EtsyInspired #124 ~ Too Cute Kawaii

This week's EtsyInspired challenge shop is Too Cute Kawaii. Did you know that kawaii means cute? It does and this shop lives up to it's adorable name! They make little clay miniatures that come as jewelry, for use on hair bows, beads, buttons, brads, and lots more! I love all the darling little pieces in this shop that are painted with happy faces, it makes me smile! And they even donate part of their proceeds on items such as the one to the left to charity. What a LOVELY shop! This week, Too Cute Kawaii is offering up an adorable set of mini cupcake earrings to a lucky winner. Please go to the EtsyInspired blog for rules and to link your challenge.

This week, we have an equally cute sponsor as well! MelJen Designs! They offer adorable digital and rubber stamps. The designs are super cute! This week, MelJen is offering up 4 digi stamps as another prize!

Here's my card for this week using a freebie from the MelJen site. I decided to also use the monochromatic challenge from Moxie Fab World and the Sweet Sunday sketch 101.

Check out the DT:

Angi

Carole

De

Emily B.

Jackie

Joy

Kerry

Rachel Hope {January Guest DT}

Ruby

Savannah

Sherry

Virginia

FWF: For My Hubby

Morning friends! I've scheduled this post since I'm on my way to CHA! Woohoo! I am really looking forward to my trip! I'm super lucky to get to go!

Did you know that my hubby is watching our kids while I'm gone? Almost 5 days of kids all by himself! Now, I know that it's not that big of a deal for some people but he usually is at work so he doesn't get this big of a dose of them on his own. Wish him luck!

I made this card using the Card Positioning Systems sketch from this week. I flipped it on it's side. I tried to make a more CAS and masculine card but I couldn't resist putting Stickles on the heart. I think he'll understand. It is from ME after all. ;)

Have a great weekend everyone! And don't forget to check out the HUGE 20% off clearance sale at Paper Maniac! There's even Unity Stamps in the sale!

Card Details:

Card Stock: white

Patterned Paper: Echo Park Be Mine

Stamps: Unity and Echo Park With Love

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Misc: X-mas Red Stickles, Marvy circle punch

Sigh..Maybe Next Time

Hi friend! It's my last day at home before CHA and I'm trying to get rid of this sore throat. But other than that, things are going good. I can't wait to share pictures with you!

Today, I'm sharing a layout I made for the Unity Stamp Co guest designer contest. Sadly, I didn't make it into the next round but what can you do? I don't normally do layouts but I thought I'd go out of the box for this one. I have to say that this is one of my favorite layouts that I've ever made. I think it has a lot to do with the picture which is my FAVORITE ever!

I hope you all have a great week!

Layout Details:

Card stock: Grey, white, black

Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye Meadowlark

Stamps: Unity/Melody Ross One Precious Life

Misc: Creative Inspirations Paint (made into mist), bling

Sweet Pea with Copics

Hi friends! I hope you are having a great week! We are doing a bit better this week so that's a relief. I'm getting ready to leave for CHA and I'm getting pretty excited! If you'll be at CHA, please keep an eye out for me! I love to take pictures with all my crafty pals!

Here's the card I blogged over at the Paper Maniac blog yesterday:

Here's my card for this week. Now, I thought about coloring a really complex image for you guys BUT then I thought, hey, let's show the friends how simple and FUN Copics can be! Literally, this image took me maybe 5 minutes to color and I only used 11 Copics. You can definitely start with just a few markers and make a huge difference in your coloring! However, I should warn you that they are VERY addicting! (I also want to mention, I used this week's Card Patterns sketch for this card.)

I should also point out, if you want to start your Copic collection, Paper Maniac has a Copic coloring kit of the month each month with fabulous tutorials! Also, check out the clearance section RIGHT NOW! Items that are already marked off (up to 70%) are on sale for an additional 15% off.

Card Details:

Card Stock: white

Patterned Paper: Basic Grey Lemonade

Stamps: Unity Stamp Co Little Me

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Copics: E13, E00, E000 (skin), E31, E35, E37 (hair), R81, R83, R85 (dress), Y02, YG01 (blanket)

Misc: Martha Stewart border punch, hand dyed crinkle ribbon

Holy Moly!

Check out the Cricut giveaway right HERE!! Wowza! It's a big one!

Thanks Dad!

First off, I'm blogging at the Paper Maniac blog today. Please check it out and leave me a comment HERE.

