FWF and Caffinated Cropper Customer Hop

Hello friends! Welcome to my Caffinated Cropper and Friends With Flair post for today. Again, I LOVE combining my favorite things into one happy post. :) If you just wandered in on my blog today, please go back to AMY'S blog for the full list of the Caffinated Cropper hop.

My first card is made with this week's Card Patterns sketch as well as my friend Carole's Unity anniversary week challenge. The challenge was to use the first Unity Stamps you bought. My first order had Cupcakes A'la Yummy in it. All the elements from this card are from Caffinated Croppers With a Cherry on Top kit other than the white card base and the stamps.

The next card uses the Hip Hop sketch for this week on the Unity forum. I thought it was fun with the three lines going across it. I used border stickers from my Caffinated Cropper kit. I made the background paper using a stamp from Unity's April '10 KOTM and some card stock from my kit. The main image is from the same stamp set. And the letter stickers are from my With a Cherry on Top kit.

Ok, hop on over to EMILY'S blog to continue on the Caffinated Cropper hop. Leave love along the way, one lucky commenter will win a Mini Cherry kit! :)

And check out the Unity Blog for the complete friends with flair hop!

Unity Plus Limelight Equals Happy!

Super quick post since I'm going to be making lunch for 12 people in a couple minutes here. I feel like I've lost my mind! But my friends are having a hard time, so I do what I can.

I combined the Limelight sketch and product challenge (SPARKLES!! Hello, I love it!) with a Unity challenge to use birds or trees on your card to create this. This set is Could I Be Any Cuter which is only sold at Unity retailers, like Limelight. The paper is K&Company.

Have a great day everyone!!

Awww, Have You Seen These?

I have no new creations to show you all today. Things are still stressful around here. I'm hoping we turn a corner soon. So, I haven't had much of a chance to create. Not only that but I haven't even felt creative at all. Hopefully, my mojo will return soon.

But I do have some pictures that I've been meaning to share for quite some time now. One of my close friends, Amy, is a photographer and she did some nine month pictures for Parker (we do every 3 months the first year) and they turned out MAGICAL!

We went to the historical part of our town and took these amazing pictures. Amy has a real eye for settings. She sees possibilities that I would never have thought of. Her pictures are AMAZING! If you are local, you MUST book a session with her!! Her website is HERE. These are the only pictures I have of the kids that are truly worth blowing up and framing!

Here's one of my Parkie-Chops. Isn't he darling?!? Seriously, this picture really captures his sweet charm. He's getting so big! He's pulling up to standing on everything. He's getting a little gutsy about trying to let go but his balance isn't quite there yet. He's saying "dada" "mama" "nana" and "baba" for bottle. He is absolutely a ray of sunshine and people fall in love with him upon meeting him. He's still a baby but growing up WAY too fast! People are so right when they say it goes by SO much faster the second time around.

And here's a picture of my Brady-bug. This could not be a more acurate depiction of my son. Ever on the move and full of energy. Can you tell that he's mid air in this photo? He's jumping off the top steps and you can see how the wind caught his hair.
Brady is now starting to form sentences and has quite the personality. Every single day, he becomes more and more like his dad. It's extremely sweet! He's like a little sponge, exploring and learning. He's goofy, silly, funny, and so kind.

So, there's a little peek into my kids and what they are up to. Hope you all are having a great week!

You're as Cute as Pie!

Hey all! Sorry, I haven't been much for creating or blogging lately. Things are getting a little stressful around here. :(

Here's a card I made with this week's sketch from Card Positioning Systems. All the elements are from the Caffinated Cropper With a Cherry on Top kit. The sale on this kit has been EXTENDED! You can still this awesome kit for only $29 with FREE shipping! Eeeek! It's amazing! You HAVE to get it! There are SOOO many things in the kit!

Have a fabby day everyone! Hopefully, I'll blog ya sooner rather than later.

EtsyInspired #85 ~ Bee Things

Sorry that my post is so late! I've had an exhausting week in both good and bad ways and when I finally got home last night at 9pm after being out since 9am, I just didn't have it in me to do a post. Quite frankly, I'm not feeling rested enough to do one now. :/

This week's EtsyInspired shop is Bee Things. These shop has the most adorable illustrations you've ever seen! They make all sorts of fun stuff with their amazing designs like grocery bags, prints, t-shirts, notebooks and more. Their bright and colorful designs pair so perfectly with their fun style of illustration! I am super in love with this store! This week, they are offering a really cool t-shirt as a prize.

