Orange You Thankful?

Sorry for the delay in posting today's Cupcake Inspirations Challenge post! In the midst of preparing for our visitor, Irene, I wasn't able to get a photo and post up. Hope everyone stayed safe!


DEEtails:

My card today is all about yellow and orange flowers. I actually created a card very similar to this in monochromatic pinks last year. I stamped various SU! images from Fifth Avenue Floral, Itty Bitty Buds, Wings of Friendship, and Lovely Flowers. Then I colored the blooms in with my Stampin' Write Markers - So Saffron, Daffodil Delight, Summer Sun, Apricot Appeal, Peach Parfaith, Pumpkin Pie, and Tangerine Tango. Then I matted my image on Summer Sun and Peach Parfait card stock, wrapped a Pumpkin Pie Grosgrain ribbon around it and attached my sentiment from SU!'s Thank You Kindly on my layered card stock. Hope you like it!

Hello Friend!

I hate that I missed the deadline for the Play Date Cafe challenge! I found some time over the weekend to make this card, but didn't have a chance to post it until now. Bummer! Hope you like it anyway!


DEEtails:

I was really drawn to the bold flowers and the fun the umbrellas from the inspiration, so I wanted to incorporate stripes, polka dots and a big blossom on this card. I started with some Night of Navy card stock and layered a piece of Designer Series Paper Patterns in Lucky Limeade. I wrapped around some Night of Navy Striped Taffeta Ribbon. I stamped the rose from SU!'s Fifth Avenue Floral and adhered it with some glue dots, tucking a Sweet Pea Stitched Felt leaf underneath. Then I stamped a portion of the sentiment from PTI's Think Big Favorites on a Regal Rose tag and tucked it under my striped ribbon. I stamped the other half of the sentiment on some more Regal Rose and cut it out to adhere on top of my rose. I'm loving this bold color combination and hope you like it too!

My Favorite Things

Hi friends! Today I'm trying out a sketch challenge over at My Favorite Things. Who doesn't love a sketch with a fabulous doily?! You know I can't resist. :)


DEEtails:

This card has lots of yummy layers of Melon Mambo and Early Espresso with a doily tucked inside! I added some fun Chocolate Chip Scallop Dots Ribbon (a new favorite from Stampin' Up!) turned upside down to hide the dots, and wrapped it with some Early Espresso Twine, tied up with a couple of Jewelry Tags. One was punched out of PTI's Dotty Biscotti Patterned Paper, the other stamped with SU!'s Tiny Tags. Then I used Stampin' Dimensionals to adhere SU!'s Fifth Avenue Floral Rose stamped on Dotty Biscotti. Love the look! Thanks for peeking in! Here's a close up of all those fabulous layers.

Enjoy

Today's card is for the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.


DEEtails:

I started off with a Ruby Red card and layered on my elements - some Pear Pizzazz Paper Patterns DSP, So Saffron Polytwill with a Ruby Red Scallop Edge, a rose, stamped from SU!'s Fifth Avenue Floral set, the fun sentiment, and a cute green flower from my stash. Hope you like it!

Special DEElivery:

This card is for sale in my Etsy shop.

Winter White (And A Bit About Me!)

Hope you've had a great first week of the year! :) Mine has been busy and I've been trying to get over a cold, but I've been trying to make time to create.

Today I'm here to share a few of my blog and crafting goals for the year. Here goes:

1. Blog More. Last year, I averaged about 16 posts a month, but there were some weeks that I went missing completely. This year, I'm hoping to blog more consistently (maybe even daily...?) So far, so good! This will mean a lot more planning and posting ahead, especially when I'm busy, but forcing myself to sit down and craft is always a great way to relieve some stress (and put a smile on someone's face!)

2. Get Personal. I know in the past I've been a little shy about my personal life, but this year, one of my goals is to let you all get to know me a little better. The truth is, I've always been a little afraid of putting myself out there on the internet. In fact, starting this blog last year was a huge jump for me. I'm so happy that I did because the experience has been phenomenal and I've only encountered nice, sweet, friendly people (not the internet monsters that I feared). :) I have enjoyed getting to know some of you a bit and because of you, I will be starting to share more about myself and allowing you to get to know me better. But don't worry if you don't care to learn too much about me, because I'll only be posting this type of chatter once a week. I won't be blabbing about myself to you the rest of the week. Well at least not too much.

3. Challenge Myself. If you're a regular reader, you know that my comfort zone is inspiration challenges. Honestly, I love not having to think too much and just copying from an inspiration photo. I've been trying to push myself to do more sketch and color challenges, but this year I'm really going to focus on this area of... would you call it a weakness? And I've already done one of each this past week, so I must be on the right track. Woohoo!

