Happy Bird-day

My second post of the day! Isn't it amazing? I have been seriously slacking on my challenges lately, which I just LOVE to do, so with that in mind, I made a card that works for quite a few today. It was an easy card to make, and is an easel card... again, I know, but it fulfilled a challenge requirement :) Here it is.





So this little cutie is from Create a Critter - one of my faves. The scalloped circle and circle were both from Winter Wonderland. The sentiment - which I thought was PERFECT for this card is from Stampin Up, I can honestly say I have never used it before, and I have had it for 5 or 6 years. I am certainly going to be using it now :) I used Cuttlebug's Spots and Dots embossing folder, which I thought worked nicely with the pink patterned paper. The paper is a lot of Stampin Up, but a bunch of stuff from my scrap box too. I used 2 different stickles to bling her up - which were still wet when I took the picture - and another one of those sparkly brads from Close to my Heart. I think it is cute!

Challenges I am submitting this card for:

Cute Card Thursday - tweet and flutter
Pixie Dust - fur or feathers
S2G - birthday card with a critter
Polka Doodles - easel card
Aly's Sunday Sketch Challenge - sparkle and glitter
The Crafty Pad - embossing (dry or heat - I chose dry)
Papertake - animal magic
Little Red Wagon - glitter
Flutterby Wednesdays - anything with wings
The Sweetest Thing - sweet sunday sketch challnge #86

In other exciting news: Winter Frolic, Mini Monsters AND Sweethearts are now in da house!!! I am so excited. I got GREAT deals on all of them. I hope to play with them before Friday, when I go back to work.


A la prochaine...

Feeling Blue

I have a couple of productive days off. I made quite a few cards, got much of the house cleaned, finished reading Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkabahn (sp?) and started reading HP and the golblet of fire to my son, tidied up my scrapping space and made it a mess again... who could ask for more? Here is the card I'm sharing today:



The stamp is from MFT's pure innocence line. I do love those stamps. I colored her with my Prismacolor pencils and used the baby oil technique to blend the colors. I am still really new to it, but it is a fun technique. Most of the paper is Stampin Up, the patterned paper I think may be old Creative Memories. The 2 little metal brads were bought at my LSS, no clue who made them, they were just in my stash...

Here are the challnges I am submitting this for:

Paper Cutz Challenges - anything goes
Paper Sundaes - sketch
If the Shoe fits - metal(brads)
Cupcake Craft Challenge - Blue and green

Hope you are all enjoying the waning days of summer - the nights are getting cool on the East Coast.

A la prochaine...

School Time!

Two posts in one day - look at me!! Today at Cricut Cardz Challenge the theme was Back to School. I was inspired to make this cute little card on my Gypsy, while watching Harry Potter with my 8 year old. I love how I was able to multi-task - still spending time with him, and crafting too. I even managed to find some time to get it cut out :) The design team (of which I am now a part - see my earlier post today) has some great inspiration for you!



I used Locker Talk, cutting the bus at 5 inches, flipping it and welding it at the top. Fun and easy! The people are from Every Day Paper Dolls and the faces, from Peachy Keen Stamps. The sentiment is from a Close to My Heart set. I used mostly Stampin Up paper, though some was from my scraps box.

Challenges I am submitting this card for:

Cricut cardz Challenge - back to school
Little red Wagon - back to school
Paper Pretties - back to school
ABC Design Blog - Back to School
S2G Challenge - Back to school and yellow

I'll be back again tomorrow with another creation :)

A la prochaine...

If you like Pina Coladas...

I love that song!! Cheesy, I know... but this card makes me think of it and smile :)



I created this card on my Gypsy, using Life's a Beach. It was a little more complicated than I expected it to be. This cartridge does not have a shadow feature, or even a blackout feature, both of which make shape cards alot easier. And I had to do a bit of doctoring tho the card base. The straw and the umbrella both got cut off the white base, so I could get it all to fold nicely. you can't even tell, looking at the front of it :)

The stamp is from Lots of Pun from Joy's Life. The paper is pretty much all Stampin Up, though a few random pieces are from my scrap box. I am happy with how it turned out! I think it looks YUMMY!

