Look Who's Back!!!!!

Wow, is it possible that it's been nearly a year since my last post?

Well, I haven't been on a crafting hiatus, just a blogging one.  Creating cards is one thing, but getting that photo taken and then shared is quite another.

Also, I have recently made substantial progress on my craft room - FINALLY - so it's a much more peaceful place then it used to be.

But I'm getting of track.  I was looking for inspiration recently and immediately went to see what the latest Fusion challenge is, and this is what I found

Mostly it was the photo that drew my attention, but the sketch worked for me, too so here's what I came up with

I can tell you that the tape in the background is My Mind's Eye, and the die cut shape is Echo Park (using my Silhouette), but the rest are bits and pieces from the fabulous little kits I get from Paper Issues.

So glad to be back to blogging and you can expect more from me in the near future.

Happy Anniversaries

Notice that I typed "anniversaries", and that's because my parents will celebrate 45 years of marriage on the 7th, and my husband and I will celebrate 16 on the 6th!  

I chose the latest Poppy sketch to inspire this card for my mom and dad

Here's a close-up photo

If you haven't been over to Poppy Sketches yet, you need to pop on by and join in.  The sketches are combined with a color scheme and the Design Team will provide you with great inspiration!

I dug into some goodies from the latest Swag Bag from Paper Issues, some Lawn Fawn stamps, cut that adorable heart frame using my Cameo.

Pow!

Happy Birthday to our neighbor and friend Clay who just turned 9!

Here's a card I whipped up for the girls to attach to his gift.

I had such fun making this - especially since it meant pulling out goodies from Paper Issues, and sharing it with my friend (his mom) who is quite crafty herself!

A closer look at the vellum and others embellies

I have some unfinished cards on my craft table - not sure if they will ever get done.  At this rate I will probably have to repurpose the "toppings" and use them on different cards.

You Did It

I have about 5 minutes to post before running my littlest dancer to her hip hop class.

So here goes...

Today is the start of a new challenge blog called Poppy Sketches

by Laura Davis

And in an effort to bounce around and try as many sketch challenges as I can, I decided to plunge right in on the first sketch

It's a sketch with a color challenge and this is what I imagined

I'd like to tell you all about the yummy new ink I bought from Papertrey Ink, but I think this close-up picture will do a better job

Um, can ya tell I'm in love with gold right now?

I wasn't sure if I was supposed to do a floral thing -- it seems the DT did, so I went with this fabulous Teresa Collins paper that made me think of overlapping flower petals.

I have another card to post and details from my oldest daughter's recent trip to Washington D.C.  I'm one proud momma and I have to share.

The short version is that she went to represent the state of Washington to advocate for diabetes research.

Back soon with more crafty business...

Kind and Lovely

I had that stunning moment recently when I realized that I never sat my oldest daughter down to write thank you notes for her birthday (which was more than a month ago!).  So I decided to put a little more effort into creating some extra special cards.  Of course, this takes time and so they will go up on the blog one at a time.

Here's the first one

So the gold cardstock with the white threads running through it was one of my impulse purchases.  Gold is definitely "in" right now, and I wanted to give it a whirl.  The sentiment stickers were a must have - I was eyeing them the last time I went shopping and I couldn't resist them this time.  They are Maggie Holmes from Crate Paper/American Crafts.  It was all I could do not to buy up the whole collection!  

The stars, clear sequins and the giant & are from Paper Issues Swag Bags & kits.  Pink sequins are Doodlebug.  Patterned paper is Teresa Collins.  I spritzed it with some Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Primrose.

Here's a close-up of the glittery, shiny gold goodness

On a completely separate note, but along the lines of "Kind & Lovely", I had a "YAY ME" moment recently when I received an honorable mention award from the Fusion Challenge Blog.

I was so very proud of my card, and it meant a lot to have received recognition for it, so thank you for that!  I will be playing along whenever I can because I adore the idea of their challenges.

I made a completely unnecessary and frivolous purchase at Craft Warehouse today, but I am pretty excited about this one set of items in particular

Notice the price tag in the corner - American Crafts scissors from $29.99 down to $7.00 - um, yes please!  I always resent having to spend $$ on boring old supplies like glue, tape and scissors, and yet they must be a part of our crafty collection of things, so I'm happy to have stocked up.  My daughters get their hands on all of that stuff and I never see it again (until many months later when I do a thorough cleaning of their rooms!).

Alright, back to crafting - I have a few more thank you notes to create...

XOXO DS141

Wandering around blogland yesterday and found this sketch at The Deconstructed Sketch.

I was immediately inspired to create this card

I've definitely fallen in love with the sequin craze, but my other new addiction is paper straws.  I found these at Target over the weekend and put them to use right away.

The patterned paper is from the Crate Paper Love Notes collection, the woodgrain stamp is Lawn Fawn (colored with a Tsukineko Memento marker) stamped on white card stock and cut out using a Spellbinders die (and my handy dandy Cuttlebug), the cork circle is My Little Yellow Bicycle, and the other little embellies are from the Paper Issues monthly Swag Bag (which means I don't recall the exact manufacturers, lol).

Here's a close-up

I have the whole day in front of me and maybe even more crafty time.

If so, I'll be sure to post again later...

You're Somethin'

I've known about the Fusion challenge (clever idea!) for a while now, but have finally had time to play along.

Here's the challenge

And I used both the sketch and photo as inspiration to create this card

I layered card stock (All Bazzill) by punching holes, each one slightly smaller than the layer on top of it.

The stamps are Lawn Fawn sentiments, yellow sequins are from a Paper Issues Swag Bag, teal sequins are Doodlebug Designs. Punches are EK Success, and I'm not sure about the wooden heart.

Here's a close-up with some fancy photo editing

I'm super excited, this is the first Saturday in weeks that I didn't have to run around all over the place, so that means some crafty time all to myself!

I could clean the house, but.....

Happy Birthday

To my nephew, who turned 8 on the first of this month!

He's a cutie (but he probably wouldn't want me to say that) and I needed to create a "boy" card.

I turned to sketch #15 at Seize the Sketch, which you can find HERE

Great sketch!  And here's my card

You can see I smushed it down, but stuck closely to the sketch otherwise.  I went a little star crazy, playing with some goodies from the March Swag Bag from Paper Issues.

The stamp is from a Lawn Fawn set of sentiments.

I have several cards in the works, but lately it seems it takes me several days to complete one.  That's okay, though, sometimes I think they turn out better that way because otherwise I would be too rushed and I think it would show.

Crossing my fingers that I get some time to craft this weekend, have a good one!

Lots of Love

I've got a couple of cards to share.  The first is the latest sketch at Seize the Sketch

It sort of looks like the sketch...

~ Cardstock Bazzill Basics ~ Stamp Lawn Fawn ~ Stickers Fancy Pants ~ Other Stuff Tag, Sequins, Acrylic Arrow

Most of the items on the above card came from the February Swag Bag from Paper Issues.

These swag bags are the coolest - loaded with tons of embellies so I can have a little bit of everything.  I was so inspired by the latest bag of goodies that I created this card, just because

I added some zig zag sewing in the corners and an SRM sticker, otherwise the rest is from the swag bag.

I hope you are having a LOVELY Valentine's Day!