Challenges ...

Good Sunday morning to you!  The sun is shining and it's going to be a very warm day for us here in Michigan.  Yesterday we visited one of our favorite nurseries.  My son selected Maltese Cross plants and they are the brightest orange flowers you have ever seen.  He loves them.  Since we were shopping for his garden, he gets to choose the plants.  I can tell you his space looks like a patchwork quilt ... and he couldn't be prouder.  It makes me smile.

I'll be busy creating cards over the next week to celebrate teachers.  They do so much for our children and our world.  Thankfully, there are only two male teachers for my children and I say that with the best of intentions ... I struggle with cards for men.  I tend to lean toward soft colors, flowers, and butterflies.  So one place I turn when in need of inspiration is Pile It On.  There you can find blog challenges listed by the day of the week.  By visiting the sites of many talented ladies, I was able to find a sketch, a theme, and a color combination.  Here is the card for my daughter's Algebra teacher.  Let me tell you what I did ...

Inspired by the gorgeous photograph on The Play Date Cafe , my colors are Lovely Lilac, Soft Suede, Certainly Celery, and Almost Amethyst.  It wouldn't be appropriate if I didn't have some numbers for this card and I found a scrap of some very old paper with a number pattern.  Since it's Algebra, "x and y" variables had to take center stage.  You can see more "numerical projects" on The Sisterhood of Scrap.  Isn't that the cutest name?  Tea Party and Patterns Designer Series Paper (in Certainly Celery and Almost Amethyst) brought in the greens and purples I needed.  My layout was provided by the ladies at Friday Sketchers.  Simple and not too fussy ... perfect for a man's gift.

Other thoughts and ideas came from Dutch Dare who challenged us all to use 2 papers, 3 colors, and 4 buttons.  Delightful Sketches and Easy Craft Project suggested texture and buttons.  The soft satin ribbon and the glittery letters (Violet Fine Cosmo Glitter on Lots of Letters chipboard) added texture and ... well, the buttons are self evident.

I hope that I've given you something to enjoy today.  I encourage you to take the time to visit the blog links I've provided above.  There are wonderful works of art to see and I'm sure they will inspire you too.  You can find many of my supplies on my website ... that link is on the sidebar.  Thanks so much for visiting.

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Simplicity

Sometimes we just have to slow down.  Summer helps me to do that.  While others are running here and there, I spend hours in the garden enjoying the textures and colors.  Feeling the warm breezes and best of all ... digging in the dirt.  It relaxes me.  I have two projects to share with you.  Both are simple by comparison.  I hope you enjoy them.

Scraps of a variety of Designer Series Papers were used to define my color scheme.  Pulling the colors from the flowered patterned paper (Tea Party) ...  Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, Old Olive, and Certainly Celery compliment each other well.  With such beautiful papers it was easy to find patterns in those colors.  A large chipboard circle layered on a scallop circle provided the perfect landing pad for my winged friend created with our Butterfly Punch.  My greeting is from Only Ovals ... a new set for me that just arrived this week...beautiful.  The Pretty In Pink Corduroy Button is the perfect embellishment for the soft accents ... white ric-rac and Old Olive Striped Grosgrain ribbons.

My second project is masculine and one of my favorite stamp sets to "set the tone" is Beware Pirates. Funny ... I know. I just love the ship embossed in Black Detail Embossing Powder. On Kraft cardstock, it's very rugged. Of course a bit of distressing around the edges and a simple black button with Natural Hemp adds to the look. The greeting from Three Little Words is simple and to the point.  With the Word Window and Modern label punches your message is clean and crisp.  Brads from the Vintage collection and Black Striped Grosgrain ribbon complete the look.

I'm so glad you took the time to "slow down".  I hope you enjoyed today's projects.  Come back for a visit, I'll have more to share soon.

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For You ...

I hope you all had a wonderful Tuesday.  It was warm today and the sunshine felt glorious after the rains we've been having.  Now the doors are open wide to the outside and the birds are singing their evening songs.  I have flats and pots of flowers waiting for me to plant them ... I look forward to the long weekend.

I'm happy to share today's project and tell you that it has been submitted to two of my favorite blogs and a newly discovered blog that is sure to become a regular stop for me.

The color combination of pink and green has to be one of my favorties ... especially for a soft feminine gift such as this. The ladies at The Creative Card Crew have put these colors together for this week's challenge.  I'm sure their blog will be filled with luscious shades of pink and green in the coming days.  

The Shabby Tea Room is inspiring us to use polka dots this week.  How could I resist?  The papers found in our Tea Party collection are perfect.  The pink polka dot paper is one of my favorites and the flowered print has it's own set of polka dots in the pattern.  The "forest of trees" in the lower left softens the strong colors of the card and offers a place to rest your eyes.