If that weren't enough, we have the PERFECT sponsor for this whimsical and cute store! It's COSMO CRICKET! That's right, you heard me!! Look at this amazing prize, pictured here! It's awesome!!

Okay, now all you need to do for your chance to win one of these fantastic prizes is:
- Check out Bee Things and find an item that inspires you.
- Create a project of your own based off the inspiration and link it up to this post using the new InLinkz on the EtsyInspired #85 post on the EIC blog by Friday, April 30th at noon PST.

Everyone will be entered into a random drawing to win. If you upload to SCS or PCP, please use keyword EIC85. And please remember to give credit to the shop that you found your inspiration from.

Here's my creation for this week, inspired by the bag shown above. I used the bonus sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You. All the designer paper is from Cosmo Cricket's Garden Variety. The stamp is PTI and the ribbon is May Arts. The dew drops came from my Caffinated Cropper kit.

Be sure to check out our lovely Design Team this week...they have lots of Cosmo Cricket goodness for you to be inspired by too!

• Ashley
• De
• Emily
• Heather
• Joy
• Kerry
  
• Lori (April Guest Designer)
• Savannah (April Guest Designer)

Now go be Etsy Inspired!

FWF and With a Cherry on Top

Hello friends! Welcome to my friends with flair/Caffinated Cropper post! I combined two of my most favorite things into one blog post for your enjoyment! :)

My card is based on this week's 2 Sketches 4 You challenge. All my elements other than the white card stock, pink paint, and stamp are from my Caffinated Cropper kit, With a Cherry on Top. The stamp is from Ippity's Regal Greetings. The die cut is Nesties Lable 8, embossed with the Textile CB folder. Then I painted it pink with some Creative Inspirations paint.

Caffinated Cropper is having a HUGE SALE this weekend! The kits are on sale and you get a special goodie if you buy it this weekend! Not only that, but each With a Cherry on Top kit comes with a $10 gift certificate to EAD Designs (yummy rubons) and Whimsy Haven (digi stamps)! You can't beat that! There is so much stuff in this kit, it's like CHRISTMAS when you open it! Check out the DT for some amazing things you can do with this kit:

Amber

Amy (where you buy the kit)

Christi

Sherry

Jimmi (Guest)

Michele (Guest)

And check out the Unity blog to see everyone who's on the list for this week's Friends With Flair hop!

Creative Inspirations Paint Sketch Again

Ok, so I was thoroughly confused last week about my post. Normally, I post on odd number weeks for Creative Inspirations Paints but last week I was having some problems so Kassi so kindly offered to switch with me. However, I got the email late so I posted anyhow. So, now you know why I'm posting cards made with the same sketch two weeks in a row. I didn't want to bore my readers with two posts with the same card.

For this card, I used the sketch that Marti gave us. I painted some Me and My Big Ideas chipboard flowers with a complimentary shade of paint. I painted the orange flower with Sunshine, the blue one with Sky Blue and the pink one with Tutu pink. The paint adds so much shimmer and a nice wow factor to this card. The paper is Basic Grey, the punch is Martha Stewart, and the stamp is Unity Stamp Co.

Don't forget to check out the Creative Inspirations Paints blog to see what all the other girls did with this sketch! There's lots of eye candy over there!

Thanks: For a Couple Challenges

Hello all! It's yet another rainy yucky day today. Good thing we have a play date planned! I go crazy if we have to be cooped up inside all day.

Here's a card I made for a couple challenges. I took the colors from The Play Date Cafe and then combined it with the Flutter By Challenge. However, I'm late for the Flutter By challenge! :( It was an open challenge where you just had to use a butterfly, fairy or angel.

