Comfort ...

School is back in session and everyone is settling into the new schedule.  Drop off, pick up, clubs, homework ... it feels good to have everything "click".  My children are soooo happy and naturally that makes me happy too.   I find comfort in "schedules and plans"...some of you may find that crazy thinking "where's the fun in that?".  But to me life is good when I have purpose and structure...I guess that's just me.


Pool Party  is such a lovely shade of blue.  It goes perfectly with my new favorite papers from the Domestic Goddess collection.  I've added a few of these gorgeous prints to my new Bingo Card background stamp.  Now I can create this vintage game look in any color - just add ink!

Some cardboard cut with pinking shears and brushed lightly with paint came next.  Three butterflies all cut from the same paper collection are layered with a sweet little button on top.  I used both the Butterfly Punch and Beautiful Wings.

The ribbon is dyed seam binding and I've added a decorative pin.  The tag is created with the Jewelry Tag Punch and again the little words in Pennant Parade came in handy.

Be sure to visit the ladies at The City Crafter.  Their challenge this week was to use 1 ribbon, 2 or more words, and 3 or more butterflies.   Every week there's something inspiring from Kirsty and the Design Team ... they never cease to amaze me with the challenge ideas they dream up and the projects they post.  Thanks ladies for sharing your creative talents!

And thank you too - for stopping by ...

Rose bud

Good morning my sweet friends!  We have a fresh powdering of snow on the ground making everything look clean and white.  The kids are going sledding this afternoon on a Boy Scout outing after having a fun sleep-over here last night.  There was lots of music, dancing, computer games, movies ... and a heaping dose of laughter and giggles.  Everyone had a fun and I'm sure today will be filled with more wonderful memories.

Here's another color challenge hosted by Moxie Fab World.  Lovely shades of rose and oh so vintage.  I love it and knew I had to participate as soon as I laid eyes on this trio!  And would you believe that the ladies over at Just Us Girls are calling for hand-made flowers this week?  They are singing my song!

Here is how this post came together for you ... beginning with Very Vanilla cardstock the corners were rounded (Corner Punch) and the edges antiqued with Distressing Essentials.  The patterns are from the gorgeous collection of Springtime Vintage Designer Series Paper.  Just can't get enough of these colors and patterns - as you know I've been using this paper collection a lot lately!  The lace is from my dear sister-in-law - thank you Shirley!  The pin had a crystal teardrop on top so I added a rose colored bead and a pearl.  The seam binding is hand dyed with Crumb Cake and Soft Suede Classic Inks.  I made so much that I had extra for this card after making this too.  JOY!

The chipboard ring was painted first then "glitterfied" with a rose colored chunky glitter.  This Butterfly Punch was used to create my little winged friend and the flower is handmade from scraps of the same papers.  I used a die to cut out four 5-petal flowers, spritzed them lightly with water, then used the end of a marker on a soft pad to curl each petal up.  My hot glue gun (never far from my side) was used to hold them together - nested snug inside one another.  Here's a tutorial that will help.  I brushed the tips with a creme shade of paint and added a green "flower" on the bottom for leaves.

Thank you all for stopping by.  Enjoy your day!

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Pretty in Pink ... and Black

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Good HOT day to you, my friends!  It's the third day in a row that we will hit the 90 degree mark.  My garden is suffering terribly.  The sprinklers ran this morning and I'll run them again at the end of the day - but honestly it doesn't do much good.  My poor sweet flowers ...

Here's a post that will hopefully perk everyone up.  I love this greeting ... "My Dear, Kind and Wonderful Friend".  Doesn't that say it all?  It comes with our All Holidays stamp set.  Pink and Black is always chic and perfect for this card.  I'm also lovin' the Newsprint Designer Series Paper!  The Basic Black Striped ribbon is a favorite of mine and you'll see it frequently.  The best news is that we now carry this gorgeous stripe in more colors ... Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Pretty in Pink, Real Red, Rich Razzleberry, Night of Navy, Marina Mist, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Early Espresso, and Basic Black.

(Click on the picture ... you can see it sooo much better!)

My Butterfly Punch added my winged friend.  I punched her out of a pink print and again out of acrylic with black polka dots then layered the two with a Glue Dot.  The black button with ribbon floss is attached with a Dimensional.  So cute - don't you agree?

