etsy inspired

i made this card for the challenge over at the etsy inspired challenge blog! they pick an etsy shop and the challenge is to make a project using those goods as inspriation. this week, the featured seller is 'the caged fairy' - and i have to say, i wanted to buy almost everything from this shop!! ha ha! i wished i could have created something that really reflected how much i loved all of the jewelry as much as i did, because i really loved it all!

anyway, on to my card! i used a ring as my inspiration. i mentioned in an earlier post that i am loving the color combination of orange-ies and teals. it makes me happy! so when i saw this ring, i not only wanted to own it, i knew it would be the perfect inspiration!

i decided to experiement with feathers...which is a lot harder (and fluffier - read: messier) than i thought! ha ha! first i used some glimmer mist to sparkle up the base of the card. then i used a hot glue gun to glue down the feathers. then i layered over some fat light teal ribbon. on top of that, i added some more black ribbon.

i added the red hearts because...well i add little hearts to almost everything i do! (look back at some of my older cards - it's like an eye spy of little hearts!) and i thought the dark red color was perfect to compliment and contrast with the card.

this challenge was so much fun! thanks for taking a gander!

enjoy!

flourescent fun

i made this card for the challenege over at off the wall craftiness, challenge #22! here was the inspiration photo and the challenge colors:

i am definately going to re-use the technique i did for the ribbon; i slit lines into the front of the card, and ran the ribbon through the slits, so it looks like the ribbon(s) dissapear. i think it's a fun twist on using ribbon!

i paired the straight-lined ribbon with the different sized circles to change it up, so the card wasn't all hard lines and rectangles.

it's just a simple, and fun card that can be sent to a friend who needs a smile in a moments notice!

enjoy!

scrabble tile necklaces

so this is ust a quick post to let you know about this awesome giveaway over at double N designs!

all you have to do is check out her website, and see the most eclectic, original, and (most of all) FUN pendants! they are made from scrabble tiles! hello!? that's a genius idea! go over to her blog and check out all that she has to offer. and while you're there, advertise for her giveaway and be entered for a chance to win a necklace of your choice!!!

here are some of my favorites (but how can i choose?):

enjoy! (and good luck!)

sew much fun

i have to say, i had a lot of fun with this card! i made it for one of my bes friends - she's a HUGE twilight fan, and ever since we read the books (way before the movies people - believe it or not!), we have both been major 'team edward' supporters!! (sorry to danielle at girlracer scrap who's on 'team jacob'... *awkward* ha ha!)

i got these digi stamps from pixie dust studio, and have been wanting and wanting to make this card, and then this week i finally had the chance! the challenge this week (#37) at pixie dust studio is to use stitching (either real or faux) on a card. here's what i came up with:




see how sparkly edward is?? he's in the sunlight, ha ha! i colored him with a peach colored pencil, and then colored over the peach with my glitter pen to give the sparkle effect. fun!
moving on, i used my sewing maching to sew the letters down for 'team edward' as well as adding the horizontal lines to the double hearts. i have been using my sewing machine for a couple years with scrapbooking, and i just love it!




one more thing i have to add, see how jacob is not as bright as the rest of the card? i hid that part under vellum. i wanted to show the other side to the 'team edward/team jacob' debate. but since it was a pro-team edward card, jacob is on b&w paper and covered (sort of hiding under the rest of the card), because he loses. :)




let me know what you think!

and, enjoy!

a fly by hi

have you seen the latest challenge for get sketchy (GS#52)? if not, it's below:

it's such a great sketch! i decided, to turn it upsidedown! and instead of using bright, happy colors, i went with a more muted tone, but i really like the effect!

i flocked the sentinment 'hi'. and actually drew the letters by hand and then cut them out. i have such a hard time with the sentiment parts of the cards! so i am always trying to think of new ways to create them!
i also popped up the little birdies, for dimension.

i absolutely love the patterned paper i used, and it was the inspiration for the entire rest of this card!

enjoy!

my favorite colors

today's card is one that i made for the challenge that EAD is having; their modern seaside color challenge! the inspiration colors are below:

if you know me, you know that these are absolutely all of my favorite colors! i mean, teals and greens, um yes please! but i didn't want to over do it with the colors - i wanted them to just be accents. because almost as much as i love those colors, i love when they are combined with brown! yep! so here's what i did:

you may notice that the clouds are in different postions. well that's because i made the card so that clouds can move and reveal the 'sun'! i cut the clouds out and then glued them to brads. then i used an exacto knife to cut long slices through the card. i put the brads through and vwa-la! moveable clouds!

i also really like the sayings for this card. i wanted to use a sort of 'chain reaction' for the sentiments (the first line ends in 'you', the second line starts with 'you', the second line ends with 'love', and the third line starts with 'love'). neat, right?

now if i could just work on my stamping ability...