This is a fairly quick card. The black paper with flowers is from DCWV. I just added the little butterflies which I made orange with some ink and then added Stickles to. The ribbon is actually have a flower arranging place, there's no brand on it. The stamp is from Ippity's Regal Greetings. And the stick pin is Dritz, from the sewing section of the craft store.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Mommy Anya for Jack's Sketch

Hello friends! It's a rainy day here in NorCal but things are looking up for us. We have found a property management company that is willing to work with us and that makes me super happy and hopeful. Please keep your fingers crossed for us. :)

Sigh...umm so my Anya is slightly crocked. I didn't realize this until I matted her and quite frankly, I was too tired to care. At that point. At this point, I wish I had cut her out and straightened her up a bit. But she'll just have to do for today's post.

This card was made for The Diedrich Dare challenge. My friend Jessica has the cutest kids ever and each week one of them comes up with a challenge and it gets posted to the blog. This week, Jack came up with a sketch. I tweaked it a little bit. The image is obviously from The Greeting Farm. I'm borrowing some stamps from my friend Carole and kind of having a blast with all this TGF! The paper here is Basic Grey and the buttons are PTI.

Have a great day everyone! I hope you are well!

Favorite Teacher and Blog Candy!

Hello friends! Hope that you all had a great weekend! We had some fun. We celebrated our anniversary at a local restaurant while my mom watched the kids, they were so kind to us! They gave us a quiet table in the corner and free dessert. Then we had a couple fun family days on Saturday and Sunday.

Here's a card I made with some fun October Afternoon Cherry Hill elements. It's a reject from the Cards Magazine call. I didn't get anything picked up this month. Sigh...there's always next month. All the elements of this card are October Afternoon other than the card base, Thickers letters and hemp (which came from my Caffinated Cropper Beeez Kneez kit.) The border punch is EK Success.

Have a great week, everyone! And wish us luck, this week we are going to try to find a property management company that will work with us and our slightly lacking credit.


PS Check out Kim's awesome blog candy for her 2nd blogoversary! It's a good one!

All Thing Unity Challenge 4

Are ya'll ready for a new All Things Unity Challenge? Our challenge this time is to use the theme "Up in the Sky." You can make a project with anything that you can find in the sky (like birds, planes, clouds, etc...) or quotes about the sky. You must you Unity/Ippity Stamps to play along. Link your challenge card up HERE so we can take a peek at it!

Here's my card. I used owls for my up in the sky object. I always used the Limelight Papercrafts sketch for this card. The stamp is from the April Retail store kit which I coincidentally got at Limelight. The DP is from My Mind's Eye, the winter Ippity paper pack. Love this stuff! The letters are Thickers and the ribbon is from Joann Fabric. There are also dew drops on the tummies of the five owls in the center of the card on the DP, can you see them? I think they add a fun touch. The dew drops are from my April Caffinated Cropper kit, With a Cherry on Top.

Check out the DT:

• Andrea Murdock
• Kyra Sanders
• Lynn Miller (Guest Designer)
• Sara Henton

Hope you all get to play along! Happy rest of the weekend, everyone!!

EtsyInspired #84 ~ Cose Dolci

This week's EtsyInspired shop is Cose Dolci. This shop specializes in wool items. Mostly, they carry bowls, pillows, and plush toys. What I find truly amazing about this store is the things they can make from wool! Bowls? Really? My mind is completely blown. Everything is so beautiful! If you look in the sold items area of the shop, you will see a wide selection of items. I was especially impressed by the darling plush toys and the nested bowls. I think it's amazing how you can use this medium in so many different ways. Before Etsy, I just thought wool was for socks and sweaters.

This week's sponsor is one of the design teams I'm on. CAFFINATED CROPPER! YAY! I love when I can combine my teams! Amy puts together the most amazing kits you've ever seen! She puts in super creative items that I would not have ever thought about using on a card, but they turn out amazing. She also has a great eye for color. I thoroughly enjoy working with my kits from her and you will too! One lucky winner with get a mini version of this month's kit "With a Cherry on Top."

Here's how you play along:

1. Go to the Cose Dolci store and pick any item to be inspired by (subject matter, colors, layout, anything.) Make a creation.

2. Post a link to your creation on the EtsyInspired #84 post on the EtsyInspired blog by next Friday April 23, noon Pacific time. A winner will be chosen from the people who enter.

3. If you upload to SCS or PCP, please you keyword EIC84. You may enter as many times as you like.

Here's my card for this week. I used the current sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You. The only things I used for this card that weren't in the kit are the white card stock, the CB folder, and some blue Creative Inspirations Paint. Obviously, it's an anniversary card for Dustin. Teehee, our anniversary is today (4-16.)

