Just because!

Hello!  Thursday already!  This week is just flying by!  I have had a busy and productive week though, so no real complaints here. :)

Don't you love it when a card just comes together...practically makes itself?!  I do!  I had some pieces of this and of that laying around on my table and so I just started piecing things and that is where my card came from today!  I had a card in mind when I started, but this one trumped that one hands down!  I usually have a hard time with masculine cards because I have to practice all of the restraint that I have not to 'pretty it up'!  I just cannot help myself...I love ribbons and bows and buttons and (oh goodness!!) sparkly, bling-y things!!  LOL  I almost had to sit on my hands to keep from adding just a little 'sumtin-sumtin' to this one, but I managed!  Here is today's card in all of it's bling-less glory:

Recipe:

Stamps: Notably Ornate

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight and Whisper White

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Extras: Heart Embosslit, Modern Label punch, Polka Dot EF and pop dots

I sponged the edges of almost every layer with Chocolate Chip to 'dirty' up the card a bit and then just layered, layered, layered!  The lightning isn't great in the picture, but the colors are very pretty in person! 

A close up of the sentiment!  I punched and split two Modern Label punches to create the mat.  It really made it pop!

Hope that you are having a great day!  Will be back soonest with more fun stuff to share!

Square Lattice Layers!

Hey there!  Wednesday...middle of the week!  It has been cold and drab and grey and rainy all day here today!  Yuck!  I was going to just give in and make a snow card today since Mother Nature seems determined to hang on to winter for just a wee bit longer.  I figured if I can't beat her...then I might as well join her!  So I put on my good attitude hat and  set out to make a blue and white snowflake card!  I could see it in my mind and it was beeeau-teeee-ful!  I was going to use the new layered square lattice folder technique that is all the rage right now, but when I went sifting through my punches there was not a snowflake in sight!  Sigh!  My snowflake punch is at my other place!  ((If you haven't been keeping up with me...I am dividing my time and my supplies between two households right now!))  So, I took off my good attitude hat and decided to go back to my original idea of wishing for Spring!  Here is my first "wishful thinking that Spring is on it's way card" card:

Recipe:

Stamps: Notably Ornate

Paper: Garden Green, Regal Rose, Daffodil Delight, Pink Pirouette  and Whisper White

Ink: More Mustard and Old Olive

Extras: Large Flower punch, 2 Step Bird punch, 3 pack punch and square lattice EF

A close up of all of the layers.  I ran the white/pink and green layers together all at once, but ran the DD through by itself and added it after so I could sponge the edges and turn it to change the pattern.

I had so much fun making that one that I changed the colors and made another:

I started with Whisper White and cut strips of Basic Black and adhered them down to make a criss cross pattern.  I added the flower pieces and then ran the whole thing through the Big Shot in the Square Lattice EF.  I would recommend doing fewer layers though because 4 was really pushing the endurance of the sandwich plates.  Too much creaking and cracking!  I added it to a Regal Rose background and added a Very Vanilla ribbon and called it done! :) 

Here are the finished cards together:

 I really like the look of this technique!  If you haven't tried it yet, I say go for it!  I am off to create some dinner! Hope you have a wonderful day!  I will be back soonest with more to  share! 

I {heart, heart, heart} Springtime Vintage DSP!!

   Hello!  Hope you had a happy Tuesday!  We had a very full and busy one!  I did manage to squeeze in a few stolen minutes to make a card though! Yay me!

    I have a confession to make today.  I am (*hangs head in shame*) being...stingy!!  I am hoarding my new Springtime Vintage DSP.  I love it so much though!!  I think it would be beautiful on any project you can imagine...BUT I don't want to use it!!  It was almost painful to cut into it, but alas...I have!  LOL    I had to wrestle with the decision of which side to use of the paper.  They were both just so pretty!

   Here is my card:

Recipe:

Stamps: Elements of Style and Bold Blossom

Paper: Crumb Cake, Blushing Bride, Garden Green, Whisper White and Springtime Vintage DSP

Ink: Rose Red, Old Olive and White Gel pen

Extras: 2 1/2" Circle punch, Large Scallop Circle punch and Scallop Edge border punch

I am off to get some things done!   Make some time to stamp today!  You will be so glad that you did! :)  I will be back soonest with more to share!