:)

you may have also noticed that the tree is a rub-on from, you guessed it, EAD! i am officially in love with their run-ons.

enjoy!

another thanks

i am really digging the challenges over at the photo-synthesis challenge! the pictures they choose are great, and very inspiring! one time, i'm going to make a proect for their challenge, and it's not going to be based on the colors, but this was not that time! the color combination was purple-y, yellow and white - awesome! here's the inspiration for this challenge:

and this is how i interpreted it:

the white rub-ons are from EAD - my first time using their product. and i have to say...it was fabulous! and here's a confession: i used the most 'boring' rub-ons i ordered incase it didn't work out! i didn't want to 'waste' my good images! lol! oh well - i really liked how it came out! it was what i had pictured in my head, so alls well that ends well, right?

i made the 'fan-flowers' as i decided to call them, and stuck them all together with a dark purple brad (it helps add a tiny bit of unexpectedness and dimension to the card).

do you ever notice that i seem to make a lot of thank you cards? i think it's because i have a lot to be thankful for! ha ha!

enjoy!

a wee cupcake for wee memories

when i saw the challenge this week at wee memories was 'sweet treats with ribbon on top' (WMC19), i was so excited! i have been wanting to use this ribbon technique forever, and now i finally had a reason! not to mention, one of my best friends has a daughter, who we all call her little cupcake. so if it's a cupcake, i'm on board!




this card is all about dimension - which you know i love! and i definately wanted to make this card happy and bright! i made the cupcake wrapper by taking part of a paper grocery bag and folding it like an accordian. then i glued it down to the card at an arc so it would stand out, and sort of bow like a real cupcake!




it was so fun to make this card, and i just get happy when i look at it!


enjoy! :)

a big thank you

this past week, my friend and her husband came down to visit me in florida! i hadn't seen them for over a year, and it was such a great visit - i'm SO sad to see them go. i knew i wanted to create a thank you card to show them just how much i really appreciated their company (and all the time off they took from work, and all the money we spent - he he!).

i decided to combine my idea for their thank you card with the new challenge over at everything but the kitchen sink - challenge 21! the challenge this week is below:

i have never created anything (card, layout, etc) with a cup-thing before, but i have been wanting to try it for sometime. and with this sketch, it seemed like it was screaming for it! not to mention how it resembles a snow-globe. i love LOVE how you can shake the card and it's like a mini snow-globe! how fun!

i was going for a polka dot theme - ha ha! i also added some brads at the bottom of the card, because although i do like, clean cards, it seemed like it needed just a little touch extra down there!

anyway, that's my card! and i really hope my friend likes it! more importantly, i hope it conveys to her just how special and thankful i am for her!

enjoy!

waves of bling

today i decided to make a card for the wee memories challenge 18 (WMC18): buttons, brads and bling! what a fun challenge!


i have been wanting to do the 'waves' technique for some time, but never had an opportunity. so i decided to make this challenge the time!






obivously (or maybe not...?), it's a sunset on an ocean. on the sun's rays, i alternated between glitter and the liquid glass applique to create an shimmery effect, what's brighter than the sun, after all?




i also added some bling in the valleys of the waves, and also added some distress to the crests of the waves with a white stamp pad to add to the depth of the waves.










i am really loving the color combinations of orange/yellow with blue/teals. i love that they're such opposites, but still they go well together. needless to say, i really enjoyed making this card - it was a blast!


enjoy!

look who's turning 2

today is my son's birthday! he's turning the wonderfully amazing age of 2! and of course i had to make him a card!

here's a little back story, my husband's name is Joshua. when we first started dating (we were 16 & 18 - so young!), my friends and i would sing, 'joshua giraffe' (when he wasn't around of course --> please see the afore mentioned age, nuff said), and one thing led to another, and hello giraffe stuffed animals for birthdays, etc. fast forward to present day, my son has a little giraffe taggie that he sleeps with. badda-bing, badda-boom and TMI later: giraffe on his birthday card!

i also wanted to enter this card in the very first challenge over at photo-synthesis! the color inspiration was too beautiful to pass up - black, white and yellow! love it! you should definately check it out!

i used a giraffe chipboard i found at joann's, layered some sparkly yellow ribbon over some more muted (and frayed) cardstock.

if you want to see another adorable birthday card for my birthday boy (and who wouldn't, really?), go over and see danielle at girlracer scrap's card that she made! i'm in love with it!

enjoy!

signs of peace

hey there! it's another two-carder day!

this card was created for the signs of peace challenge at moxie fab world - and it was such a fun challenge, you should totally check it out!



the challenge was to incorporate a peace sign in an innovative way - how fun! the card i made was a super clean card that basically just repeats the colors i chose (pink, cream and orange). i cut a peace sign (using the slice over at girlracer scrap) that is popped up with foam. and then i wrapped ribbon and some (more!) of that embroidary thread over the ribbon on the bottom of the card. then i used a circle border punch on the various different colored cardstocks to create the different sized circles on the card. i also glittered a few of the circles to add a little something extra.




the saying is very subtle (both in meaning and in color!). it says, 'celebrate love', and i thought that was perfect since it was all about peace!