Next, I have a card to show you that I'm entering in the Wee Memories challenge for this week. You can see challenge details HERE. This week's challenge is anything goes. How fun is that??

When I saw this darling chipboard, I thought I should make a Father's Day card. How sweet is that little daddy with his baby girl cub? I love it! So, I grabbed all the more masculine papers from Togetherness and put together this card. The sentiment is from a Unity KOTM. I really need to figure out how to use my sewing machine because I think that would give this a little something special. I need to get on that as soon as I get back.

I hope you have a fabulous day everyone! I'm off to CHA on Friday morning so I will be busy busy busy scheduling posts for when I'm gone.

Card Details:

Card Stock: white

Patterned Paper: Cosmo Cricket Togetherness

Stamps: Unity Stamp Co

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Chipboard: Cosmo Cricket Togetherness

Misc: Martha Stewart border punch

In Style Stamps Sketch Challenge 01

Hi friends! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend! I'm trying to sit back and get better. The kids seem to be doing ok. I'm not really ready for the weekend to be over though but are we really ever?

Are you ready for the first In Style Stamps sketch challenge of 2011? You still have until the end of the month to play along and there are prizes to be won! You can check out the details on the challenge HERE. I've attached the sketch here for you to see. It didn't turn out exactly how I planned but my measurements or lack there of kind of threw me for a loop. Live and learn, right?

Here is my card using Kissing Birds. Isn' this a sweet little Valentine's image? I think it's fabulous for weddings and anniversaries too.

I colored my image with Copics. Now, I have to tell you about a product here. With my printer, I have a hard time working with digi stamps since the ink in my printer tends to smear. Then, my friend Carole told me about product called Krylon Workable Fixatif. You just spray it on and then you can color. Woohoo! I got this at my local craft store. So, if you have problems with digis, a couple dollars for a can of spray and the whole world of digis opens up to you! :)

Have a great day everyone! I hope the rest of the weekend is amazing for you!

Card Details:

Card Stock: white

Patterned Paper: Bo Bunny Crush

Stamps: In Style Stamps Kissing Birds

Misc: Copics, Martha Stewart punch, Nesties Circles, MLS alpha stickers

EtsyInspired #123 ~ Nanny's Room

This week's EtsyInspired shop is Nanny's Room. The artist's name is Jeanne Forsyth. She makes beautiful pieces of art inspired by the US southwest. She works mostly with watercolors and pencils. Her shop offers giclee prints, wearable art and canvases. I really enjoy the lovely wearable art pieces! I love the idea of being able to wear your art so everyone can enjoy it, not just the people who come to your home. This week, Nanny's Room is offereing up a necklace of the winner's choice as a prize. ALSO, she is offering all our friends 10% off in her shop with coupon code etsy10.

Please hop over to the EtsyInspired challenge blog to see all the details on the challenge and link up your creations!

We have a FABULOUS sponsor with an AWESOME prize this week! It's THE TWINERY!!!! Holy smokes, isn't that exciting! They offer wonderful quality twine that's eco friendly and made in the USA. This week, The Twinery is offering up a prize pack worth $42!! One lucky winner with get to pick THREE spools of their choice. I'm jealous!

Here's my creation for this week. It is inspired from the pendant above. I made the background by using three different colors of paint and a piece of card stock I had wet down. Then I stamped the images and sentiment. Then I finished with some twine.

Check out the DT:

Angi

Carole

De

Emily B.

Jackie

Joy

Kerry

Rachel Hope {January Guest DT}

Ruby

Savannah

Sherry

Virginia

Card Details:
Card Stock: kraft, white
Stamps: Unity and Donna Downey Insighful Meadows, Unity Bevy of Butterflies
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Misc: Creative Inspirations Paints in Sea Foam, Royal Blue and Sapphire, twine

FWF: Bicycle for Two

Hi friends! Boy, am I glad it's the weekend. I'm not feeling so hot this week. Hopefully, I can get some rest and be up and at 'em next week. I hope you all are well!

This week, I'm showing you a magazine reject. You win some, you lose some. I made this as a friend themed card. I thought the stamp was fabulous for a friendship. I have amazing friends that I ride through life with so this is kind of close to my heart.

Speaking of things that are close to my heart, did you see the awesome sale at Paper Maniac? There are Unity Stamps priced to move in the clearance section!

Have a great weekend everyone! And don't forget to check the Unity Blog to see everyone participating in today's hop.