Check out the DT:

Ashley (you are here)

De
Emily

Heather
Jackie
Joy
Kerry

Lori (April Guest)

Savannah (April Guest)

Shannon

Also, the Caffinated Cropper DT is playing along this week too. Check them out!
Amy (where you can buy the kit)
Amber
Christi
Sherry
and Jimmi, Aprils' Guest Designer

Happy Holidays and Corienne's Blog Candy

Morning friends! I am up before the sun today. I don't know why, the kids are still sleeping. Oh well, I figured while I'm up, I might as well blog.

Here's a quick and fun card I made recently with some Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses. EVERYTHING on this card is Basic Grey except the card stock base and the doily. The bling came as a circle but I cut it to fit the inside of the doily. Then I cut the excess part to frame my snowflake. The sentiment is hand written in Sakura silver Gelly Roll since I couldn't find a sentiment the size I wanted.

Also, here's a picture of Corienne's birthday blog candy. That is some sweet candy! Be sure to visit her blog and enter!

Happy Friday everyone! Come back tomorrow for EtsyInspired sponsored by Caffinated Cropper! I love it when my DTs collide! :)

Hello Friend!

Hello friends! Today, so far, is a much better day. Parker did wake up early because his cough was bothering him. I gave him his inhaler and a bottle and was able to get him back to bed. He sounds HORRIFIC but his pediatrician says he's on the road to recovery. We'll probably have to keep treating him with his inhaler for a long time but that's ok.

I made a card today. Yes, today! The same day I'm blogging it! Honestly, I'm blogging now b/c I think that today is the deadline for GetSketchy which is the challenge I made this card for. This sketch stumped me for the longest time and then I thought, "what if I punched the circles out of the top layer for dimension?" Then it all came together. :)

My card uses my new FAVORITE paper pack, Basic Grey Green at Heart. Basic Grey is after my heart, for real! I love this company and their awesome paper! The stamp and coordinating punch is from Martha Stewart. I painted the butterflies with Creative Inspirations Paints in Pink Highlights. It's super pretty! It's a sheer white paint but the glitter sparkles pink. Eeeek! I love it! And I finished with the sentiment using Making Memories Tiny Alpha, which I love as of late.

Here's another picture I took to try to capture the pretty pink sparkle that the paint gives. Can you see it? It's not in your face, it's more of a subtle shimmer.

Alright, off to take the kids to the park! Have a great Thursday friends! Oh, and my 5 year wedding anniversary is tomorrow. :) I guess I should make a card for that too. Whoops!

Creative Inspirations Paint Sketch

Hello friends! Today I will be featuring a card Creative Inspirations Paints on my blog. I'll have to admit, with all the stuff we have going on right now, I kind of put off my making my card. And my mojo is completely lacking right now. So, I apologize. Also, it's night time so I could get a good picture of the shimmer.

Ok, so this card uses Creative Inspirations Paint in Sunshine. Marti gave us a sketch to work off of. I painted it over some designer paper to show the shimmer, the amazing color but how it allows the pattern through. The DP on the balloon is the same color as the DP on the back of the card. The stamps are from Practicing Creativity Designs. The border punch is EK Success. And the dew drops are from my Caffinated Cropper kit from this month.

ETA: I took another picture using natural light so you can see the shimmer from the paint. So pretty, huh??

Please check out the Creative Inspirations Paints blog to see what the rest of the DT has come up with for this challenge.

What a DAY! (a WINNER and a Card)

Ok, first the personal stuff and why I'm blogging so darn late. Parker woke up with BLUE lips this morning. I thought he might be cold, but after trying to warm him up, I could see it was not working. So, I called the advice nurse who called a doctor who told me to go to the ER. I begged and pleaded not to have to go there since last time we took Parker for his breathing, it was a nightmare. Finally, we got an appointment with his pediatrician. He sent Parker for chest x-rays and an EKG which was pretty scary. But everything turned out fine and we just have to fight off Parker's cold and give him an inhaler. Whew!

Ok, so here's a super old card (not really, it is from about 2 weeks ago) I made when my team was still a part of The Greeting Farm's Royal Battle. Sadly, we got eliminated last week. Anyhow, this is my first easel card. It was easier than I thought, just a little scoring and folding.

