Showing the Love

Hello Friends!
It's been such a long time since I last posted I wasn't sure I would even remember how to blog!  Turns out it's just like riding a bike:)  For months I've felt so uninspired to make cards that I really haven't had anything "blogworthy" to share.  And the longer I stayed away from blogland the worse it seemed to get!  I guess part of it is feeling like I don't have any "new songs to sing"...

Soooooo, those feelings coupled with the forced exile to my craft room because of this ridiculous winter we've been having is causing me to take a look at all this card making stuff I hoard have in a new way:

I mean did I seriously think I would ever make enough cards to use up these 139 red buttons??? The sad thing is I have enough left over to make another pillow!  I was able to use my Cricut to die cut the heart template and the felt "love" was cut using a Stampin' Up die.  The embroidery floss I used to stitch the buttons was given to me and I scored the burlap pillow cover on clearance for $5.99 at Michael's.    

And before you pass judgement after checking out my next project keep in mind that I work at a winery:)

I used the same heart template from the button heart pillow and traced it on a piece of 12" x 12" Stampin' Up smoky slate cs.  I actually had my hubby cut the corks in half so they wouldn't stick out as much and so I wouldn't need as many.  Using my trusty glue gun I started outside first and worked my way in.  The tops were painted with some bright red Delta acrylic paint my dh actually had in his stash!  I used the same "love" die from above cutting it from Stampin' Up real red cs.  Frame came from Michael's (using a 50% off coupon of course!) and the ribbon I used to hang it is Stampin' Up's fun smoky slate chevron ribbon.  And speaking of ribbon that's another area in my crafty life that's cause for dismay - I counted 50 spools just on my ribbon holder!  Because of increases in postage I rarely include ribbons on my cards anymore:(

And last but not least I do actually have a couple of cards to share! The first one is a Valentine:

I had to combine products from a lot of different companies to make this work!  Letters were die cut from Cricut Storybook cart.  Ampersand is Mama Elephant.  The stamped "kisses" is a masked Hero Arts stamp from the set "Sending You Love".  Hearts were die cut using a WPlus 9 die.  And that adorable piggy is from a retired Stampin' Up set "Button Buddies".

Other Supplies Used:  My Mind's Eye pp, Stampin' Up pretty in pink, real red, smoky slate and black cs, pink button and googly eyes from my stash

And here's a fun wintertime birthday card for a coworker who is obsessed with owning pink camo:

This snowman image from Hero Arts is one of my faves as it's so easy to paper piece.  I found the pink camo in one of my hubby's hunting catalogs:)  The funny sign the snowman's holding is from a masked off Dolly Mama's stamp.  

Other Supplies Used:  Stampin' Up Hardwood stamp, melon mambo and soft suede cs, Papertrey ink birthday sentiment, Mama Elephant stitched and scalloped rectangle dies, pom pom from my stash

It feels really good to be putting all this stuff that's been languishing in my craft room to good use.  Going forward I'm not going to restrict my creativity to just cards- I'm excited to see where it takes me:)  Thanks for stopping by and for all your constructive comments!

Happy Camper!

Two posts in one day is soooooo unlike me but I wanted to get this one entered before the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge: Summer ended!  Plus my boss had requested an anniversary card and I always like to give my "customers" at least two choices:)

I'm really interested to see which card he picks.  I thought this one was especially appropriate as he and his wife just upgraded to the biggest fifth wheel I've ever seen - I'm not joking when I say it's probably similar in square footage to my house!  LOL!

I fell in love with this Impression Obsession stamp as it reminds me of the sweet little camper I first started camping in as a little girl (even the white and aqua color combo!).  You know, back in the dark ages before campers came equipped with flat screen TV's and fireplaces and when the bed you slept on also functioned as the kitchen table:)

I embossed the image then water colored it with a combination of Ranger distress ink and Stampin' Up ink.  I popped up the awning for a little dimension and added some silver brads for hubcaps.  Had to computer generate the sentiment.
Other Supplies Used: Stampin' Up coastal cabana cs and twine, Echo Park dotted pp, Mama Elephant clearly creative cuts dies, My Favorite Things banner die

Thanks for taking a peek and for all your lovely comments!