Card Details:

Card stock: white

Stamps: Unity and Echo Park With Love

Misc: Pink Paislee tapes

Baby Shower Gift

Hi friends! I hope you're all having a great week! I'm rather ready for the weekend already. :) Anyone else feel that way? I was a little sick on Wednesday morning so hopefully today will be better. But the kids seem to be doing good so that makes me happy.

I'm so behind on blogging lately. I have projects just sitting on my computer ready to be edited and blogged but I just haven't gotten around to it. It's odd but I guess I just need to prioritize and things are going ok at home so that will just have to be how it goes.

Alright, last month we had a baby shower for a friend of mine. She just had a baby girl last week and she's adorable. I am showing you the gift I made for her. We didn't have a lot of extra money last month with Christmas and our trip so I knew I needed to make a gift. When I had Parker, I received MANY wonderful gifts. One of my favorites came from my pal Shannon. As part of a giant purely fabulous gift set that Shannon sent me, there was a box of thank you notes. And let me tell you, it was such a relief to have them. To just be able to take one out and send off a thank you. It was FABULOUS! So, that's what I decided to make.

I made two different styles of cards. Mostly because I didn't have enough paper to make all of them the same. I was actually able to make all these cards in just a few hours. Plus as I was leaving, I decided that I wanted to make a matching bag. I was able to throw this together REALLY quickly which I love!

Card Details:

Card Stock: pink

Patterned Paper: Stampin Up

Stamp: Taylored Expressions Hangin' Out

Misc: Fiskars border punch, SU ribbon, Nesties circles, Nesties Labels 1

Birdcage Card

Hi friends! I hope you're having a good week so far! I've been spending a good amount of time with my friends, so that's making the days go by much faster. I love my friends! And my friends's kids! They are all fabulous!

Ok, here's a card I made with some Webster's Pages stamps and paper. I REALLY love Webster's Pages. The only issue I have with their paper is that I don't want to cover it up. I think that's what's wrong with this card. There just isn't enough stuff on it but covering up more of the paper just seems sad. There's my dilemma.

Have a great day friends! Don't forget the HUGE sale at Paper Maniac!

Card Details:

Card Stock: cream

Patterned Paper: Webster's Pages Hollywood Vogue

Stamps: Unity and Webster's Pages Merry Christmas Home

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Distress Inks Old Paper

Misc: doily, crinkle ribbon

Paper Maniac and Memory Box

Hi friends! I hope you are all well! Today, I'm gonna share the card I posted on the Paper Maniac blog yesterday. I love my Mondays on the PM blog! :) Also, HUGE HUGE sales going on at Paper Maniac right now. I fear for the next paycheck coming our way. ;)

Here's my card for this week. I made it using the Card Positioning Systems sketch from this week. I only had a few Memory Box stamps so I hand wrote the sentiment.

Card Details:

Card Stock: white

Patterned Paper: Memory Box Rhubarb Tart

Stamp: Memory Box

Misc: May Arts burlap string, Martha Stewart border punch

Lawnscaping Challenge 2

Hi friends! I'm so excited for our second Lawnscaping challenge! We have challenges on the 1 and 3 Mondays of every month. I need to thank all the friends who joined in our last challenge! We are starting off with a great amount of players! That makes me so happy!

For challenge #2, we are CASE-ing my pal Kelly Marie Alvarez. I love Kelly's work, she is FABULOUS! She's a super fun and cute stamper so I had a great time making my card! You can see the card I CASEd from Kelly RIGHT HERE. I made a few changes as I usually do when I CASE. :)

Here's my card. I used Lawn Fawn's Fly Free and My Silly Valentine. I also made this for Winter's Cards for St Jude's drive. I hope it's gender neutral enough.

And check out the DT:

Laurel

Lynnette

Britta

Christiana

and our special guest: Ayana

Also, there's a fabulous prize up for grabs!

Card Details:

Card Stock: white

Patterned Paper: Bo Bunny Crush

Stamps: Lawn Fawn Fly Free, Lawn Fawn My Silly Valentine

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Misc: Target rhinestones

A Flutter By Card

Hi friends! Happy Sunday! Boy, I am enjoying this weekend! I don't know how anyone could work more than 5 days straight! I am so thankful that my hubby has weekends!