4. Inspire Myself. I also want to stop limiting myself to doing only challenges and sort of be inspired on my own. I don't know if you've noticed, but I rarely just make a card on my own. I almost always have to be challenged. I'm taking baby steps here and plan to work my way through the PaperCrafts Go To Sketches and Color Inspiration magazines. Although, it's kind of still a challenge because I'm challenging myself, so I hope it still counts.

5. Find A Home. For my cards, that is. I'll be trying to sell many of my cards on Etsy. And each week, when I update my Etsy store, I'll also update that week's previous posts with a little "Special DEElivery" section to tell you where my cards have headed. I'd love to send more of my cards in the mail to people - not sure if you knew, but I don't even send half of my cards to anyone. Most of them just sit in a box. Sad, I know... That's why I'm trying to fix that!

What about you? What are your crafty resolutions for the year?

On to today's card...


Today's card is for the Moxie Fab Winter White Tuesday Trigger Challenge. Isn't the Tuesday Trigger Inspiration beautiful?


Here are the DEEtails:

I started off with some Whisper White card stock, and embossed a piece of it with PTI's Woodgrain embossing plate. I stamped another piece with a sentiment from SU!'s Heard from the Heart stamp set. Then I added some Whisper White Grosgrain ribbon and a bow. Then I stamped the daisy from SU!'s Fifth Avenue Floral set on Vellum with Whisper White ink and cut them out. I added a bottom layer of Sahara Sand daisies and adhered them to my card. Some tiny Pearl Jewels in the flower centers add that extra touch.

Special DEElivery:

Aunt Susan purchased this card from my Etsy Shop!

Thanks for peeking in today (and putting up with my rambling)!

Quick and Easy Card

I love a quick and easy card with lots of texture and dimension in a great color scheme, don't you? This card uses the color combo from this week's Color Throwdown (or at least something close - I didn't have any Tempting Turquoise).

Here are the DEEtails:

I started off with a Taken with Teal card since I was all out of Tempting Turquoise. Then I added this awesome layer of cork cut with my Top Note die. It adds so much texture and is so easy to do! I stamped directly onto it using a PTI Signature Greetings stamp in Early Espresso ink. To create my rose, I first stamped my A to Z image in Crumb Cake on a piece of Very Vanilla card stock. Then I stamped the image from my Fifth Avenue Floral set and cut it out. I adhered it to my card with Stampin' Dimensionals, then added a Chocolate Chip ribbon. So quick and easy! I hope you like it!

Summer!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far! I'm sorry for disappearing on you again, but after a busy end of the school year, I got whisked away to the beach! We just got back from a week long stay in North Carolina with some family. We had a fun time, but I sure am glad to be back home and be able to be crafty again! Plus, my hubby gave me my birthday present early - a new camera! (It's the Canon PowerShot SX20 IS. I'm still trying to get used to it, so if anyone has any pointers, please let me know!) I'm dying to start taking photos of stuff other than the ocean, (Hehe!) so here's a photo of the card that I made this evening.

I made this one for this week's Cupcake Inspiration Challenge. I love these colors!


Here are the DEEtails:

I started off with a two pieces of DSP from the Thoroughly Modern set. I layered them and added a piece of vellum to soften the look of the Bermuda Bay on my DSP. Then I added some Chocolate Chip ribbon from the Flirty Ribbon Originals. I ran some Kraft card stock through my Cricut with the Songbird cartridge to create my layered label and stamped the sentiment from my Great Friend set using Chocolate Chip and Bermuda Bay Stampin' Write markers. I added my label to my card with some Stampin' Dimensionals. Then I stamped the flower from my Fifth Avenue Floral set on Bermuda Bay card stock with Chocolate Chip ink and embossed it. I also added some Chocolate Chip ink at the center of the flower and added some extra embossing powder. I adhered it to my card with double Stampin' Dimensionals to make it really pop. Then I added a Chocolate Chip mat and adhered everything to my Bermuda Bay card.

Hope you like it! I'm glad to be back!

Preppy and Pink

I love square cards, even though I hardly ever make them. Check out this week's Pals Paper Arts sketch challenge. I hope you'll play along!


DEEtails:

1. The clean lines and simple look of this sketch made me want to make a "preppy" looking card. I found this pink and navy striped ribbon in my stash and everything just sort of fell into place. I wanted to add ruffles to my ribbon, so I pulled out a white ruffled ribbon and started to perform some surgery. Both ribbons were the same width, so I cut the ruffled edge off my white ribbon, and adhered it to the back of my striped ribbon using Sticky Strip. Tada! I had a striped and ruffled ribbon!