You Float My Boat:)

The current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge is Summer!  Here in the Finger Lakes in upstate NY thoughts of summer definitely conjure up images of time spent on or near the water:

Pardon the pun, but I used boatloads of product on this scene:)  The boat, seagulls, sentiment and heart images are from a sweet little Lawn Fawn set called "Float My Boat".  Cloud die is Papertrey ink while the sun die is Impression Obsession.  The waves were die cut from Stampin' Up island indigo cs using a wave die from The Stamps of Life Sandal die set.  I can't overstate how much I love my new Mama Elephant stitched and scalloped rectangle dies that are part of the Index Cards - Creative Cuts die set!  I was able to score them on a recent trip to my favie independent stamping store in Buffalo, NY called Buffalo Stamps And Stuff :)  
Other Supplies Used:  Papertrey ink white cs, Stampin' Up pool party, soft suede and so saffron cs and island indigo pp, Cuttlebug Hugs & Kisses embossing folder, My Favorite Things banner die

Love when a card turns out just like I envisioned it:)  Got an idea for another summer-related scene - gonna try to get it done today before the challenge closes!  I hope everyone's enjoying these last days of summer - here's a pic of a favorite way my hubby and I like to enjoy a warm summer sunset:

Do You Believe in Magic?

Happy Sunday!  Managed to squeeze some crafty time in and was inspired to play along with the current CASology challenge #108:

We've had some cooler temps the past few days and my thoughts are turning towards Fall and its associated holidays.  I definitely associate magic with Halloween icons and pulled out a Stampin' Up set called Googly Ghouls to create my card:

My talented blogging buddy Greta had recently sent me some Papertrey ink die cuts (Thanks again Greta!) and they were sitting on my desk - in a flash I knew how I wanted to design my card:)  Greta had cut the dies from white cs so I simply used a brayer and some black ink to color the frame.  Because this is a CAS challenge I resisted popping up this layer on the card base, using googly eyes (put glossy accents on the ghouls' eyes instead!) and using sequins (I used recessed die cut stars).  I also added texture to the card base by embossing a Mama Elephant stitched rectangle. 

Other Supplies Used:  sentiment (Hero Arts), baker's twine (Doodlebug Designs), star die (Impression Obsession), white cs (Papertrey ink)

Thanks for the kind comments!  I'm woefully behind on visiting everyone's blogs and hope to remedy that this week:)

SSS: Make it Sparkle!

I was so happy to see that one of my blogging buddies Joy was last week's challenge winner at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge!  This week's challenge is Make it Sparkle!  I'm sharing another card I made using the kit materials from a recent Stampin' Up workshop I attended:

Instead of making a pocket to hold a gift card, etc. per the workshop instructions I decided to make a birthday card instead.  I don't think I would have thought to put these two colors together (rich razzleberry and soft sky) but this combination is really growing on me!  The sentiment is from the new SU set called Age Awareness and the fun, dotty pp is from the Sweet Taffy collection. Some scored lines were made on the bottom strip of SU rich razzleberry cs using a Martha Stewart score board.  And I added some sparkle with the addition of the banner die cut from SU silver glimmer paper and the silver sequins.
Other Supplies Used:  SU rich razzleberry ink, SU soft sky pp and cs, Martha Stewart score board, sequins and bakers twine from stash

Have a fabulous weekend!

Simon Says Stamp (Already!)

Ack!  I can't believe it's the first week of August already AND that it's been a month since I last posted!  I hope everyone's been enjoying their summer - and their stamps!  LOL!  I noticed the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge is "Anything Goes" and decided it would be a good opportunity to share a few cards I made at a recent Stampin' Up workshop.  At the workshop we used one of the new designer series papers called Sweet Taffy- love the color combinations in this collection!

