{beautiful butterfly} card for Easter

Hi there blog friends!  I can't believe Easter is already this Sunday.  Where did all the time go?  Are you like me and still making Easter cards or have you mailed yours off? I quickly put this little Easter card together tonight and will probably have to make a few more of these and get them out in the mail by tomorrow.  I know...I'm totally getting a late start on these!  Oh well.  It's the thought that counts, right? Here's a full view of the card.

As you've probably observed (if you've visited my blog before), I love using the Pink and Green color combo!  It's such a happy and cheery color scheme!  And, lately, I've had fun making circle shaped cards, too.  You may think that this card looks complicated, but with the die cut and punches, it really does come together quite nicely!  The majority of the card is Stampin'Up!, though I did use a teenie bit of PTI. Here's the recipe for you:

{Beautiful Butterfly Easter Card}

All supplies Stampin'Up! except where noted
Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery
Stamp Sets: A Good Egg, Inspired By Nature
Inks: Old Olive, Melon Mambo
Accessories: Beautiful Butterflies Stampin'Up Exclusive Bigz die,Polka Dot embossing folder, 3 flower punch, Hemp Twine, Sherbet button (on butterfly); bright pink button{PTI}, and Large Polka Dot embossing plate {PTI}; white gel pen

Hope you like it!  Glad you stopped by! 

Scallop Trim and Pinking Hearts borders and corners made {EASY!}

Hey there blog peeps!   I finally got around to punching out the basic square sizes for the Scallop Trim Border and Corner and the Pinking Hearts Border and Corner punches and wanted to share them with you so you'd have them as reference.  As you can imagine, as a result of this little exercise, I got A LOT of practice doing these!  Here's a look at the scallop squares:

Don't they look cool all stacked up?  Well, in order to do these, I've marked down the size of the starting piece of cardstock for the corresponding squares below:

Here are the sizes again for your reference.  Cut your starting squares to the following sizes:

1 15/16"

2 3/8"

2 7/8"

3 1/4"

3 13/16"

4 1/4"

4 3/4"

Here are the steps for you in order to make the square:

1.  Punch out all 4 corners first.  Here's how: take the Scallop Trim Corner punch and hold it upside down so that the bottom side of the punch is facing you.  Align the corner of the cardstock into the corner of the punch and punch out the corner.  Repeat for the remaining corners.

2.  Punch out the sides: Take the Scallop Trim Border punch and turn it upside down so the bottom is facing you.  Take the cardstock and align at least one of the scallops on the cardstock to one of the scallops on the punch.  You'll know it's aligned when the scallop on the cardstock is perfectly covered up by the scallop of the punch.  Now, punch it out and continue to align the carstock scallops with the punch until you complete the side. Continue till you finish all sides.

Now, here's a look at the Pinking Hearts square:

Just so you know, the measurements for the Pinking Hearts square are slightly different - so make sure to note them below:

Here are the sizes for the Pinking Hearts square:

2 7/8"

3 1/4"
3 5/8"
4"
4 3/8"
4 3/4"

If you click on any of the pictures above, it'll open up a larger photo, plus, it'll be easier to read the corresponding measurements!  To do the Pinking Hearts square, follow the same instructions as the Scallop Trim squares, but use the correct card stock sizes above!  Have fun practicing :)

TIP: To make rectangles, you can mix and match the square sizes for the scallop or the pinking hearts squares.  For example, you can make a scallop trim rectangle that's 2 3/8" x 3 1/4", or you can create a Pinking Hearts rectangle that's 2 7/8" x 4."  Feel free to experiment with the different rectangle shapes that'll suit your projects :)

Now, I have to give credit where credit is due - I got these measurements from Gretchen Barron's blog, and she does an awesome job showing you the steps, so if you need more visualization on how to do this, make sure to pay her a visit!  Hope that helps!

If you like the Scallop Trim Border punch, you can get that as a free Sale-a-bration item when you place an order of $50 or more!  But keep in mind that Wednesday, March 31st is the LAST DAY of Sale-a-bration, so you'll need to order today (for US customers)!  All you need to do is click Shop Now on my Demonstrator Website and you'll be all set.