I want to point you towards these terrific challenge blogs this week ... thanks for the inspiration ladies!
Crazy 4 Challenges who required two ribbons on my project - be sure to visit them!
Crazy Challenges featured an "up in the air" theme this week - see my butterfly?
Torendi provided gorgeous inspirational images of Japan.  Here are the two that inspired me the most!

Thanks for stopping by today - I hope you stay cool.  I'll be back soon with my Christmas card ideas!

Supplies:
114916 All Holidays
117166 Newsprint Designer Series Paper
121045 Basic Black Cardstock
101179 Basic Black Classic Ink Pad
101650 Very Vanilla Cardstock
119848 Butterfly Punch
103683 Glue Dot
104430 Dimensionals


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I missed being here ...

Hello friends.  I'm so relieved that school is over for the summer.  The past two weeks have been filled with final exams, history projects, performances, field day, fairs ... whew.  So glad to have my children home with me.  Now that those last days are behind me I hope to see you more often!

Today's project is a study in blues.  To be correct it's actually Not Quite Navy in this case.  It's my favorite Bella Bleu Designer Series Paper ... I hope you're not getting tired of it.  My colors combination of brown, blue, and white was directed by the challenge at Off the Wall Craftiness.  The ladies at Simon Says Stamp provided the inspiration to combine 1 image, 2 pattern papers (I kindof over achieved on that requirement), and 3 embellishments!  I'm sure you recognize the Butterfly Punch and of course I had to add some bling with the rhinestones.  The ribbons are a mix of goodness....with our Whisper White Organza ribbon, some trim I picked up, and seam binding dyed with the softest of blues - Bashful Blue.

Our crochet Fleurettes II flowers are beautiful in their original white.  I layered them and added a cute little button with a half pearl from our Pretties Kit.  A covered chipboard heart stamped with the gorgeous flowering branch from Elements of Style is the perfect platform for my little tag.  I look forward to making someone smile with this card...I hope you enjoyed it too.

Thanks for stopping by today and be sure to visit the challenges - you'll find them "inspiring" too!  Please be sure to check our Last Chance list!  The link is on the left and the retiring products are going fast!


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Wonderful Mother ...

Hello friends.  Today's sketch comes compliments of The Shabby Tea Room.  Such talent is worth visiting and I hope that you can stop by!  For this project I used scraps of various Designer Series Papers with colors that coordinated well.  The paper in the middle is at least three years old and I'm sure it's happy to have finally found a home on a card!  You can see that I pulled out shades of yellow with So Saffron, greens with Certainly Celery, and blues with Taken with Teal.  The chipboard frame is also covered in DSP - this time from our Holiday Lounge collection.  I love how the Taken with Teal adds a splash of color while the lace keeps the view soft.

Of course a "winged friend" from my Butterfly Punch just had to land in the right spot.  The half pearls are mounted with Crystal Effects and are from our Pretties Kit.  The heartfelt words are from Well Scripted and express our thoughts in a beautiful font.

Thank you for stopping by. Have a wonderful evening and if you have a moment I'd love to hear from you!

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Soft and Sweet

Good evening friends.  I hope you are all doing well tonight.  We were blessed with sunshine today and I was able to photograph my project that I so wanted to share with you.

I just love the soft colors and the bow is just wonderful.  The pink button peeking out from under the folds is very sweet.  Drops from an Almost Amethyst ink refill were added to water in a small spray bottle.  I sprayed a length of seam binding until it was dyed to my liking.  It was then wadded up, stuffed into the corner of a plastic bag, and tied up tight.  The next day it was dry and wrinkled to perfection.  The metal frame is from our Vanilla HodgePodge kit "stained" with brown ink.  The Butterfly Punch was used to create our winged focal point with it's wings gently curved using the shaft of a paint brush.  The soft purples and pinks of our Tea Party collection were perfect for this vintage look.  And the Spiral Punch along the edge added a touch of whimsy.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing your time with me.  You can leave a comment with this post if you'd like.  Simply select "comment" below and share your thoughts.  Good night!

In Need of a Title!