2. The colors were so simple, so I wanted my stamped image to really play off the colors without really being the focal point. I decided on a Fifth Avenue Floral stamp, inked in Night of Navy on Whisper White card stock. Then I took my Cameo Coral Stampin' Write and colored in the centers of the flowers.

3. I loved the pink centers on white flowers so much, that I had to take it a step further! I pulled out my Pretties Kit and grabbed two large flowers. To make the flower puffy, I adhered them back to back, so my back petals fluff forward, and my front petals fluff backwards. (I hope that makes sense...)

4. Then I punched a 3/4" circle out of Whisper White card stock and randomly punched out 1/16" holes. I grabbed a bunch of small pink brads from my stash and stuck them through. To make sure they stayed in place, I covered the back with some Sticky Strip and added a card stock backing. Then centered it on my flower.

5. I adhered my stamped card stock onto a Cameo Coral mat and added my newly ruffled ribbon. I placed my flower onto the ribbon, then adhered everything to my Night of Navy card.

Polka Dots and Petals

I squealed when I saw this week's Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger. My mom, just finished a purse in this exact same fabric line for a donation for a Relay for Life Fundraiser. I've been trying to talk her into making something else so I can have the bag instead, but she insists... The Tuesday Trigger Inspiration purse is also really cute! Maybe my mom can make me something like this...

Here are the DEEtails for my card.

1. This card is all about tone on tone, polka dots, and petals, so I tried to capture it all in my card! I chose three different greens: Paper Source's Chartreuse, Stampin' Up!'s Kiwi Kiss, and Papertrey Ink's Ripe Avocado. I also used my go-to pink, SU's Melon Mambo.

2. My eyes almost popped out of my head as I adhered each 1/2" circle at 1" intervals. I did PS Chartreuse on top of SU! Kiwi Kiss, then SU! Kiwi Kiss on PTI Ripe Avocado. I love how it turned out.

3. I stamped my flower from my Fifth Avenue Floral set in Pink Passion ink on my Melon Mambo card stock, then carefully cut them out. For a little bit of texture, I added SU! Corduroy brads in Kiwi Kiss. These are available on the SU! clearance rack!

4. I punched out a scallop edge rectangle, which you can also make, using these DEErections. Then I stamped a sentiment from my PTI Signature Greetings set. I'm telling you, I never get tired of Dawn McVey's gorgeous handwriting! I added my rectangle to my card using Stampin' Dimensionals.

5. For some final color layering, I adhered everything to a PS Chartreuse mat, which I adhered to my SU! Kiwi Kiss card. These are two of my favorite colors, and they look perfect together!

Pink Ink

I am so loving monochromatic looks right now! I was in Target the other day and saw some adorable accessories by Liberty of London that inspired me to make this card. Here's the Clean & Simple sketch that inspired this layout.


Here are the DEEtails:

1. I started out by randomly stamping flowers in Basic Gray ink on Whisper White card stock from various sets: Fifth Avenue Floral, Itty Bitty Buds, and Wings of Friendship.

2. I used various shades of pink Stampin' Write markers to color in my flowers: Blush Blossom, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Pixie Pink, and Pink Passion.

3. I added a Regal Rose card stock mat, then added a piece of Melon Mambo Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon.

4. Then I created a Scallop Edge rectangle with Melon Mambo card stock and stamped the sentiment from my Whimsical Words set onto Whisper White card stock trimmed to size. I recently was asked how to make the Scallop Edge rectangle, so I've posted some DEErections. You can click here or click on the DEEsign Tools button at the bottom of my blog.

5. Finally, I mounted everything onto a Melon Mambo card. Hope you like it!

New Goodies!

I love new goodies in the mail, don't you? I just got a box of stuff last night and I just had to start playing! Here's what I made:


My layout is inspired by this week's challenge at 2 Sketches 4 You.

Here are the DEEtails:

1. I started with a piece of Basic Gray card stock which I ran through my Cuttlebug with my Swiss Dot embossing folder.

2. Then I took a piece of ribbon from the retired Fairy Tale Designer Ribbon pack and adhered it down the middle of the card.

3. I stamped the gorgeous rose from the Fifth Avenue Floral set which is on sale this month! I used Basic Gray ink on Georgia Peach DSP, retired, but currently on the Clearance Rack at SU! I've been dying to stamp on patterned paper and just didn't have the right stamp to do this with. I am loving the fun polka dotted rose, which I adhered to my embossed mat, using dimensionals.

4. I took another small piece of Fairy Tale ribbon and made it into a bow, which I tied with a piece of Hemp Twine. I stamped the Thank You sentiment from my new Tiny Tags set and used the coordinating punch. I tied it to my bow and adhered it to the card.

5. Finally, I adhered my embossed mat to a slightly larger Going Gray mat centered onto a Basic Gray card.

Hope you like it!