The image I used is from TGF's Miss Anya set. Sigh...I love love love TGF! The stamps are just so darn cute! I colored her with my Copics. The designer paper is all from My Mind's Eye. The ribbon and buttons are from my friend Dawn. The butterfly and border punch are Martha Stewart. The corner punch is EK Success.

Speaking of The Greeting Farm's Royal Battle, I offered blog candy for votes on April 4th. Given all the stuff I had going on, I didn't really get around to picking a winner.

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

7

Timestamp: 2010-04-15 04:29:10 UTC

Comment number 7 is Mary! Congrats Mary! Please email me (actressangel at gmail dot com) with your snail mail address and I'll send some goodies your way. :)

With a Cherry On Top Hop

Hello friends! Welcome to the Caffinated Cropper hop for April's kit, With a Cherry on Top! Have you all ordered your kits yet? It's PACKED FULL of all sorts of fabulous goodies! You will not believe how much fun stuff comes with this kit!

For my card, I used Jen del Muro's current Sketch for You to Try. Now, I tried to keep it from looking too busy with the white card base and my minimal embellishments. How'd I do? Everything you see on this card (other than the white card base) is from the kit. It's super easy to make a card since if you have all the stuff that coordinates right in your package. I don't know about you, but I usually dig for designer paper for like 30 mins before I can start my card. What a time waster! And it sucks all the fun out. With kits, I have no problem putting something together and knowing that it will all coordinate.

Alright, don't forget to check out everyone else on the hop today! Thanks for stopping by!

Amy (where you can buy the kit)
Amber
Christi
Sherry
and Jimmi, Aprils' Guest Designer

Yippity Ippity!

Happy Monday everyone! I was in the car on Sunday night, coming home from a girl's night out with a couple of my good friends when I remembered that I needed to post an Ippity card today. Yikes! I composed this card in my head on the way home and I dedicate it to those two friends I got to spend my evening with because they are, in fact, AMAZING!

Ok, so here's my card. The sentiment is from Ippity's Just Wanted to Say. Let me tell you, that set is so very versatile! The DP is from DCWV's Citrus Stack. The chipboard is Me and Me Big Ideas, it's super glittery and I am in love with it. The buttons are PTI, the ribbon is from Joann Fabrics, and the clear heart (which photographed a billion times better that I could have imagined) is CTMH.

Don't forget to check out the Ippity blog to see everyone on today's hop. Happy Monday everyone! I hope your week is fantastic!

School is Cool!

It's a dreary rainy day in Northern California. So, I thought we could all use a little word fun! ;)

I made this super CAS card yesterday. The school is from one of the Unity KOTMs. The DP is Cosmo Cricket, Material Girl. The letters are from MLS which I got in my super fabby Caffinated Cropper With a Cherry on Top kit. And the card base is Kraft.

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend! And I hope that you are getting the sun that we don't have here. :)

EtsyInspired #83 ~ Mouse Market

This week's EtsyInspired shop is Mouse Market. Oh my gosh, is this shop super cute or what? They make dollhouse miniatures of things like food and flowers. I wish I had a little girl so I could get a dollhouse and have all these sweet little things in there! I love all the different stuff that's in this shop like sushi, pizza, hamburgers along with all the more conventional things like cakes, pies, and cookies. They have turned these adorable creations into jewelry and hair things too! So, you can show them off everywhere you go not just in your dollhouse! :)

Here's this week's sponsor info.

Paper Maniac - The Place for Passionate Papercrafters!
Come see our complete line of Tim Holtz products and Copic markers, and mark your calendars for our upcoming online garage sale starting May 19!

Prize Pack:
Challenge Prize -Three x Three for Spring!
Paper Packs: Cosmo Cricket - Joy Ride, Sassafras Lass - Cherry Delicious, Pink Paislee - Queen Bee
Stamps: Unity - Girl of the Moment, Serendipity – Crocus, Whimsy Stamps – Lamb
Accessories: Crafty Secrets – Friends, Spellbinders – Tulip Impressabilities, American Crafts – Blue Skies Rub-ons

WOW! I wish I could win!