Here is my second Scrapbook page set for my upcoming event.  The girls toured a historic home and had tea afterwards in the sunporch.  Wonderful old dresses, hats, purses were provided to "dress up".  It was all very vintage and just beautiful.  Of course, no one can have tea without their white gloves, beads, and wearing their finest!  Don't you agree?

I love how the soft colors pick up on the elegance of our afternoon.  Buttons and lace were added to keep it all very girlie.  However, I am missing a title and could use your help.  What would you suggest?  The background papers are from our Tea Party collection.  How appropriate!  My color scheme drew out So Saffron, Certainly Celery, and Pretty in Pink.  Punches made creating these layered flowers so simple!

I used our Scallop Circle, 5-Petal Flower, Extra Large Fancy Flower, and a 1" circle.  The friendly butterflies were made with our Butterfly punch and the gorgeous Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die.  Everything is raised on Dimensionals. 

The crown is from our Extreme Elements set.

I hope you enjoyed today's post.  If you are able to help me with a page title I would be grateful.  Leave me a comment below with your thoughts.

Ah, Vintage!

I think I understand "vintage" a bit better now.  Soft pinks, blues, a host of buttons and pearls, some taffeta  ribbon, and voila ... Vintage!  This time I stayed on task and didn't stray.  I hope you like it!

I used up some retired background paper on this project.  The checked blue/white is from ... well, honestly I'm not sure.  I had a sheet of it laying around and it just seemed right for this card.  The pinks are from our Sweet Pea collection.  The herringbone pattern was trimmed top and bottom with our Scallop Punch.  You would think with as many times as I use the Sweet Pea collection it's a wonder I have any left.  I guess the package is bigger than I thought - which is a good thing since it's so gorgeous!

The stamped squares are actually a combination of two stamps.  I used a solid square inked it up in River Rock (remember that color?) and before I stamped it on the Whisper White cardstock I stamped some of the ink off on scrap paper.  That gave me a square that was one shade lighter than true River Rock.  I then inked up a leaf stamp in Old Olive and stamped it on top of the River Rock square.  Taking scissors, I cut the square out and used our Corner Rounder on all four corners.  If you don't have a solid square stamp - the square with the flowers in our For All You Do stamp set would be a perfect substitute.  I've included the images in that set here ....

The rest of the card was created using River Rock and Very Vanilla cardstock.  Buttons were threaded with pink floss and mounted with Dimensionals.  The half pearl is from our Pretties Kit and was adhered with a Glue Dot.  The ribbon is Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon.  Greetings are from Trendy Trees and God's Blessings which were stamped in Old Olive ink.
I'm sure you recognize our Butterfly Punch!

Thanks for visiting and if you have a moment leave me a comment to let me know what you think of today's project!

Vintage?

Ok, I know this has happened to all of us.  I had in my head that I was going to create something with a vintage feel.  You know the look - soft pinks, blues, distressed vanilla, roses, crinkled ribbon, buttons.  Yeah, right.  Here's what I came up with ....

I swear I don't know how it happened!  I REALLY wanted to use my new Butterfly punch.  Don't you love it?  I didn't even put it away ... I think this punch is going to stay out on my table for a while!  I punched out blue/green butterflies from our Kaleidoscope DSP.  Then I thought, VELLUM!  That's vintage!  So I punched out two butterflies from Vellum Cardstock.  I adhered those to my blue butterflies and added rhinestones.  So far, so good.  Well, then it happened.  I looked through the Kaleidoscope papers and my streak was broken.  The colors are so bright and cheerful they literally screamed "Pick me!"  And in a moment of weakness, I did.  So I started thinking - butterflies, flowers, sunshine, happy colors and I was lost.  I hope to get a true vintage card done sometime this week!

Additional supplies used are Whisper White, Basic Black, and Certainly Celery cardstock.  Scallop Trim punch, Window Punch, Label Punch, retired ribbon (gotta use it up), Pumpkin Pie corduroy button.  Black accents were added with Vintage Brads (Ha!  I knew I had something else vintage), and Basic Black flourish thingy's from our Tulipe Bigz Die.  The greeting is from Happy Together.  You can view other stamps in the set in my posting http://creativestampingideas.blogspot.com/2010/02/happy-together.html.

The layout was from an old Mojo Monday sketch, I think.

Stop back to see my next attempt at "vintage"!