The Challenges I am submitting this to:

Fantabulous Cricut - tropical
Corrosive Challenge - drinks
One Stitch at a Time - shapes (I figure a shape card counts)
A Crafty Little Place - food - hopefully a lemon and a cherry count :)
Charisma Cardz Challenges - die cuts - I used my favorite die cutting machine, my cricut.

I'll be back tomorrow, with some new cards, and a little surprise...

The Ocean

I'm back!! it's hard to believe it's been almost a week since I last posted. Work was nuts and I just didn't have the energy, and yesterday we took the kids to the beach. Living on the east coast of Canada means there is a very shortr season in which we can go in the Atlantic. Yesterday was stunning, the water was gorgeous, the waves crashing and the beach reasonably quiet, a perfect summer afternoon. The ocean even inspired this card:







This is a Triangle fold card. I followed a great tutorial by Janis of Pause, Dream, Enjoy. You can find the tutorial HERE. I used Create a Critter to cut out the sea creatures. The stamp is from "Lots of Pun" by Joy's Life. I won it a few weeks ago from the amazing Ruthie. The paper is from an old stack I got at Michael's years ago, and have never used... the card stock is mostly Stampin Up, as is the ink I used.

Here are the challenges i am submitting this card for:
Cricut Cardz Challenge - anything goes
Paper Pretties - summer theme
ABC challenge - B is for BLUE
The Treehouse Thursday Challenge - under the sea
My Sheri Crafts - miss you
Secret Crafter - blue and cream

Last but not least, I wanted to share a pic of my daughter as she ran out of the water yesterday. I love the light in this picture, and would love to be able to say I did it on purpose, but it was just a happy accident :)



I will be back tomorrow, with a new card - I don't go back to work till Friday, that should leave lots of time for crafting - at least I hope it will :)

A la prochaine...

Another Easel Card

Someone warned me yesterday that easel cards were addictive. I have discovered that they were right! It was a fast, fun a easy card, so I decided to make another one today. I think it turned out really cute :)






This card uses a figure from Forever Young, cut at 3.75 inches. The flower is also from Forver Young, cut at 1.25 inches. The sentiment and border punch are both from Stampin Up. All the paper is also from Stampin Up, including the patterned paper. i Stickled the trim on her dress and popped a couple of cute pink pearls in the corner. I have no idea where I got the pearls, they were sitting on the shelf in my craft room, with no name on them, just the clear plastic backing. It's amazing what little treasures I have hidden in there! This card took me no time at all to make, and I love it.

This card is my submission for the following challenges -

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenges - what little girls are made of
The Crafty Pad - glitz and glitter
The Pink Elephant - ribbon and sparkles
Creative Card Crew - sparkle and shine
My Time to Craft - glitter and glitz
Papertake Weekly - sketch
Party Time Tuesdays - pink, brown and white
Tuesday Throwdown - more than one fold

I am heading back to work in the AM for 4 shifts - it has been insane there for the past week, I am not sure how much crafting time I will get, before Sunday, but hopefully some...

A la prochaine...

Cartridges everywhere - and some challenges...

I am in love with some of the latest releases from ProvoCraft. Rock Princess!! Winter Frolic!! Mini Monsters!! Happy Haunting!!! It is just too much for me. So I have decided, that instead of coveting the new cartridges, it is high time for me to use the cartridges that I have, some of which I have never cut anything from - eek!! Don't tell my husband - Paisley is a cartridge I got for my birthday in April, and have never ever used. That ends today!! Here is my card.






I made an easel card, which I had never made before, and always thought must be really hard. Was I wrong. It is easy. I followed the directions on Splitcoast Stamper. I think I will be making more of these. It was fun! I cut the owl at 3 inches from Paisley, and the flower that is holding up the easel part of the card is the "button" feature for the owl on the Paisley cartridge, cut at 1 inch. The sentiment is from Stampin Up, as is the border punch I used to cut the scallop on the base of the card. The paper is mostly from my scrap bins. I am so excited at how cute he is!

