new stuff

I went to Michaels tonight armed with my 40% off coupon. I picked up one of the new EK Success punches (the tiny scallop one) and used it on the card I made tonight. I also got some new stamps by Inkadinkado. I saw a card while perusing some blogs that used this stamp and it totally made me want the stamps. Low and behold, there was ONE set of them at Michaels tonight because somebody returned it. My lucky day!

To make this card, I trimmed a border with my new border punch. On the inside, I added a strip of brown stock and used the same scallop punch so that it shows from the front and then offers a cute little decorative touch on the inside.

I decided to make some funky flowers with a few of the stamps and finished it off with a happy birthday sentiment.

Looks like I need to condition my stamps a bit. I was so excited I just started using them!

On a side note, I picked up some FAB-U-LOUS lotion at Inspire Boutique (where I'll be selling my cards shortly). It is called Strawberry Lemonade and can also be purchased here. If you are in the Mankato area, you can also purchase this lotion at Inspire and the boutique is located in Old Downtown. I'm not kidding when I write that I can't stop smelling my hands after applying this lotion. It reminds me of my Strawberry Shortcake dolls that I had as a child. It's delish!!

Have a great weekend!

Recipe:
Ink- tulip, chocolate and juniper- CTMH
Stamps- cirlces and dots- Inkadinkado, Happy Birthday- CTMH
other- EK Success Tiny Scallop Punch

kristina's color inspiration # 43

I was working on a card and got stuck with how to finish it until I saw Kristina's color challenge. I love the look of layering a certain part of a stamped image and I thought this stamp would be a great opportunity to use that technique. I have always loved this tulip stamp and it's been a long time since I've used that.

The tulip is stamped onto the white front and then layered two more tulips that were stamped and carefully trimmed on top of that. I also mounted one extra layer of the stem with leaves.

The butterflies are very attached and then I pulled up the wings a bit and finished them off with some adhesive crystals.

The Thank you sentiment is stamped onto a piece of stock that was trimmed and embossed using the Nestabilities Label 1.

Thanks for a great color challenge Kristina!

Recipe:
stamps- Small Tulip Etched- Hero Arts, Say It In Style- CTMH
paper- Oasis Petra & Begram- SEI
ink- indian corn blue, sorbet, garden green- CTMH
other- adhesive crystals- Hero Arts, Martha Stewart Butterfly punch

cps 104 card

The sketch challenge:

My card:

Here is a card that I made for CPS. I have a list of newly-released stamps that I want to buy from Nicole, but wanted to participate in the challenge so I used an older set of stamps. It also happens to be a favorite.

As you can see, I switched from vertical to horizontal. I liked the scale a bit better this way. The cream layers are mounted to accomdate for all the brads that I used.

Recipe:
stamps- Green Thumb- Paper Trey Ink
paper- black, vanilla and sorbet- CTMH
ink- sorbet and black- CTMH
other- black brads and itty bitty brads- CTMH, 3M foam tape

I was inspired by a card that Julie made and decided to use the same layout. I used a textured stock for the front of the card, then cut a strip of white paper, another layer of the textured stock with the sentiment stamped at the bottom. These layers are mounted onto the card front. Then I butchered up some rub ons and arranged them so they covered the corners really well of the green stock (the flourish is the rub on). I really enjoy Julie's style of cards.

A while back, my aunt and I played with her oval nestabilities, so I used one of the practice pieces as the focal point of this card. The flower in this oval shape is also a rub on. Then I inked the piece and mounted that as well.

Today starts a fun little "weekend" for Dusty and I. It's his birthday today. So, we celebrated with a vegetable frittata this morning. This afternoon we'll enjoy some shopping, errands and finish the day with a birthday dinner with my family. Tomorrow we leave for 2 days of shopping and we're going to stay at a casino. Should be fun!! Dusty has been working a ton of hours lately so a break is much deserved for him.

mojo monday week 74

The Sketch:

My Card:


I let the paper do all the work for this card. The only stamping I did was the sentiment. Also added a few buttons for some extra fun!

Recipe:
Paper- American Crafts Play: bean bag and kick the can
stamps- CTMH For Every Occasion
other- buttons from Walmart. fiber from EK Success

baptism card

Had a busy weekend. Valentine's Day included an impromptu trip to a scrapbook store that Katherine & I enjoy. They had a great sale and we just could no miss out. Not long after getting home, I found out that my Grannie fell and broke her hip which required surgery (that finally happened today). So we spent the evening with her in the ER.