To play:

1. Pick an item from Mouse Market to be inspired by and make your creation.

2. Post your creation to a blog or gallery (if gallery please use keyword EIC83) and then post a link to it on the EtsyInspired #83 post on the EtsyInspired blog by Friday April 16 noon Pacific time

3. Enter as many times as you like! :)

Here's my creation based on the picture above. The sushi and sentiment are rub ons are EAD Designs from Torendi. The paper is DCWV. And I used a sketch that my friend Kim Kesti made up for the Go To Sketches magazine. :)

Check out the DT:

Ashley (you are here)

De
Emily

Heather
Jackie
Joy
Kerry

Lori (April Guest)

Savannah (April Guest)

Shannon

FWF: SNOW!

So, I know in parts of the country, people are just getting rid of their snow so maybe I shouldn't be bringing it up so soon. ;) But you do what you gotta do.

I based this card around some yummy Martha Stewart felt ribbon that my friend Ryann gave me. I pulled out the spray adhesive for this card. Aren't the snowflakes fun? I stamped the "let it snow" sentiment from Unity's Jolly Little Winter three times at the top. And then finished with some white ribbon and a blue tailored bow with some bling.

Don't forget to check out the Unity blog to see all the blogs on today's hop! Have a great weekend everyone!

Do NOT Adjust Your Monitors!

I'm under a lot of stress right now, so I didn't feel the mojo coming. It happens to me a lot actually. Usually, I just dilly dally until it comes back but this time, I did something totally different. I decided to go as far outside my box as I possibly could, in hopes that would make my mojo appear. And lo and behold...

It's a shabby chic card! Did you think I had it in me? I didn't. In fact, I had to go buy new paper since I have nothing super shabby. The paper is K.Co. I painted the edges with Creative Inspirations Paints in Winter Frost. You would not believe how AMAZING it makes the distressing look! The stamp is from Ippity's Regal Greetings (available in my sidebar.) The butterfly was RAKed to me. I got a whole bunch of them so I don't know what kind of paper it is. The text paper is actually pulled from a book I bought at a library sale for this purpose. The lace was a gift from my friend Kristen Dyer and the button is PTI. The flower is from a set I got at the DOLLAR TREE! Can you believe it? There are a whole bunch in one pack for $1!!

I tried my hand at the whole vintage thing too. This didn't turn out as well. I tried though, so that's something. The paper and sticker with sentiment is Cosmo Cricket. The text scallop is the book again. The butterflies are a Martha Stewart punch. And the fiber is actually a natural/green product from Joann Fabrics.

On a personal note (feel free to stop reading), I did want to fill you all in on what's happening here. Thanks for all the concern! We found out last week that our landlords have not been using our rent money to pay the mortgage on this house so it is now in foreclosure. We have to move out, probably by May 1st. It's quite an upset.

Along with learning the truth about those people, a couple other people in my life have proved to not be what I thought they were. So, I lost a couple friends last week as well. I'm better off without the drama but I'm sad that I invested time in these people who didn't deserve it. But you live and learn right?

Have a happy Thursday, my friends!

Go to Sketches Magazine: Friend Hop

Welcome to the Go to Sketches blog hop! Holy moly, you have no idea how excited and I honored I am to have been asked to join this hop by my friend Kim Kesti. I had the pleasure of meeting Kim at CHA and she's as sweet as sugar! I'm beyond flattered that she remembered me! I've been keeping this blog hop a secret for a little while now so it's nice to FINALLY let it out! :) Oh, read to the end of my post, there's a PRIZE!

What's this magazine about? If you haven't heard about it, this special edition of Paper Crafts Magazine has 66 sketches and 282 projects in it to inspire you. I love sketches! I can't get enough of them. They are such a great starting off point. You can go HERE to buy yourself an issue of Go to Sketches.

Today is a super fun hop! The Go To Girls have invited some of their friends to show you never before seen cards made from a few of the sketches in the magazine. Please stop by Kim's blog to make sure you see all the amazing creations inspired by her sketch. She will also have links to the 5 other Go To Girls and you'll get the chance to see 30 brand new cards based on the Go to Sketches Magazine.

Kim emailed me her fabulous sketch and I tried to do it justice. You can see the sketch to the right here. I love how clean and simple Kim's sketch is! At first, when I was asked to join along, I was afraid I might be asked to attempt a complicated sketch. While I would have attempted it, I am much more comfortable with clean and simple. This is a sketch I'll be able to use time and time again.