The challenges I am submitting this card to are:

Cricut Cardz Challenge - color challenge, black, blue, orange, yellow and white ONLY.
Crafty Creations - winged things
Charisma Cardz Challenges - easel card
CPS - sketch #180
Corrosive Challenges - faux technique - I used faux stitching
Pear Tree Designs - best wishes sentiment
One Stitch at a Time - use a punch - I used a scallop border punch

I think that is the most challenges I have ever submitted one card for. I had originally planned just to make this card for the color challenge at Cricut Cardz, but while challenge hopping I found so many more, and the card evolved from there. This is so fun!

Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with something new. No idea what, but I'll think of something :)

A la prochaine...

Paper playtime challenge #9

Another day, another challenge. Paper Playtime is doing a BBQ challenge this week. This was a bit of a challenge for me, until I remember I had this great stamp set from MFT - here is what I came up with:



The paper is StampinUp and the ink is Memento and Stampin Up. I used my Prismacolor pencils and baby oil. This is a really new technique to me - I have only used it 3 or 4 times, and all in the past few weeks. I'm not thrilled with the coloring this time - I think I maybe didn't color enough - so I was trying to blend color that wasn't really there? I don't know. The red background paper is actually BBQ paper - hard to see - but there are forks and knives and a spatual on it in a slightly lighter red. I found it in my scrapbox, it's been there for about 2 years.

I am going to try something different for tomorrow's post. I am working my second of 4 twelve hour shifts tomorrow, and will not have the time to finish a project tomorrow, like I did tonight. I am going to try to save a post, so all I have to do tomorrow is publish it. We'll see how it works :)

Thanks for dropping by, hope you're all having a great weekend!

A la prochaine...

Another Day another Challenge - or two - or three

So I have had a very busy 24 hours of crafting! I made 3 frames - one name frame for my nephews's room and 2 Frames that are actually for family pictures, but I used my Cricut to help decorate the mat within the frame. I have also made 4 different cards. A birthday card, the card I am showing you below, and two other cards that I can't share yet. Not till Friday... can't tell you what they are, but I am excited about them.

Anyway, here is today's card:




So this christmas tree is from Hello Kitty Greetings - i have never cut this tree before, it's cute. I also cut the oval and the shadow on my Gypsy. I think the shadow might have been a bit too big. The paper is either from StampinUp, or my scrap box. The ribbon is StampinUp and so is the Noel Stamp. So here are the challenges I am participating in with this card:

a) Cardz TV - where Mary challenged us to make a card with a Christmas Tree.

b) Cupcake Craft Challenge - Where we were challenged to do a pastel Christmas card. Which was harder than I had expected, honestly :)

c) The Pink Elephant - Where they were doing a sketch challenge. I tend to steer clear of sketches. I love the idea of them, but they often don't come together the way I see them in my head. i am fairly happy with this one.

I hope you come back tomorrow to see the name frame I made for my nephews. I may even try to sqeeze in another challenge :)

A la prochaine...

Zoo Baby

I have discovered recently that I love to make frames as gifts. I made a couple over the years as presents for my son's teachers, but made this one as a baby shower gift for a dirlfriend at work. I just think it is so cute! I am considering making one today for my nephew's room. His birthday is tomorrow. I guess I will have to run to Walmart to get a frame :)



So this frame uses Robotz for the font - I LOVE that font!! And Create a Critter for the wagon and the animals. I got the idea for this cute little animal train from a card Momo made a few months ago. You can see her sweet card HERE Isn't it adorable? You should spend some time checking out her blog. I get tons of inspiration from her!

As per usual I have been hopping around the web looking for challenges, ever since I started playing along with Emma and Momo I have become addicted to them! So, here are the challenges I am using this little frame for:

a) Fantabulous Cricut - The challenge was to make a zoo project.

b)Paper Cutz Challenge - The challenge this week was to create a project with wheels.

I have lots of crafting to do before my vacation is over, so I will be back with more projects tommorow, or maybe even later today.

