Love ... and a Bird

Was in another crafty mood tonight - I haven't gotten this must craftiness accomplished in ... well, probably never.

The Outlawz Thursday POM Challenge this week is to add stitching to your design, and of course you are to use Prismas or some other medium of your choice. This week I decided to use some Tim Holtz Distress Inks, for both my stamps and to distress around the edges of the patterned paper. The stamps are from Unity, the patterned paper is from BoBunny, the ribbon came out of my stash, and I made the stickpin.

Thanks for coming by, and I always appreciate the sweet comments and encouragement that everyone leaves. Big hugs!

Hi!

Hi everybody! I've been feeling a need to create lately - I think it's just a way to release stress and escape from whatever is on my mind. I wanted something "pretty", and that usually means that pink and green are involved - not sure why that is my sort of "go to" color combo, but it just is. I also wanted to use this Hero Arts stamp I've had for awhile but just couldn't make work for me yet. I am not a very good stamper, and I usually think my stamped images look too flat or something. So I decided to stamp it onto some patterned paper, then I added some color highlights with my Copic markers and some Stickles. Then I framed it up with a darker color so that it would really stand out against the white background.

Thanks for stopping by to look at my latest creation - it always makes me feel so good when someone leaves me a nice comment! Big hugs to everybody!

Easter Egg Tree

Back last fall I made a card that had this awesome stamp on it from Unity Stamp Company, and I added golden beads to it for Autumn. Well, now that Spring is approaching - I say approaching because even though the trees and daffodils are blooming here in Virginia, it snowed and sleeted the last two days (yuck!) - I decided to make another similar tree for Spring!

And as luck (and careful timing) would have it, I have two challenges that this card is perfect for. The first challenge is Clare's Wednesday Card Challenge at Simply Scrapping Crafts. The challenge this week (actually last week, but I was slow at getting this done) was to use only one stamped image or sentiment. Actually, that's pretty easy for me, because I am not a huge stamper, but I do love this tree!

The second challenge is over at The Outlawz. The Monday Greeting Card Challenge is on today, and the new challenge is to use your favorite image, color, or sentiment in your card. Since this is my favorite stamp, and these lovely Easter colors are some of my favorites too, I think this should work out nicely!

I used the Sassafras Lass Sweetly Smitten Wee Bundle patterned papers, some Bazzill cardstock, the Unity stamp, some random ribbon and embroidery floss from my stash, and those fabulous beads came from Lisa Keifer's Etsy shop. If you don't know Lisa, she is a fabulously sweet friend and is on the design team at The Outlawz (along with many of my other fabulously sweet friends)! The beads on the tree are sewn on with just regular white thread, so they swing freely. The ones around the bottom of the tree are also sewn on, but I put a dot of glue under each one to keep them in place like eggs laying on the ground.

Thanks for stopping by! Hugs to everybody!

Friendship ... is a Million Little Things

Good Sunday morning to everybody! The weather here in yucky today - can't believe it was actually sleeting this morning when I got up! But since I'm staying indoors today, my friends over at The Outlawz have a great Weekly CAS Challenge this week with a sweet sketch by Amy, and I couldn't resist playing along. I've had this collection of Teresa Collins on my table for the last several weeks, so I just keep using it however I can - I love that blue and black color combo.

Oy vey! I just looked outside and it's sleeting again - just in the time I could type up this post. What happened to "in like a lion and out like a lamb"? Oh well, Spring will be here sooner or later!

Thanks to everyone for stopping by!

CAS "Hello" Card

The March 25th CAS Challenge at Simply Scrapping Crafts has a little sketch and the challenge to add texture to your cardstock. It's a sweet, simple sketch, so I couldn't resist. This is a pre-made card base that I added those embossed lines to with my Scor-Pal. The scalloped strip is from some Prima papers that I had already cut last weekend but never used. I hand-dyed the seam binding and made the stickpin myself. The alphabet stickers are from Cosmo Cricket, and I colored two tiny pearls with my Copics and added them as a little accent.

I have a list of challenges I want to try to do this weekend, so back to my craft room for a bit to see what I can get done.