As for the Pinking Hearts Border and Corner punch, those are items in the Occasions Mini which will be available until April 30th.

Have a great day! Thanks for stopping by.

ruffled BIRDCAGE

Hey there and Happy Monday to you!  Today, I'm sharing another card I made using the Happy Moments set.  This time, it's the little birdcage I'm showcasing.  I tried my hand at ruffles, even.  I thought it was a fun little element to add to the card. What do you think?  Here's another look at the card, a little bit closer:

I went with a neutral and natural color scheme, and I think I'm liking the muted effect.  It's got a rustic feel to it, don't you think? The colors I used are Kraft, Old Olive, Whisper White, and a touch of Bashful Blue.  I created the clouds by sponging the bashful blue randomly around a scallop circle punch that I used as a stencil.  Then, the branch from the Extra large 2 step bird came in handy to "hang" my birdcage from.  I was not sure where to put the sentiment...so I finally decided to use the Medium Jewelry Tag punch to add a "4 You" - love how little the tag is!  So sweet.  Here's the recipe for you:

{ruffled Birdcage 4 You}

All supplies Stampin'Up!

*Stamp Set: Happy Moments, Tiny Tags

*Cardstock: Kraft, Sweet Pea DSP, and Whisper White

*Ink: Bashful Blue, Soft Suede

*Accessories: Whisper White taffeta ribbon, Old Olive satin ribbon, Medium Jewelry Tag punch, Sherbet buttons,  Extra Large 2 Step Bird punch, Linen thread

Don't forget that Sale-a-bration ends on Wednesday March 31st!  And, for those of you in the US that place an order of $50 or more on my Demo website by March 31st, you'll be entered in a raffle to win a Stampin'Up reusable tote from me!

Thanks for coming by!

last days of {Happy Moments}!

Hi there blog peeps!  Don't be alarmed at my title...I was referring to the fact that these are indeed the last few days you can get the Happy Moments stamp set for FREE during Sale-a-bration!  I can't believe I am just using this awesome set now.  How fun is this bright and cheery birthday card?  I was also playing with a diagonal stripe background.  How do you like it?  It's so easy to do!  Here's what I did.  For this card, I took 2 pieces of DSP, and 1 piece of whisper white cardstock and cut it to 4.5" x 4."  Then, I stacked both pieces of the DSP on top of each other and used my paper cutter to cut about 1" diagonals.  Now that you have 2 sets of diagonal strips with your DSP, you can assemble your alternating DSP diagonal puzzle on your whisper white piece.  That's all there is to it!  Here's a closer look at the presents....don't they look glossy?

First, I colored in the top and bottom presents with Pumpkin Pie and Taken With Teal markers.  The middle present is actually paper pieced from the DSP.  Then, I outlined the presents with Bordering Blue marker to give it that shadowy look.  Finally, I went over the presents with Crystal Effects for that glossy effect.  And Viola! You have glossy birthday presents!

Here's a look at the cute stamps in this set:

You, too, can have this cute Sale-a-bration set when you place an order of $50.  As a matter of fact, with every $50 you spend you can pick a free product from the Sale-a-bration catalog. 

If you're in the US, you can shop now at my Demonstrator website here.  Since this is the last few days of the promotion, to sweeten the deal, I will raffle off this Stampin'Up! Bag to any US customer that places a minimum order of $50 on my demonstrator website from now until Wednesday, March 31st.  So, now's a great time to place an order - plus your odds for getting the bag are pretty darn good! :)

Saturday workshop cards

Hey there. How's your weekend going so far? Well, today was a fantastic day for me.  Not only was it gorgeous and warm outside, I also got a good 6 mile run in and got to take in the scenery and the fresh outdoors firsthand. Then this afternoon, I had a fun hostess workshop!  It's been a while since I've had a hostess party, so I had a great time meeting a whole new group of gals.  Here are the 2 cards we made today.