A la prochaine...

Another late one!!

So my sense of time has been a mess since I went to the cottage. It is so easy to lose track of the days when you have no deadlines, work to go to, or appointments to keep! I had always planned to join an Under the Sea challenge over on Lauren's blog 40:31 Creations I have no idea when I thought the deadline was, but I missed it. Fortunately for people like me, she extended it by a day, till tonight! Yay me! Here is the card I designed while I was at the cottage - gotta love the Gypsy :)



This little mermaid was designed with Once Upon a Princess. The shell, which I welded on my Gypsy, is from Create a Critter. It is one of the Accessories on that cartridge. The paper is a mix of SU and stuff from my scrap boxes. The sentiment is from My Pink Stamper... love her stamps.

I had so much fun creating this little card, and I am really happy that Lauren extended her first challenge for time deficient people like me :) I can't wait to participate in another one!

A la prochaine...

A little late...

So I always try to enter Emma's throwback challenges. I just got home from the cottage and knew there was a midnight deadline, so I rush and get the card done. Only to discover the deadline was last night. Oh well, here is my late submission.



The Cupcake was cut at 3.3" from Sweet Treats. the colored paper is mostly from SU, though I used some stuff from my stash. the patterned paper is from Basic Grey. The brown ribbon is I think from Walmart and the sentiment from Stampin Up. I used one of Momo's favorite techniques (Made by Momo), layering a scallop edge. I love this technique and think it looks really pretty :)

So I am entering this into 2 challenges:

a) Emma's Thursday throwback http://www.creativetimeforme.com/ - which is on hiatus till Aug 12th - I may go into witdrawl!! We were challenged to use the Celebration cartridge - or a birthday card if you don't have Celebration. I used Sweet Treats (no celebrations cart. for me yet) and made this "grown up" birthday card - using pretty non-traditional colors for me.

b) Cricut Cardz Challenge - Challenge #34 - where we were challenged to make a card with a cake, cupcake, cookies or candy.

Hope you like my happy birthday card. I was pretty happy with how it turned out, given that I am exhausted after 5 days away with the kids, and didn't have much time to come up with something. I have a cute idea on my Gypsy, that I hope to cut out tomorrow, so please come back and check it out.

A la prochaine...

Girly card for Momo's Challenge

One of my very favorite blogs to visit is Made by Momo - to visit her, just go to her button on the right hand side of my blog. She has great video tutorials, and i always learn something. She also has a challenge every other Tuesday. I can't tell you how I am loving challenges these days! I t has gotten me crafting again, forcing me to clean up my scrap room, and is making me try new things. They are so fun!!

This week Momo challenged us to make something girly. So here is what I came up with:



The girl is cut at 5" from Forever Young, which I think is a super Girly cartridge. The paper is all from StampinUp as is the ribbon, and the edge punch I used at the bottom. The sentiment is from CTMH, and I thought appropriate for the card. The sparkly flowers are little stick on Rhinestones and are from Kaiser Scrapbook. All in all, I love how sophisticatedly girly this card is :)

I also did a Christmas card today, that I made on my Gypsy. I haven't taken a picture of it yet, but am going to in a minute, so check back in 20 minutes or so to see that card too. Thanks for looking.

A la prochaine...

Web surfing

I had so much fun doing the challenges in the past few weeks, I decided to try to find some more. Thinking outside the box is a very good thing, especially for me. I tend to get stuck in ruts. I found this great website called the Daily Dare -http://dailydare4u.blogspot.com/ It posts lots of challenges every day, and I found a few that were a nice combo of inside and outside the box :)



So the paper here is all SU. The brown ribbon, I bought at Walmart. The stamp is a House Mouse stamp - and I love it, I think it's so cute! The sentiment is from My Pink Stamper. The mat the stamp is on is from Once Upon a Princess. I manipulated the shape on my Gypsy to make it the right size. I used my Prismacolor Pencils for the first time ever on this card - so this was WAY outside my box. I am pleased with the overall look of the card, and it wasn't too hard to do.