For this card, I used all elements from the new Caffinated Cropper kit that is being released today called "With a Cherry on Top." The only thing I added was the white card stock. The designer paper is Doodlebug and the pink card stock is Bazzill. The alphabet stickers are My Little Shoebox. The big butterfly is freehand cut from some rusty screen (literally from a window screen), the antenae is made from a wire thingy with pearls on each end and then the butterfly is embellished with Kaisercraft rhinestones. The baby butterflies are punched with a Martha Stewart butterfly punch and then embellished with the same rhinestones.

Here's another view of the card. I glue the big butterfly down with Zip Dry and then popped the little butterflies with some foam tape. It gives a nice 3D effect.

Ok, how about that prize? For a chance to win your very own issue of Go to Sketches, leave me a comment letting me know how you feel about sketches. Easy peasy!

New Caffinated Cropper Kit! With a Cherry on Top!

Are you excited for the BRAND NEW Caffinated Cropper kit?!? You should be! This kit is AMAZING! It was like Christmas when I received my box! There is so much stuff! I mean, look at this picture!! Here's a list of everything you get!

"With a Cherry on Top"

6x6 2 of each

Sassafrass Lass Spring Spring

Sassafrass Lass Sapphire

Doodlebug Cherry Amore

Doodlebug Pie Plaid

LYB Spring Mix

LYB Sky Blue

Bazzill Watermelon

Bazzill Cherry Splash

Bazzill Almond Cream

Bazzill Island Breeze

(all Bazzill are smoothies)

Smooch Spritz Cherry Ice

0.5 ounce tube pink glitter

5x6.5 cherry chipboard

2 tbsp clear dew drops

2 tbsp asst buttons Rhonna Farrer

3 pearl drop corsage pins

2 bunches pink cherry blossoms

1 tiny white blossom

1 tiny yellow blossom

1 metal tag

1 Nikki Silvis Craft Flag

3 Ast Sized Bazzill Chipboard hearts

4 Asst round mirrors

1 yd of red tulle

1 yd May Arts Cherry Red grosgrain with picot trim ribbon

1 yd Mary Arts blue lace

1 yd White Eyelet trim

1 yd red/white baker's twine

1 yd Sugar&Cream Twist
5 manilla shipping tags

10 butter yellow tickets

4x4 square "Vintage Cherries" fabric by Sarah Henderson

1 package of Kaisercraft Red Rhinestones

1 Shabby Green Door Cherry Clear Stamp "Life is a Bowl of Cherries"

1 My Little Shoebox Mini Alpha sticker set (red lipstick)

1 set EAD Stickerz (Cherries)

6 pearl thingamabobs

6 asst Mary Englebriet Cherry themed die cuts

2 white heart doilies

2- 3 1/2 by 8 sheets of cork

1- 5x12 strip of rusty screen

4 asst felt shapes

3 Sassafrass Lass Cherries Jubilee Flag Banner stickers

1 set of Digital Stamps designed by Lindsay Spencer

You'll notice a couple amazing NEW things in this kit. Brand new Stickerz from EAD. They are AWESOME! I used them on my card below. They are clear (but you can order Stickerz with white backgrounds too) and the designs are so cute! And in this kit you get this ADORABLE digi stamp set from my friend Lindsay Spencer, owner of Whimsy Haven. Aren't these stamps fabby? I love how you could make a really cutesy card with the cupcake, a really elegant card with the branch, and a more folksy card with the bucket. Very versatile!

Also, if you haven't already gotten the March Caffinated Cropper kit, The Beeez Kneez, you can get it in a bundle pack with this new set for only $50! The shipping is FREE! How awesome is that? But you have to hurry, there are only FOUR Beeez Kneez sets left!

Here's my card for today. It is based on Nina Bracket's sketch for her anniversary. Everything on this card is from With a Cherry on Top except the white card base. I talked Amy out of adding card bases with her kits because I'd rather have fun stuff and I figure everyone has neutral card stock to make cards out of. I hope you all agree! :) Look at how well those Stickerz work! Fabulous, huh?

Ok, now you need to check out EVERYONE'S on the DT's blogs to see what they have done with this awesome kit.