How do you like this little birdie?  I used the Kaleidoscope DSP with Crushed Curry and Bermuda Bay.  At first, I was not a big fan of this DSP, probably because it had Peacocks on it and we are tormented by these annoying birds in our neighborhood!  But now that spring is here, the color palette is growing on me and I have disassociated my lack of fondess for peackcocks from this DSP :)  We also used the Well Scripted sentiments for this card too - I can't get enough of that pretty font! For the ribbon, I actually used the solid side of the Bermuda Bay polka dot grosgrain ribbon, just to change it up a bit.

For our second card, I used the Upsy Daisy stamp set.  I love the daisy silouette in Melon Mambo.  To create the shadow effect, all you need to do is stamp twice, with the second image slightly offset from the first.  So pretty and so simple!  Here's the recipe for you: 

{Kaleidoscope Birdie}

All supplies Stampin'Up!

*Stamp Set: Well Scripted

*Cardstock: Kaleidoscope DSP, Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White

*Inks: Bermuda Bay
*Accessories: Scallop Trim Border punch, Extra Large 2 step bird punch, brad, dimensionals, Bermuda Bay polka dot grosgrain ribbon

{Upsy Daisy Lemonade}
All Supplies Stampin'Up!
*Stamp Set: Upsy Daisy
*Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP
*Inks: Melon Mambo
*Accessories: Big Shot, Crushed Curry polka dot grosgrain ribbon

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.  Thanks for the visit!

Awash with challenges!

Hi there blog peeps! The weekend is almost here - yay! Well, I have to share that I I just got my sneek peak stamp set yesterday and it is super cute. It's called Awash with Flowers {which will be available on April 1st} so of course, I had to bust it out and play. And what could be more fun than playing with a new stamp set and getting inspiration from a couple card challenges? I put together a card with the Mojo Monday 131 challenge and the Embellish Color Challenge with stitching. Here's a look at what these challenges look like:

Don't these look fun? For the Embellish Color challenge, I didn't quite have an aqua color on hand to use, so I went with Bashful Blue. The other colors I used were Pretty in Pink, Kraft, and for the ink, I used Chocolate Chip. Here's a look at my full card:
The Awash with Flowers stamp set is a 2 step stamp set, meaning that there's the outline of the image as well as "filler" images. Aren't these flowers fun? This set will also be in the new Stampin'Up! 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog coming out in July! Now, for the Embellish challenge, I incorporated the stitching around the edge of my card. Since I had my sewing machine still out from my purse project, I practiced with 2 types of stitching, even. I still have a lot of work to do, but I'm having fun experimenting and learning, one stitch at a time!
Here's a look at the card from a slight angle. Not sure if you can tell, but I shaped my butterfly wings a little by using a bone folder. This adds a bit of a curve and gives the wings some dimension. I also used a sponge dauber around the edges to soften up the lines a bit. Here's the full recipe for you:

{Awash Butterfly Birthday card}
*Stamp Set: Awash with Flowers, Happy Moments
*Cardstock: Kraft, Pretty In Pink, Bashful Blue, Whisper White
*Inks: Chocolate Chip, Pretty In Pink, Bashful Blue, Creamy Caramel {sponged around the edges}
*Accessories: Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die, Scallop Trim Border punch, Linen Thread, Pretties kit half pearls, Sherbet button

Thanks for stopping in!

March Giveaway Winner!

Happy Friday, all! It's time to announce this month's Final Friday Giveaway winner. Thank you so much for leaving comments! There were 46 of them this month, and they were lots of fun to read :) You ready to see if you won? The lucky winner is....
Lucky #17, who happens to by Vicki! Here's what she had to say:
Vicki - I'll be emailing you to find out where to mail your goodies. Congrats!!!

Have a great day all! I'll catch up with you guys in a bit! Bye for now.

home ec {101}

Ok - so first of all, let me start by saying that I am not a great sewer. I've made 3 sewing projects in the course of my life time. They are: 1) a mouse-shaped pillow in 7th grade, 2) tissue holders that I made when I first got my Janome Mini last year, and now 3) this ADORABLE rag quilt purse {if I do say so myself}, with the help of the Big Shot and Angie Juda's awesome tutorial here. Now, I have to say I'm soo hooked! I definitely need to practice sewing, but now that I've gotten my first purse done, I can't wait to make more and try making different styles, too! For this purse, I used the Heather Bailey fabric I got last month and I really am so happy with the colors and everything. Now you wanna see how I did it? I'm not quite video enabled yet, so I thought I'd walk you through the basic steps of constructing this purse.