I came home to these beauties from my hubby...

Today was the baptism of my beautiful, niece Raegen Ellen. Dusty and I, along with Raegan's aunt and uncle on the other side are her godparents. Karen is missing from this picture- she was home with a sick kiddo. Craig is in the suit and Dusty is in the white sweater.
This is the card I made for Raegan. I don't have any religious stamps but I came up with this....
I used my new buttons that almost perfectly match the paper. Had a heck of a time getting the letters lined up just right because they kept sticking to my fingers. I used 1/2 a glue dot on each button.

I have a fun week coming up. It's Dusty's birthday and we've decided to get away for a few days of fun. Oh, and thanks to a friend, I have a wonderful opportunity to sell my cards at a local boutique so I have lot's of card making to do this week!!

Hope your weekend was wonderful.

Recipe:
paper- K & Company orange & pink lattice flat paper
stamps- whimsey caps & distressed lower- CTMH
ink- sorbet- CTMH
other- buttons from Walmart

you can do anything if you have the right shoes

There is a fun little contest going on over at one of my favorite stamping spots....Paper Trey Ink. The contest instructed us to find a color combination used by Dawn. I chose the card in which she uses brown, yellow, white and turquoise. I promise that the boots are turquoise, but my camera captures it as more of a royal blue. Regardless, I think it's cute!

The yellow piece of stock is embossed in white and mounted. The boots are mounted each on top of the yellow stock.

The saying says: you can deal with anything if you have the right shoes. Cute!!

happy birthday card

I made this birthday card for my aunt.
Not much to explain- just layered papers. The only thing I really "did" to the card was run the white layer through the cuttlebug and then ink the embossed portion by running my ink pad over the paper.

Recipe:
paper- moonstruck, honey, bamboo, orange- CTMH
stamps- Treasure life and Happy Birthday- CTMH

Mojo Monday Week 73

The challenge:


Here is my card!


I just love all of Julee's sketches. And, I got to play with the paper and color combo that I like! I love using up supplies that I have on hand. The ribbon charm is something I've had on hand forever and have just never found a use for. Rather than using ribbon, (I didn't have any to perfectly match), I used the same paper that was used for the base of the card. And, I love the Rhinestones.

Recipe:
stamps- For Every Occasion- CTMH
ink- breeze-CTMH
paper- Basic Grey, DCWV
other- rhinestones- Kaiser scrapbook, making memories ribbon charm

circles sketch card

The sketch challenge:



My card:



I have always loved this DP paper by Basic Grey. Finally found a way to use it with this sketch challenge.

1. Trim card stock base to 4 1/4 x 11. Score and fold in half
2. trim solid stock 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 and attach to card base.
3. Tim turquoise stock to 4 x 4 1/4 and scallop both edges.
4. Using round punch, punch 9 circles.
5. Add brads and mount every other circle for interest and height.


Recipe:
stamps- For Every Occasion- CTMH
paper- brown paper- American Crafts Candy Corn, Basic Grey Blush Tease, Turquoise patterned paper- DCWV
other- Robin's Egg mini brads- DCWV, mounting foam

button contest card

The challenge layout over at CPS

My card:


I love cards with buttons and so I added them to this card.
1. Trim card to 4 1/4 x 11 and fold the long way.
2. Trim DP layer to 4 1/4 x 2 1/2.
3. Scallop the edges of the DP paper with a corner punch.
4. Adhere various buttons with glue dots in the scalloped shapes.
5. Trim coordinating solid stock to 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 and adhere to stock.
6. Trim white stock to 2 1/4 x 3 and stamp sentiment or image on this layer.
7. Using foam dots, mount on top of the solid stock.
8. Attach additional embellishments.

Recipe:
stamp- love square- My Sentiments Exactly
paper-orange and DP- SEI
other- buttons- Walmart, felt heart- The Paper Studio

Our Creative Corner Inspiration Challenge

I've finally got some card-making mojo today, so I decided to go with it and upload another card for an inspiration challenge over at OOC. The challenge was to use product that inspires and create a card around that product.

I love the adhesive gemstones by Hero Arts, so that is what I used! I combined a couple of my favorites in this challenge...The beautiful paper from SEI calls for a special treatment. I didn't do anything to the paper other than add the gemstones to every circle center. Then, although it looked beautiful I thought it needed something else, so I used another favorite- the Martha Stewart butterfly punch. That did it!

This card is very simple yet elegant. I'm going to use it for a birthday party tonight. I hope she loves it!!