Build-A-Flower fun!

Hello!  Happy Monday!  How was your day?  I had a good day because for the first time in quite a while...I stamped!  I cleared off the table, drug out tons and tons of stuff and just played for about two hours!  It was really nice!!  It is really good therapy for me to be able to play with all of my stamp toys! :)  Yay me!

I took out my new Build-A-Flower stamp set and coordinating punch and made three cards!  I really, really like this set and punch!  You can do all sorts of fun things with them!  I used them as they were intended on my first two cards by making and punching flowers, but my third card is a little different!  It uses the same pieces but came together to make something not at all flower-like!  Here are the cards I made today:

Recipe: 

 Stamp Sets: Build-A-Flower and Filled With Love

Paper: Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette and Vintage Springtime DSP

Ink: Pink Passion and Chocolate Chip

Extras: Polka Dot EF, Build-A-Flower punch, 1'2" circle punch, scallop border punch,pearls and pop dots  

Recipe:

 Stamps: Build-A-Flower and Tiny Tags

Paper: Cherry Cobbler and Whisper White

Ink: Daffodil Delight, More Mustard and Red Riding Hood Red

Extras: Build-A-Flower punch, Jewelry Tag Punch, 1" Circle punch, Dazzling Diamonds, Square Lattice EF and pop dots

Recipe:

Stamps: Build-A-Flower and Three Little Words

Paper: Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Basic Black and Vintage Springtime DSP

Ink: Daffodil Delight and Pink Passion 

Extras: Build-A-Flower punch, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch and Jewelry Tag punch

Wanted to share how I made the butterfly body.  I cut a narrow strip of black and slid it into one end only of  the punch from the bottom side.  I cut the head part using the jewelry tag punch and then did the same with the word window to get a rounded end. 

Also, wanted to add that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the new Vintage Springtime DSP!!  I may even love it more than my old favorite Bella Rose (*GASP!!*) and that is saying a lot!!  It is just so pretty!  I love every sheet in the pack...both sides! LOL

  I have a ton of stuff to do tonight, but I will be back soonest with more to share!  Have a wonderful night!  Happy stamping!

Bunny, bunny, bunny!

Hello!  How are you today?  Looks like I spoke too soon about Spring!  We woke up to snow this morning! Ugh!!  Snow, snow...go away!!   Don't get me wrong!  I love snow and all of the cold weather wonders that come along with it!  I am the first one to get excited about hot chocolate and building snow people and warm fireplaces and a big ole' pot of soup on the stove, but it is time for Spring!  My planner says so! My ToDo list is screaming spring activities, not snow days!  Guess what is in the forecast for tonight...more snow! Sigh!

I decided since there was not much I could do about the weather I would at least craft Spring-y!  I saw the cutest little bunny guy here on Kim's awesome blog  and was inspired to take out my new punch and try to make a similar one.  Here is my version of this spring bunny in all of her cuteness:

What do you think?!  I changed her up a bit!  I used the new Stampin Up! Build-A-Flower punch for her ears (both layers) and her bunny belly.  Her paws are 3/4" circles and her feet are cut from the Scallop Oval punch. (cut exactly in half and then in half again and rounded).  Her head is a 1 3/8" Circle.  I sponged all the pieces with Chocolate Chip and stamped her little face.  Isn't she adorable?

So then I needed to put her on something.  I was going to put her on a card, but then decided she needed a basket to hang out on!  I started with a 6 1/2" X 10" piece of Garden Green card stock and scored it on the 6 1/2" side at 2" and 4".  The I turned it to the 10" side and scored it at 2" and 8".  That created three panels.    On the 10" side I scored at 1 1/2" and 8 1/2" BUT ONLY ON THE TWO OUTSIDE PANELS.  Here is a picture to try to make that a little more clear:

I cut away the ends and cut in making two tabs so I cut assemble the box with these.  Then I used the Dotted Border Punch to make trim for the basket top (and handle) and adhered it before I assembled the box.  This is what it looked like before I assembled everything with the trim in place and the sticky strip ready to go:

Next I added a handle, some flower brads and the bunny!  I added a flower to her ear and used pop dots to raise her up off of the basket.  Here it is all finished:

And a side view:

The bunny in all of her cuteness:

She makes me smile! :)

I really enjoyed making this little basket!  Can you guess what I am going to fill it with!  Big, cheesy grin!  I hope that you have a day filled with warmth and sunshine and very little snow! I will be back soonest with more to share!