thanks again for checking out my card!
enjoy!

create a critter card

i saw on my pink stamper that the theme was 'critters' or animals. of course i LOVE my create a critter cartridge, so i had to make a card to play along! i love all the animals on that cartridge, so it was tough to choose just one...but i chose the squirrel, in honor of my friends danielle (at girlracer scrap) and judy! :)




there is a lot of dimension and texture going on here. i cut up tiny pieces of embroidery thread (or friendship bracelet thread!), and glued it down as grass. i also used a border punch to make the 'stars' at the top of the card. and the moon was made with a circle punch: i cut a circle out, and the used the same circle punch to make the circle into a crescent, and vwa-la, a moon!






i also flocked the squirrels tail. he he! and of course the moon and the heart is popped up with foam squares.


enjoy!

off the wall card

here's another challenge i tried - it's for off the wall craftiness and it's challenge 19: using the colors soft pink, pale green and a creamy color. the inspiration photo is below:

the first thing that came to my mind was my wedding! those were exactly our colors! i had a pale green bow on my dress and all the flowers were pink! :) so anyway, it just so happens that our 5th wedding anniversary is coming up in september, so i knew this would be a perfect time to make our anniversary card!

it's a little different than your average card: i used a photo from our wedding (you can even see the challenge colors in there as well). other than that, it's a pretty simple card, with a lot of heart.

enjoy!

gnome is where your heart is

today's a to-for day! i am posting two cards!

and i'm so happy i was able to use another gnome digi image in another challenge at pixie dust studios! this week was challenge #34 called, 'cute as a button'. and all of their images are just that!!





for my card, i took a crack at coloring it with colored pencils (as opposed to paper piecing, which is what i usually do with their digis), for the first layer. then i used glitter in a rainbow because, come on, what's glittery-er than a rainbow? :) then for another added layer of unexpectedness - i used some liquid glass for the clouds, flowers, lady bug dot and patch on the gnomes hat. i loved how that came out! it made everything i used the liquid glass on pop up a little, so the clouds looked puffy!




i used a rub-on for the word, and punched out some teeny tiny hearts for the 'rain' (and popped them up - i couldn't make a card and NOT pop something up). and of course the button is the sun for this card.

anyway, enjoy!

not just another butterfly card

hello! i decided to take part in challenge #17 at wee memories (WMC17). and the challenge this time was to make something using butterflies. i had just taught my son to say butterflies in sign language, so it has to be a sign, right? :)

i used a monochromatic color scheme (all purples - for some reason purple and butterflies go together for me!), and then i added some muted brown twine for the bow.




anyway, in order to make my butterfly card unique, i decided to make the wings flap! (now, please excuse me, i'm not hip on the terminology i used for the 'wing flapping' mechanics), but there's a pull tab at the top corner of the card. and when you pull it and push it, it makes the wings of the butterfly flap :) how cool!





so that's my butterfly card. enjoy!

in keeping with simple

so, bitten by the bug 2 (BBTB2) is having a challenge centered on dinosaurs this week. how could i resist using the create a critter cartridge's t-rex? riddle me that. it's so stinking cute. so cute in fact, i used two in my card. he he!







it's very simple. but i did pop up the thought bubbles for some dimension. and the front of the card is actually a little shorter than the back, so it has that going for it.





i think this card is so cute. and i just love the sentiment. you know...because t-rex's have tiny arms...so 'thiiis much' is not a lot...sigh. love it.

enjoy!

so very simple

i decided to make this card for the 20th challenge over at Everything but the Kitchen Sink. the challenge this time is buttons! the buttons i used on my card were found around the house. two of the extra buttons came attached to clothes, and one of them i found in my great-grandma's sewing kit! awesome!




i knew i wanted to make ice cream cones with the buttons, and the next step was figuring out a sentiment.




this card is very simple! i kept the colors simple (pink, brown and cream - i went with a 'neopolitan' ice cream feel!), and it's hard to tell, but the buttons are a pink, brown and cream as well. the layout is simple, but i think it works for this card.


don't forget to make your card for this challenge too!
enjoy!

walking in a winter wonderland (in july) challenge

so, i finally decided on a layout for my card for the new pixie dust challenge (challenge 33): walking in a winter wonderland color challenge. the challenge was to use a holiday theme with the colors navy, grey/silver, and white/ivory.

how could i resist using this super cute holiday gnome again?? i really love gnomes (he he), as you may know, so i just went for it. i added the gnomes house (aka the mushroom).

again, i paper pieced the mushroom (it's easier and looks better than when i attempt to color it in! if i just color the digi stamps, it looks like a 2nd grader colored it for some reason!). i glittered the snowflakes, and popped up the mushroom and gnome to add...you guessed it: dimension. i also ripped some textured white cardstock to give the illusion of snowcovered hills.

the cherry on top of this card (in my book), is the sentiment. i love plays on words.

anyhow, it turns out this is one of my favorite cards - possibly because of the gnome and mushroom, i can't lie. :)

enjoy! and thanks again!