Thanks for stopping by! Hugs!

A Little Birdy Told Me ...

My best friend and business partner's birthday is tomorrow. Of course, procrastinator that I am, I waited until today to make him a card. I contemplated just buying him a card, at least for a few minutes, but since he is always so good to me, I decided to invest the time and make him a card. I was looking for something "manly", and I happened to have some Teresa Collins papers on my table from a few projects ago (yes, I procrastinate at putting my things away too). And I had this cute little feltie bird from Basic Grey that I have been hanging onto, and the whole thing just sort of came together from there. It's cute, but not in a girly way, and his favorite color is blue, so I think he'll really like this.

Update: This card fit handily into The Outlawz Monday Greeting Card Challenge. The challenge this week is to make a design for a man. I'm probably a bit borderline on mine, because I can't completely go "guy" on my stuff - just too outside my style.

The cardstock is Core'dinations, the patterned papers, glittered border, and clock transparency are Teresa Collins, the felt bird is Basic Grey, and the letter stickers are all Cosmo Cricket.

Thanks for stopping by! Hugs to you all!

And More Butterflies!

I've been on a butterfly tangent lately with my crafting, but that's not a bad thing. Who can resist such beauty and color? They are such heralders of Spring! I made two new butterfly cards last night and today.

The first one is for the CAS Friday Challenge at Simply Scrapping Crafts. Doris has a great sketch to inspire our creativity, and frankly I could have made at least a hundred different cards from all the ideas that sketch brought to my mind. I used the new Bo Bunny Gabrielle paper (that's the one with the butterflies on it), and Sassafras Lass (it's the pink paper under the white lace). I got the lace from one of my favorite Etsy shops, Creating Is Fun. The dyed seam binding and the stickpin I made myself. The rubon letters are from K&Co.

I made this second one for Clare's Wednesday Card Challenge at Simply Scrapping Crafts. I used some K&Co papers and big butterfly diecut from my stash, along with some hand-dyed seam binding and a handmade stickpin. The sentiment is on the butterfly's wing, and was made with Cosmo Sticket Tiny Type.

Thanks to everyone for stopping by and sharing in my love of butterflies! Love and hugs to you all! Now off to have Italian for dinner at my friends' restaurant - I just love hanging out there!

Butterfly Blog Linky Party, Double Bows, and Punches

Sooo ... Eva Dobilas is having a Butterfly Blog Link Party starting at midnight on Saturday night. I found out about it through Angie Blom, and thought it sounded like a good way to use some pretty Spring-y things to help herald in some beautiful weather.

Also, Clare put together a lovely Wednesday Card Challenge over at Simply Scrapping Crafts - the challenge is to use a double bow on your project, and she even provided a tutorial video.

And ... over at The Outlawz, Colleen has a Greeting Card Challenge to use punches or die cuts, so this card fit all three needs. How sweet is that!!!

I used a butterfly shape as a mask and painted around it with a paint dabber. Then I used my Martha Stewart butterfly punch to create a flutter of flies, and added some pearls that I colored with my Copics. I also added a "hello" tag and a stickpin that I made using a corsage pin and some beautiful beads.

I love the Spring colors against the black background - even after a long, cold, dark winter, Spring always shows up!

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you like the card and are inspired to create something today! Big hugs to all!

Visit Eva's blog for the entire Linky List of beautiful creations!

You Make My Day Bright

Clare had a great Wednesday Card Challenge over at Simply Scrapping Crafts where your card had to be "bright", and the Outlawz had a great Sunday CAS Challenge with a sketch, so I combined the two to come up with this card.

I used a kraft cardstock base, then added some Basic Grey paper strips and a flower cut from the same papers, along with a Teresa Collins paper cutout. The pretty crocheted flower and twine were a gift from Rona, so I added those on for some texture and interest. Then I used a variety of alphabet stickers to make the sentiment. This came together really quickly, and I love the pretty, bright colors - not really my norm, but I had been hoarding this paper for awhile now, and this seemed like the perfect project for it!

Thanks for stopping by to take a look! Hugs to everybody!