt for Use Your Words.  Our word for this challenge is: Moment.  For all of the details, click HERE.

For my layout, I broke out some old photos of my mother and I at the beach, from when I was about 4 years old.  We lived in South Texas, and the beach was about 20 minutes from our house.  I loved going there with my parents.  How I wish I were young, and carefree again.  Thank goodness I received my Studio Calico scrapbook kit, as these papers worked perfectly.  I tried to portray the sun with the yellow scalloped circle border and the waves with the blue chevron paper.  It looks a bit plain, but I dig it.

I just found out that I had been chosen as a Favorite Peep, over at The Hybrid Chick, for THIS card.  So excited!

I do hope you'll head over to the Use Your Words blog to see the other amazing layouts posted.  They're gorgeous!

Have a wonderful day!
Hugs!