Recipe:
stamps- Happy Birthday- CTMH
paper- DP is from SEI, blue texture paper is from DCWV
other- adhesive gemstones - Hero Arts, butterfly punch- Martha Stewart

recipe and contest card

First, the recipe.

I got this little lovely from Cooking Light. I love black beans so this recipe seemed like it would be an obvious favorite. And, did I mention EASY PEASY?

Salsa Bean Soup

Yield

4 servings (serving size: 1 1/4 cups soup and 2 tablespoons cheese)

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon bottled minced garlic
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
• 3 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (8-ounce) bottle salsa
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Preparation

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Stir in water, chipotle powder, beans, and salsa. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 1 minute.

Place 3 cups of black bean mixture in a blender; process until smooth. Return pureed mixture to pan. Stir in lime juice; simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in cilantro. Sprinkle each serving with cheese.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 213 (24% from fat) Fat: 5.7g (sat 2.9g,mono 1.5g,poly 0.9g) Protein: 13.8g Carbohydrate: 36g Fiber: 12.6g Cholesterol: 13mg Iron: 4mg Sodium: 957mg Calcium: 215mg

Onto the card....Nicole over at Paper Trey Ink is offering up a fantastic prize to celebrate her second year. Talk about a viral marketing success. She created a little connect-the-dots puzzle to create a layout that we have to follow. She's giving away some awesome new paper for this contest. Here is my card:

Recipe:
stamps-spot on background, rustic flowers and for every occasion- CTMH
paper & ink- white daisy, sorbet- CTMH
other- white brads- CTMH

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #54

The sketch challenge:


My card:


I like the patterned paper (green layer) that is used on this card. Reminds me of suede.
The "ribbon" is a stamp. I used the cuttlebug and nestabilities for the round and scallop shapes.

The stamped layer of flowers is randomly stamped, inked edge (white stock) and layered on the yellow stock.

I used my new Martha Stewart butterfly punch and then topped him off with some adhesive crystals and fluffed up the wings a bit.

Recipe:
stamps- treasure life-CTMH
ink- honey, pansy purple- CTMH
paper- honey, white daisy- CTMH, green (from my stash)
other- nestabilities, cuttlebug, MS butterfly punch

CPS Card Contest

The challenge:



My Card

I am playing along with a layout challenge that happens to be a contest.

I layered some textured paper on top of the black and acetate on top of the texture. The flower images are stamped and then attached to the white layer. The black outline is stamped onto the acetate, which is then attached by some brads.

In real life, the textured paper matches the ink used for the flower images.

Wish me luck!

Recipe:
paper- black and white from CTMH, textured paper is from DCWV
stamps- friendship blessings- CTMH
other- acetate, fabric brad from The Paper STudio, brads- CTMH

heart tree

I like the combo of pink and red together. This card was super simple to make. I ran the paper through the cuttlebug.

Then, I mounted a piece of red stock that has scallop edges. On top of that is a layer of white, glossy stock that is stamped in red. The flourish in this position reminds me of a tree. I topped it all off with a felt heart. I added some brads to it.

Recipe:
paper- kraft paper, tulip and white daisy- CTMH
stamps- autumn leaves flourishes
other- cuttlebug dots folder, The Paper Studio felt hearts & brads

totally copied card

I really wish that I could remember where I saw a card very similar to what I created below so that I could give credit. I love how all the colors pop! I also really like the kraft paper. It is such a cool look and combines great with so many colors.

Super simple.... I only stamped the happy birthday sentiment. I ran the watermelon stock through the embossing folder and then the nestie shape. I also embossed the edge. Finished it all off by popping the watermelon shapes and putting a fun fabric-covered brad in the center of each shape.

Recipe:
paper- kraft paper, watermelon and sweet leaf-CTMH
other- cuttlebug, cuttlebug dots, nestabilities label 1, fabric brads by The Paper Studio

CPS101 Sketch

The card sketch:

My card:

I thought this seemed like a fun challenge to play along with over at CPS.

What ado you know....I used my cuttlebug again! I took a piece of white stock and ran it through the cuttlebug folder. Then I took my ink pad and rubbed it all over embossed paper. I criss-crossed the ribbon and taped it on the back of the white layer. Hard to tell from the photo, but the scalloped circle is popped up and embossed as well. The felt heart tops the card off!

Recipe:
paper- white and grey wool- CTMH
ink- grey wool- CTMH
other- cuttlebug, cuttlebug tiny bubbles folder, felt heart- The Paper Studio, ribbon is from Archiver's