1. This purse is made up of 19 double sided scalloped squares, so I ran the fabric through my big shot and used 3 different patterned fabric. The die I used is the Stampin'Up! Scallop Square Clear die. The next step below is sewing the "scallop sandwich" together. The scalloped squares on the outside, and the batting in the middle. After consulting with other fellow demonstrators, I went with 100% cotton batting from the craft store. I sewed an "x" on each of these squares. I'd have to say that this was the most time intensive step!

2. Next, I laid out the scallop squares into the fabric pattern I wanted for my purse. The front and back are 3 squares wide by 2 squares high, and the bottom and sides make up 7 squares.

3. Look at how my purse "shrunk down" after pinning the sides. This picture actually has some parts already sewn together and some parts yet to be sewn.

4. Here's a close up of the batting that's in the middle. I think it definitely adds to the purse shape and sturdiness.

5. Here's a look at the inside - it looks like a finished quilt! Now a note about the straps and closure - the straps are 2" x 24" pieces of fabric and you'll also want to insert batting in between. The batting measures out to be 3/4" x 24". For the closure, I used a 12" piece of 5/8" SU! Regal Rose grosgrain ribbon and a big button.

6. Viola!! Here's the finished purse - isn't it just TOO CUTE? I haven't washed it yet, but by doing so, it'll fluff up the scallops to give it that rag quilt look.


Hope you like it! It's a great project and lots of fun to make...even for beginners like me.

Thanks for stopping by!

my mom's {birthday celebration}

Happy Saturday, all! Hope you're enjoying your weekend so far. Today, we celebrated my Mom's birthday and I got to see a lot of family I hadn't seen in a long time. It was good times, good food and good company. In preparation, I wanted to make some favors for this little soiree, so here is what I created. Thanks to the handy dandy Big Shot, I was able to get these all done last night! Here's a look at the production process.
I used the Sizzix Bigz XL Box #2 die and filled these goodies with some grass and eggs (I know it's not Easter, but it's springy). These yummy chocolate bad boys were quite the hit!
All told, I made 21 of these favors. They didn't all fit in this little basket. Here's a look at a few of them. All have the Extra large fancy flower, but I used an assortment of brads for the centers to make each of the flowers unique. For the box itself, I used Certainly Celery and stamped the outside with the Central Park stamp set in Old Olive and Certainly Celery. Then I tied it all up with the pretty satin Old Olive ribbon and viola! Cute little favors! Here they all are. Easy peasy!
And last but not least, here I am with my Mom, after all the festivities. It was quite a day!

Thanks for stopping by! I do appreciate the visit :)

Cheers to a double challenge and blog friends!

Hi there, blog peeps! I'm pretty excited about this card share for a few reasons: {1} I got to use this AWESOME digistamp that my friend Jane B. created, {2} I got to play in Dawn W.'s Color Cue challenge #2 and she's also a blog buddy I met online, and {3} got to play in the EBTKS Challenge #11, which is hosted by Courtney and a whole slew of talented stampers I admire. So, in a nutshell, this card was pretty darn fun for me to create. Now after all that buildup, I hope you guys like the card! Here's what the challenges look like:
The colors I used for the challenge are SU's Whisper White, So Saffron, Melon Mambo, and Bermuda Bay. For the image, I used Jane's Monstersmiley digistamp - isn't it so cute? I love how adorable it looks. This is the first time I used digistamps and found them to be really easy to work with. What's great is you can resize it to whatever size you want, as you can see with the 3 images. Here's a look at the full card. I love how the colors of my little monsters turned out - what a fun color combo! Here's the recipe for you.