Petal Cone Vase

Hello again!  Happy Friday!  How are you today?  Hope you are doing well!  Thought I would stop by and share our make and take project from my demo meeting this month.  These are all over the place so I was really excited to see that this was the project we were going to be making!  (Thank you, Jane!)  It uses the new super cool, super-versatile Petal Cone die from the Occasions mini catalog.  I must admit that upon first seeing this die I was not the least bit impressed, but after I have seen all of the really cool projects cropping up all over the place I was sold!  It is very next on my Wish list along with the new Fun Flowers die!  Check out what we made:

The flowers were made using the Fun Flowers die and the center is from a Simply Scrappin kit.

How cute is this?  The Petal Cone's original intent was to make a treat basket sort of thing, but here it is upside down acting as a vase!  We cut them out and ran them through the polka dot folder to give it some texture and then assembled it upside down and added the cute flowers!  It is super simple.  You fold in  the top pieces (which in this case are the bottom pieces!) cardboard box style to secure.  Easy-peasy!  It looks really cheer-y in person! :)

Hope that your Friday is filled with fun and flowers!  Will be back soonest! 

A tisket, a tasket, pretty chocolate filled basket!

Hello!  Spring is in the air!!  Can you feel it?!  I am so over winter and cannot wait for the flowers to bloom, the grass to green up and the weather to turn warm! Coooooome on spriiing!

 I recently attended my monthly demo meeting and had a really great time! It is such a fun, wonderful group of ladies and we had a really good meeting!  It has been a few months since I have  been able to attend, so it was nice to see everyone again.  I made a few little treat baskets to take in and share.  Here they are:

Close up of the flower on the front.  I used the Daisy #2 Big Shot die and the 3/4" circle punch for the center. I used Whisper White and Daffodil Delight for the flower pieces.  I prettied up the centers with Dazzling Diamonds and pop dotted the flowers onto the box.

I made three blue ones!

...and three green ones!

...and three pink ones!

I used the the Scallop Envelope die to make the baskets and the Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch to make the handles.  This was a fun project!  I found the idea here on Pink Buckaroo's awesome blog.  

Hope that you are having a wonderful day and that Spring is indeed in the air for you too!  I will be back soonest with more to share! :)

For a friend and a fun award!

   Hello and happy Tuesday!  How are you today?!  Doing well,  I hope! I have a simple card to share with you today!  I used Stampin Ups! Simply Said stamp set for this card.  I just love this sprig of flowers!  They have just always looked so happy and full of heart to me.  I stamped them and then added some bling to dress them up.  Can you guess what I used for the vase?!  It is the cupcake liner from the new Build-A-Cupcake punch from Stampin Up!

Here are the details:

Stamps: Simply Said

Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Summer Sun and Whisper White

Punches: Build-A-CupCake, X-Large Label and flower from 3 Pack

Extras: Real Rose ribbon and Rhinestones

I punched the label in Whisper White and then twice more in Turquoise and cut them in half; one lengthwise and one width wise to mount the label.  Worked like a charm!

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On to some other very fun news!!!!!!  I am  the very lucky recipient of a super new cool blog award from not only one, but two wonderful new blogger friends!!  Hiya Yolanda and Terry!!  Thank you so much sweet ladies!! I am so excited!  Take a minute to check out their awesome blogs! Here is the award and the particulars:

When you receive this award you are to:
1) thank the person who gave this award to you and link it back to their blog

2) share 8 things about yourself

3) pass this award to 8 other individuals 

4) leave a comment so that they can pass along the recognition!

Hmmm...8 things about me:

1) I have the four most amazing kids on the planet. :)
2) I have been married 20 years to my wonderful hubby. (We met when I was 12 and  he was 13.)
3) I love pink and all things girl-y!
4) My favorite food is chocolate. (pizza is a close second!)
5) I lived in the Philippines when I was 2.
6) I graduated High School in Puerto Rico.
7) I love, love, love the beach!
8) I love to stamp!

   Since I cannot narrow it down to just 8 wonderful bloggers I am inviting anyone that is interested to accept this award to you from me! :)

   Have a wonderful day!  I will be back soonest!