So the challenges I am entering this into are all firsts for me. I am excited to be doing new challneges!

a)Paper playtime - http://paperplaytime.blogspot.com/ Their challenge this week is "Flower Power" and my cute little mouse is on a Lilac.

b) House Mouse Challenges - http://housemouse-challenge.blogspot.com/ their challnge this week was the letter B. Anything goes, as long as you can somehow tie it in to "B". I figured my lilac were "Blossoms" - that counts, right?

c) The Pink Elephant - http://thepinkelephantchallenge.blogspot.com/ Their challenge this week, was a color challenge. Brown. The base of the card is SU Chocolate Chip and there is a brown ribbon.

Hope you like my cute little card. I hope to make one more card tomorrow, but am leaving on wednesday for a few days at the cottage with the kids. Hopefully the weather will be good.

A la prochaine...

Sqeezed in another!

So I managed to squeeze in another challenge before going to bed. I am entering this in a couple of challenges:
a) Paper Cutz Challenges. Their challenge for this week was to do a western theme. Now as a girl from Nova Scotia, this was slightly outside the box for me, I have never been west of Ontario.

b) Raising the Bar: Challenge #27. They were doing a "wedding challenge" this week. Something old: The bandana paper I have held onto for 8 years in my stash, Something new: My Once Upon a Princess cartridge that I used to create the card, Something Borrowed/ recycled: I used some paper from my scrap stash and Something blue: - all the blue paper - in her skirt, and the card base.

c) If the Shoe Fits... Is having a vacation theme this week. Now I have never vacationed in the west, but a friend of mine just got back from the Calgary stampede and had so much fun! It is now on my wish list of some day vacations.

So here is what i came up with...



So this cute little lady was made on my Gypsy using Once Upon a Princess for the Cow Girl - Cut at 4 1/2. George and Basic shapes for the rectangle of the card, and Robotz for the font - cut at .9" which I welded to the rectangle.



The paper is mostly SU, except the blue for her skirt and hat and the brown of teh boots which are from my scrap box, so who knows. The bandana paper is old Creative Memories from many moons ago. I held onto it for some reason in my stash.



I was really pleased with how this card turned out! I think she is super cute! I love OUAP, but haven't used it much. I hope this is the start of a new trend for me, using that cute cartridge. Hope you like it!

A la prochaine...

More Challenges

This is a really quick post, I ma already running late to my Crop for Cancer. Getting up at seven just felt way too early today! So this card is being submitted for a couple more challenges. Emma, from My creative Time, challenged us to design a card around our favorite holiday, Mine is Christmas by far - well, other than the weather... Cricut Cardz challenged us to use the card feature on a cartridge. Here is the card:




So this simple card cut is from the Winter Wonderland cartridge - it is the card feature of snowflake #4 - I have never used the card feature from this cartridge before. I cut the card at 4 1/2, and had a tough time trying to layer it. After a few miss cuts, I found that 4 1/4 fit almost perfectly to layer on top. I then used some CTMH stamps to stap the snowflakes with versa mark, and the sentiment. The paper is all SU, and the ribbon is form the dollar store. I must admit I am not in love with this card, but it turned out OK.

So enough procrastinating! I must go scrapbook!! A la prochaine...

Emma's Throwback Challenge

So my effort to get back to my scrapbooking continues! Miss Emma, from My Creative Time (blinkie on right side of my blog) has a challenge each Thursday, which I decided to join this week. This very simple layout uses Zoobaloo. It was one of my first cartridges ever, and on I rarely use, despite the fact that I couldn't live without it :)

The paper is all from Close to my Heart. I love how their paper packs come with matching card stock. It makes my life so much easier! I like how this page turned out. And mostly how I saw it in my head. If you haven't visited Emma's site, you should. Her work is amazing and she is so helpful to new Gypsy users like me. Love her!!

Tomorrow I will post one of the cards I put in the card box for Andrew's teachers. Look at me posting so many days in a row!! I am proud of me :)

A la prochaine...