One of the projects was a birthday gift bag and since I have more of a need for birthday cards I took the kit materials home and used them to "CASE" this fun card from Betsy Veldman.  And here is my card:

Supplies Used:  SU stamp set Big News (sentiment) and Dotty Angles border stamp, SU Sweet Taffy dsp and melon mambo, tempting turquoise and daffodil delight cs, SU daffodil delight, old olive and tempting turquoise ink, SU daffodil delight seam binding ribbon, SU flower punch, Papertrey Ink Ruby Rose stamps and dies, Doodlebug baker's twine, WR Memory Keepers corner rounder, Eyelet Outlet white enamel dot, Making Memories white eyelet, Martha Stewart border punch

I closely followed the workshop design for the next birthday card adding a panel of SU textured Bermuda Bay cs behind the dsp and stamped panels for more contrast and a googly eye:)

Supplies Used:  SU Zoo Babies and Just Sayin' stamps sets, SU Word Bubbles Framelits Dies, SU whisper white, pumpkin pie, bermuda bay and smoky slate ink and cs, Sweet Taffy dsp, SU smoky slate chevron ribbon

Thanks ever so much for your encouraging comments!!!

Post 4th of July Blues!

I've been feeling a little blue since the big 4th of July week/weekend has ended.  This year the holiday was more special than usual as I got to share it with old friends and newer family members:)  More on that below but first a card share inspired by the current challenge at Virginia's View:

At a recent Stampin' Up open house I attended I started making one of the workshop cards and then decided to finish it up at home to put my own spin on it:

The flower from the Stampin' Up hostess set Bloom with Hope was stamped in one of their new In Colors called blackberry bliss on whisper white cs.  Using a blender pen I colored in the flower petals with rich razzleberry and the flower centers with crushed curry. The love die (also from Stampin' Up) was die cut in both blackberry bliss cs and gold foil - I like adding a cs "shadow" to thinner die cut words.  I also like combining die cut and stamped words to create sentiments.  The stamped "you" is from a Hero Arts set called Big Ticket.  

Other Supplies Used:  Stampin' Up vellum and crushed curry cs, JoAnn's gold sequins

And now a couple of pics from my holiday week:)

That's me on the left with my bestie from high school Sarah - she lives in Tennessee and we hadn't seen each other in 5 years!  She was staying with her brother who owns Indian Creek farm in Ithaca, NY (which you should totally check out if you're ever in the area!).  There's something so special about friends who you can just pick right up with:)  Sarah is such a talented writer and I love reading her blog - I always come away feeling inspired to create and to explore my own surroundings.  

And Sarah didn't brave that loooong drive from Tennessee alone! She brought her sweet daughter Laurel (that's Laurel on the left) along with 3 of Laurel's friends:

Loved meeting them - they were all so smart and funny!  Just the kind of friends you would have wanted to hang out with in high school:)

I also had a reunion with my cruisin' buddies:

There's already talk about a repeat Caribbean cruise vacation this November:)

And last - but certainly not least! - it was all about the newest members to the family at our picnic! Here's Hadleigh checking out great grandma!  Looking quite adorable in the outfit her great aunt Robin got her (we all know I'm a sucker for polka dots!). 

And here's the cousins meeting for the first time:)  And although they are ignoring both each other and the camera I love that Jackson voluntarily reached out to touch his cousin Hadleigh's knee:)

And I especially love this pic of great grandma with the moms and the babies:)  I honestly don't know how professional photographers do it!  I took a gazillion shots of this and in none of them was everyone looking at the camera - *sigh*!

And finally I think this photo speaks to how all of us felt when the day was done - LOL!:

Hope everyone is having a great week!  I'm looking forward to getting caught up on blogs and getting some crafty time in!