Another favorite blog of mine is The City Crafter and this week the challenge is in the form of a recipe.  Our ingredients are "1 ribbon, 2 papers, and 3 flowers"...how fun!  I started with our gorgeous papers and added the crinkled goodness of dyed seam binding.  Our Gold Glow Smooch Sprintz works magic, don't you agree?  The flowers are from our Sweet Pea Stitched Felt assortment.  I think they look lovely nestled in a ring of glittered chipboard.  The chipboard is from Lots of Letters and the Old Olive glitter sparkles in our Fine Supernova assortment.  I love how the glitter and the felt leaves are both just the right shade of Old Olive.

The sweet little tag is stamped in Basic Black Classic ink and uses a Vintage Labels greeting ... "For You".  With a 1" Circle Punch, it's the perfect size for this heartfelt thanks.

I hope you enjoyed your visit today.  Thank you for stopping by and I'd love to hear from you.  You can see more challenge submissions at The Shabby Tea Room and The City Crafter and The Creative Card Crew  I'm sure you will be inspired to create beautiful things  for your friends and families too. 

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Musical Thank You

I am amazed that it has been a week since I have visited with you.  The days have flown by but for good reasons.  A band recital, volleyball practice twice, then an all day tournament with the best of endings.  There were only six girls who could stay until the end of the tournament due to other commitments that day.  Six is the minimum required to stay in the match otherwise you forfeit.  Then the worst happened ... one of our dear sweet girls was hurt during the game.  There were tears shed, hugs given, and we thought our hopes for a win that day were dashed.  However, you can't keep a good team down ... especially one that has it in their hearts to win for a fallen friend.  So with only five players (our injured player standing just inside the lines in the far back corner so she was counted as "on the court") - our brave girls beat the 1st place team ... 25 to 23!  It was quite a battle and we parents couldn't be prouder.  It was wonderful to see them come together as individuals and as a team.  More tears, lots of hugs, and this time "high fives" ... I'm sure everyone was re-living the moment during the car ride home.  What a wonderful way to enjoy a Saturday!

On to my project that I have to share with you.  One of the loveliest ladies you could know has asked me to create some cards that she can give to her daughters teachers.  Each card will be packaged in a cello bag with a gift card and tied up with ribbon, I'm sure they will be appreciated.  Such a sweet gift.  This project uses Sweet Pea and Tea Party Designer Series Paper.  Before you ask me about the music, let me tell you that I copied a sheet of my cello music onto Very Vanilla cardstock, cut it to size, and inked the edges with So Saffron.  For the curious, that's Sonata in C Major by Breval (smile).  Notice the black stitching around the outside picks up the black in the music and greeting.

The tag is chipboard covered with gorgeous Sweet Pea paper.  The pink crinkled goodness is seam binding sprayed with Pink Passion ink.  To get the crinkled effect, while still wet push it into the corner of a plastic bag then twist it tightly closed and let it sit over night.  Put it in the dryer the next day if it's still damp.  Another tip is to spray the ribbon with starch before you dry it.  That will help make the ribbon stiff and easier to work with.  My button could be older than me ... from my mother's hand-me-down collection.  I think it's perfect for this card.

I used both the Scalloped Oval and the Wide Oval punches on my greeting.  This gorgeous sentiment is part of new Pedaling Past set offered now in our Summer Mini catalog.  You can see more at the link on the left.

I hope you enjoyed your visit today.  Thanks for stopping by.  I have more projects completed and will share them with you over the next few days.  I'll see you here again soon!

Pink Chipboard Goodness

Good Saturday afternoon!  I have a project to share with you today inspired by the wonderful artists at The Shabby Tea Room and The City Crafter.  Our challenge this week at The Shabby Tea Room was "chipboard" and the The City Crafter provided a beautiful photo of the most gorgeous shades of pink you've ever seen.  I took both their suggestions and came up with the following card.

I started with background paper from Tea Party and our Pretty in Pink Designer Series Paper collection.  I also had scraps from our Sending Love Speciality Paper.  I hope you can see the shimmer of glitter embedded in those papers - it's absolutely gorgeous.  The chipboard pieces used are a large and small heart.  The large heart I covered with the "herringbone" pattern and the dainty little heart is layered in pink glittery goodness.  My sewing machine added the stitching details.

Seam binding sprayed with Pink Passion ink and water gave me the perfect shade to compliment my papers.  The tag is distressed with Pretty in Pink ink and stamped with "Thank You" (in Chocolate Chip ink) from our Pedaling Past stamp set.  You can view more of this set in our Summer Mini Catalog - see the link at your left.  I used a pink pin with crystal and pearl beads to further highlight my message.  The flower is another new embellishment I just had to try and I love it for the best of reasons.  Not only does it add texture and interest to my card but it's also made from my mother's dress patterns.  To see it makes me smile and remember the love she would put into the clothes she made me.  Such good memories.  Mom would have liked the light pink misting I gave her flower.  The rhinestone brad from our Square Fire assortment holds the flower layers together.