Here's a card I made for this week's Flutter By challenge. I am absolutely in love with the Sketches by Carly! Carly is a sweet little11 year old girl who does sketches for us all to enjoy. She's trying to reach 100 followers by April so please hop on over there and follow her blog, she is a fabulous sketch designer and a sweet kind girl!

My card uses a CC Designs Swiss Pixie, Gretel. My Copic coloring has fallen by the wayside if you guys haven't noticed. I just don't have the time with my two rowdy kids to sit and color like I use to. I miss it but I'm trying to keep in practice a little bit. For some reason, sweet little girl cards always remind me of Basic Grey Lemonade paper. It's one of my favorites! :)

Have a great Sunday everyone! I hope you get to rest and refresh yourself for the upcoming week! More so, I hope you all have tomorrow off too! Woohoo!

PS HUGE SALE at Paper Maniac starts tomorrow! I cannot contain my excitement! ACK!!!!

Card Details:

Card Stock: White

Patterned Paper: Basic Grey Lemonade

Stamp: CC Designs Swiss Pixies Gretel

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Misc: Nesties Scalloped Ovals, Making Memories alpha stickers, Copics, Martha Stewart punch,

EtsyInspired #122 ~ Modern Bird

This week's EtsyInspired challenge shop is Modern Bird. This shop is full of gorgeous jewelry! There's a lovely blend of modern looking pieces with elements of nature. I appreciate how understated but detailed each item is. Everything is very very pretty! This week, Modern Bird is offering up a Petite Little Bird Necklace to one winner.

Please refer to the EtsyInspired blog to read the details and rule of how to play and to link up your creation.

This week, we have a fabulous sponsor! It is another Etsy shop called Kutz. They have beautiful felt embellishments that are cut out and ready to use on your creations. You MUST go look at this shop, it's beyond fabulous! They are GORGEOUS! Kutz is offering up a silhouette cut out to a lucky winner. (I'm jealous and wish I could win!)

Here's my card inspired by the bird necklace above. I also used the Moxie Fab World metallic challenge and the Card Positioning Systems sketch for this card.

Check out the DT:

Angi

Carole

De

Emily B.

Jackie

Joy

Kerry

Rachel Hope {January Guest DT}

Ruby

Savannah

Sherry

Virginia

Card Details:

Card Stock: white

Patterned Paper: Echo Park Life is Good

Stamps: Unity Just Be You

Ink: gold

Misc: gold ribbon, Cuttlebug folder Victoria

FWF Part 2

So, I don't know if I'm actually allowed to do this since my Friends With Flair post is supposed to stay at the top of my blog all Friday. However, I need to post this card for a challenge. And it's still Unity so I'm good to go right? I just hope no one puts me in stamping jail. :)

Ok, here's a card I made for THREE challenges! YAY me! First off, this is for Winter's Card for St Jude's drive. She's asking people to send over Valentine's card for the kids at the hospital, I LOVE that! Second, this is for the All Things Unity challenge to make a mini card. This one is 3x3. And last but not least, this is for the Wee Memories challenge to make a card using twine.

Ok, that's it for me today. I think. Who knows, maybe this will be a 3 parter but I doubt it!

PS Huge sales start at Paper Maniac on Monday. I can't wait!

Card Details:

Card stock: white

Stamps: Unity Lovely Baubles and Bits

Misc: twine from Endless Inkabilities, Stickles

FWF: Halloween? Really?

Hi friends! Thanks for joining me today! I hope you all had a wonderful week! I'm ready for the weekend! :) I think I am always ready for the weekend though. Of course, Friday brings us Unity Friends With Flair. How fun!

Ok, so I know this is so off season but what can you do? This was in my reject pile from last month. I don't know WHY I felt like making Halloween cards at Christmas time but I just go with it. So, I made this card with some Doodlebug paper and an old Unity kit. Sometimes, it's nice to pull out those neglected stamps, don't you think?

Don't forget to drop by the Unity blog to see all the participants in today's blog hop! And don't forget, if you're looking to buy Unity Stamps then head over to Paper Maniac for some great deals! I hear the sale coming this Monday is out of this world!!

Card Details:

Card Stock: orange

Patterned Paper/Stickers: Doodlebug Designs

Stamps: Unity Trick or Treat Peeps

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Baby Fresh

Hi friends! I hope you are doing well on this Thursday! Things could be a little better around here. Parker is still on antibiotics. His lungs still sound horrible to me. Brady is better which makes it hard for them. And I went to the doctor yesterday and found out that my rib cage is inflamed from all the illness that I went through. Sigh... Let's hope next week is a better one!