{Monstersmiley Trio card}
All supplies Stampin'Up! except where noted.
*Stamps: Monstersmiley Digistamp {squigglefly}, Messages for Mom
*Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White, Sweet Pea DSP
*Inks: Melon Mambo, So Saffron, Bermuda Bay SU! Markers
*Accessories: Top Note Bigz die, Scallop Trim Border, So Saffron Twill Ribbon {retired SU!}

Thanks for stopping by!

simply adorned {necklace}

I have finally gotten around to making my simply adorned necklace charm! Sometimes, the best intentions can ge waylayed (is that a real word) by life and stuff in general, but I have to say that I'm so glad I carved out the time to do it because as I was doing it, I remembered how quick and easy - not to mention FUN - it is to stamp and create a unique locket insert! Now, isn't that pretty? Since the locket has glass on both sides, you create 2 pieces of art. Here's my other side
I used the Charming set and it really is just too cute (and simple!). If you look closely, you'll see that I added a little rhinestone bling to add a little extra sassyness. The charm measures 1" x 1 1/4" and the chain I used is 34" in length. Another nice feature of the charm is that it has its own clasp, so you can detach it from the necklace and put it on another necklace to easily change things up. As for the pretty chain, you can wear it long, or it can be wrapped around your neck 2x. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of me modeling it, but I will do that so you can see it and get a feel for the length and versatility. Hope you like it!

Have a great day!

Embellish and Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger Challenge Combo

Hi there blog peeps! Would you agree that it's about time I did another challenge? I definitely do. And, especially when I am able to create a card that combines 2 challenges. Even better. I've gotten the inspiration from the Embellish and the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger challenges:
Ready to see my take? Here's what I got for you...as you can tell from my earlier post, I was in a circle shaped card mood, so I continued along those lines.. Lucky for me, I had some small remnants of red fabric that was just enough to cut the flower from the bags and blooms Bigz xl die! That flower was inspired by the vibrant red flowers on the pillow! I used another remnant for the smaller center flower and fastented them together with the fun red corduroy button brad. The rest of the color scheme is based on the Embellish Challenge. I used the SU colors Blue Bayou (retired ribbon), Kraft, Real Red, Garden Green and Whisper White.
Here's another look, slightly broader view for you. What do you think? Hope you like it! Here's the recipe:

{Blooming Blossom HI!}
Cardstock: Kraft, Whisper White, Real Red, Garden Green
Accessories: Fabric, Blue Bayou double stitched grosgrain ribbon {retired}, Real Red corduroy buttons, Circle cutter, Scallop Circle Bigz die, Bags and Blooms Bigz XL die, small scallop punch, chipboard letters

Thanks for stopping by today :)

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Hi all! Are you wearing your green today? In the spirit of St. Patty's day, I created this Go Green card to share. It's also my Mom's Birthday today, so want to wish her a Very Happy Birthday!

Have a great day all! I'll check back with you guys later ;)

More with all my heart

Hi there! Hope you're enjoying your Saturday so far. I've got more cards using the With All My Heart stamp set to share with you today. I am really digging this set a lot - along with the color palette! So 4 of the cards (the 2 from yesterday and 2 today) have 2 things in common - the Extra Large Fancy Flower punch as well as a 3"x4" piece of my home made "DSP" using the large and small flower center images in the stamp set. The fun thing is that you can change up the layout so easily with the same supplies. Here's a look at the 2 additional cards I made: In today's cards, I used the larger flower stamp for my flower center and I think it gives the punch a whole different look.
For this flower, I added a large pumpkin pie corduroy button in the middle. I thought the pop of orange reminded me of a hibiscus flower. The birthday sentiment I used is from the Well Scripted stamp set, which is also in the Occasions Mini.

I've got one more share using this stamp set and flower punch, but in a much more muted color scheme - it's a Sympathy card I made for a funeral I will be attending today. I'm not one that keeps Sympathy cards on hand, but sadly, death is a part of the cycle of life. I will be attending an uncle's funeral. He had a long battle with lung cancer which had come back, and suffice it to say that family and friends are thankful he is now at peace. It will be a day of remembering his warm and kind spirit and all the great memories we all shared over the years.

Now, just because I will be attending a funeral today doesn't mean that you all need to be sad and sorrowful, so I wish you all a wonderful day.

Thanks so much for coming by. :)