Well friends, I hope you enjoyed today's post.  Be sure to see all the wonderful projects at The Shabby Tea Room and The City Crafter.  I hope you can spare a moment to share your thoughts and I'll be back with more inspiration soon!

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Life's Moments ...

Hello everyone.  I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Mother's Day.  The sun was out and the weather was mild here ... a rare sight lately (especially on the weekend).  A day in the garden was the perfect Mother's Day gift for me!

Today's project features some of the new products found in Stampin' Up's Summer Mini Catalog.  I have a link for you set up on the left side of this blog.  Click on it to see all the wonderful new stamps, papers, and accessories we have to offer!  Now let me tell you about today's card...this set is called Elements of Style.  Isn't it wonderful?  I'm sure you will be seeing a lot of this set in days to come.  Here I stamped with Close to Cocoa ink and used some Tea Party paper.  The butterflies are cut from our Beautiful Wings die and the half pearls (there is one hiding under a wing) comes with the Pretties Kit.  Almost Amethyst with Very Vanilla and So Saffron served as the color palette.  I misted the card with our new Log Cabin Smooch Sprintz and dyed the seam binding with the same. 

I am so inspired by the many talented women that are creating so many gorgeous flowers lately.  Thankfully they are willing to share their talents with all of us.  I used the tutorial found here to create my paper rose.  Scraps of Tea Party paper and our Extra Large Fancy Flower punch was all I needed.  Crystal Effects has many uses and here I used it as a glue to hold my flower together and in place on my card.  Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Sprintz added a nice shine that made my flower sparkle.  A little piece of chipboard below my rose gave my project added dimension. 

I hope you take the time to try this rose tutorial.  I think you'll like the results!  I also want to thank you for the kind words.  I am THRILLED to have been recognized by the ladies at the Shabby Team Room with an Honorable Mention for my gift tag below!

Thank you for visiting me ... enjoy your day!

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Welcome sweet baby boy!

A dear friend of mine has just become a father and I couldn't be happier for him.  I've known him for years and I am sure he is going to make a fantastic dad.  Nothing compares to holding a new born baby ... such a joy ... such a blessing.  Tomorrow I plan to go get a gift.  It's so fun to shop for babies ... everything is adorable!  Of course I needed a special tag for this little guy!

I seem to be stuck on our Bella Bleu Designer Series Paper.  For a baby boy ... it's perfect!  I used our Chunky Sprinkles glitter on a Sticky Cuts star.  Both sides of our Sticky Cuts are adhesive so what could be easier?  And to make my day even better, I am posting this project to The Shabby Tea Room weekly challenge!  "Get your Bling On" is our theme this week.  Be sure to stop by and see all the fantastic entries!  There is another challenge going on over at The City Crafter called "Terrific Tags".  I think todays project "fits the bill."  Thank you ladies for the inspiration!   My bow is made from seam binding that has been misted with our Log Cabin Smooch Spritz.  It's so wrinkled and crinkled ... I just love it!  Punches used include Star, Wide Oval, Scallop Oval, and Modern Label.  The tag itself is chipboard (see On Board Essentials).

I'm excited to also show you our new Mini Vintage Tags!  Tags on top of a tag ... perfect for The City Crafter challenge!  My photograph doesn't do these justice.  The metal frame has a rustic look with a shimmery vanilla/gold cardstock in the center.  More bling for The Shabby Tea Room!  I used an alphabet stamp set and Brocade Blue ink to include Nate's name.  The vanilla half pearls are from our Pretties Set.

Thanks for visiting with me.  I hope you enjoyed today's project! 

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A Note of Appreciation ...

Good rainy day to you, my friends.  The garden is drinking up the water from last night's rains.  The cherry trees and crab apples are in full bloom as well as some early flowering rhodo's...both in shades of pink.  Everything is rooted in a carpet of blue blooming myrtle (just like my mother had).  Spring is finally here and I couldn't be more excited!

Today's post is inspired by a photo on The Shabby Tea Room blog.  Aren't these colors just wonderful?  So warm and cozy.  Shades of blues with a touch of pink, what could be better?  It reminds me of the garden view from my window.

Various Designer Series Papers from Stampin' Up serves as the mosiac of blues. Included are papers from the Bella Bleu collection. The butterflies are created with Beautiful Wings Embosslits die and I added just a little big of bling with tiny self sticking gems. 

My flower is organza in a gorgeous deep copper color. I melted the edges of different sized shapes and layered them together to create the finished look you see here. Of course a splash of pink for the flower center ties it all together.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you enjoyed your stay.  Be sure to take time to visit The Shabby Tea Room and see the beautiful creations inpired by this week's photo.  Please leave a comment below with your thoughts ... and make it a wonderful day!

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