Ok, here's a card I've been holding onto that is a publication reject. Poor card. ;) I still like it so that's what matters right? Anyhow, I am in love with my Taylored Expressions Hangin' Out set! It's great for so many occasions! And the onesie is just one of my favorites in this set.

Ok, have a great day everyone!

Card Details:

Card stock: white, pink

Patterned Paper: Basic Grey Olivia

Stamps: Taylored Expressions Hangin' Out

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Misc: Pearls, Nesties Circles, Martha Stewart punch, crinkle ribbon, Taylored Expressions Flower

Top 10 of 2010

Ok, here are my top 1o cards in no particular order.

Vintage Paper Maniac

Here's yesterday's card from the Paper Maniac blog. Don't forget the great deals going on and there's some BRAND NEW stuff too!

My card for this week features a Flourishes stamp set that I've been neglecting for far too long. They stamp SO beautifully! And of course, I love my Webster's Pages paper. I do have a hard time cutting it but I'm trying not to hoard anymore.

Card Details:

Card Stock: cream

Patterned Paper: Webster's Pages

Stamps: Flourishes Kids at Play

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa

Ribbon: May Arts Edged Satin

Misc: Distressing Tool

Maniac Monday: Vintage

I'm posting on the Paper Maniac blog today. Here's a sneak peek of what you'llsee over there! Please check it out and leave me a comment!

Ohh, and my DT mate Christine has some blog candy! For that, click HERE.

EtsyInspired #121 ~ La Pomme

This week's EtsyInspired challenge shop is La Pomme. The french vintage in this shop makes me SWOON! Along with the vintage items, they also offer an array of handmade goods including plush items. They are offering up a prize pack including vintage sheet music, a vintage tin box and a plush fruit. Oh, how I wish I could win!

Please head over to the EtsyInspired blog to read up on all the challenge rules and details. There will also be a place for you to link your creations. :)

This week's sponsor is StampFairy. They have super duper cute digi stamps! They are offering up a prize of 3 digi stamps of the winner's choice.

Here's my creation this week inspired by the swans above. I think their heads together look like a heart. I know, I'm SO romantic. :) Anyhow, I decide to go with a classic and elegant color scheme with not a lot of fuss.

Check out the DT:

Angi

Carole

De

Emily B.

Jackie

Joy

Kerry

Rachel Hope {January Guest DT}

Ruby

Savannah

Sherry

Virginia

Card Details:

Card stock: white, red, black

Stamps: Unity Stamp Co Wishes and Kisses

Ink: Colorbox

String: May Arts

FWF: CAS Love

Hi friends! I hope you had a great week! We are going to a reception for my SIL and her new hubby this weekend. Since they got married in Arizona, they are having a reception here too so that local people can go. Enough about me!

It's Friday so that means Unity's Friends With Flair! YAY! I have a super CAS card for you today. This was in the card set that I made for my friend's Christmas present. Since I wanted to load it up, I did some CAS cards. That and I want to keep things relatively flat so that they can be mailed.

Hope you all have a great weekend! And don't forget to check out the Unity blog to see who's in this week's hop!

Card Details:

Card Stock: white

Patterned Paper: Bo Bunny Crush

Stamps: Unity Wishes and Kisses

Ink: Brilliance

Misc: Martha Stewart ribbon, border punch

PS Paper Maniac always has AMAZING deals on Unity Stamps!

Flashback Friday 6.0

Hi friends! I hope you all are well! We have a lingering cough here at our house but hopefully that will pass soon. Other than that, things are going well. I still feel like I'm playing catch up from vacation.

Today, I've decided to share a card for Amy Tsuruta's challenge. The current challenge is to post a card you made using an item you found in your home. Let me tell you, I think I had to search through a whole year of blog posts to find something. Apparently, I don't venture outside of my office a whole lot when I craft.

So, here's my card featuring an artificial flower. I have no idea where it came from but I have to admit, there are quite a few artificial flowers/bouquets in my house. I have allergies to real flowers so we usually go with fake. Anyhow, I'm pretty sure the patterned paper is DCWV and the brad is Making Memories. Notice how I used to crop my pictures SUPER close to the card. Yeah, not sure why I did that. But you know, live and learn.

Also, I wanted to tell you about my friend Paulina's blog candy. You can check that out in her cute little blog badge. Have a great day everyone!