Amy (where you can buy the kit)
Amber
Christi
Sherry
and Jimmi, Aprils' Guest Designer

Ippity Hop: Christmas in the Spring

Hello everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend. We had a great time even though Brady ended up with the sniffles. But he's in good spirits.

I've decided to skip forward a few seasons and make a Christmas card. ;) Teehee, I get whimsical sometimes. I made this for the Moxie Fab World challenge, paper piecing. I used Ippity's Kissmas and Mistletoe set. I love this tree! It's my fave Christmas tree ever! The paper and sticker sentiment are Close to My Heart from the Jingle collection. The ribbon is from Joann Fabrics. And the button is PTI.

Have a great Monday everyone and don't forget to check out the Ippity blog for all the people that are participating in the hop today!

Blog Candy

You gotta check out Kellie's amazing blog candy HERE. I can't resist these stamps, so cute!

Please VOTE for My Team!! And BLOG CANDY!!

Alright, so by some stroke of luck, my team has made it to the second round of The Greeting Farm's Royal Battle. But we need YOUR vote to keep on going in this contest. So, I've decided to offer up a GOODIE BAG if you vote for our team. I have lots of stuff from CHA and my stash to giveaway.

To win:
~For one entry: Go to THIS CARD (made by Dawn Linder) and leave a comment to vote for our card. And then come back here and leave a comment saying that you voted. (I will check)
~For TWO MORE entries: Blog, Facebook, or Tweet about this giveaway. Leave me a link and you will get two additional entries.

I don't have a picture of my goodie bag yet as it is Easter and I'm supposed to be hanging out with my family right now. ;) But I'll post one later or maybe tomorrow.

Happy Easter friends!!

EtsyInspired #82 ~ Until It Ends Studios

This week's EtsyInspired shop is Until It Ends Studio. They have all sorts of cool stuff including geekery. That's a term I learned on Etsy. Teehee, I wonder if it's one I can use to describe my hubby. :D There's all sorts of jewelry ie pendants, bracelets, earrings, rings, etc... They also have a couple different sizes of art prints and cell phone charms. Super fun and cute stuff!

This week, I'm just about at the end of my rope so I'll direct you to the EtsyInspired blog for all the details on how to play and our FABBY sponsor My Favorite Things!!!

Here's my card for this week. I used the Thinking of Hoo set from MFT! I don't think it could BE any cuter! I took my inspiration from the necklace above, there's a tree on it and a branch on my card. Work with me! The ribbon and the dew drops are also from MFT! :) The paper is Basic Grey Lemonade and I used pink and green Sparkly Fluff from Our Craft Lounge on the image. This card is based on the sketch over at the Whimsical Wednesday blog.

Check out the DT:

Ashley (you are here)

De
Emily

Heather
Jackie
Joy
Kerry

Lori (April Guest)

Savannah (April Guest)

Shannon

2S4Y and Material Girl

***If you are looking for my Unity post, please scroll down***

I picked up some Cosmo Cricket Material Girl stuff when one of my LSS was closing. I've been holding onto it for a little while, I don't know why. I am trying to get out of the idea of hoarding things. Did you know that when I use a paper pad I really like, I feel the need to go out a buy a new pad so I have one that's new? I'm odd.

But I digress, here's a card I made for 2 Sketches 4 You using some Material Girl. The main image is from the sticker sheet and I used FOUR, count 'em four, of the papers. Super out of character for me. I used my Fiskars Apron Lace punch and then added some pearls for interest. This card is 3.5 inches by 5.5 inches too. Not an A2! ;)

Happy weekend everyone!

FWF: Easter Time!

I am EXHAUSTED and I almost forgot to blog. It was a very bad day here. I'm not sure I'm ready to talk about it quite yet. It's not THAT bad but has just thrown me off kilter.

Here's a card I made for the Ippity Challenge to make a spring/Easter card. I used the SCS sketch from this week to make the card. Wow! How unlike me is this card?! All the layers are inked. There's LACE. There's a flower on a pin. It's like you walked into someone's blog that actually knew how to layer and add embellies. ;) Don't get confused though, I don't.

Have a great weekend everyone! Don't forget to check the Unity Blog to see all the people on the blog hop today and find the flair.