Die Cuttin' Divas 12 - Mothers' Day

Die Cuttin' Divas challenge this week is to create a project dedicated to a mother.  To go along with the journal for my mother-in-law I needed a card, so this was the perfect challenge!

I layered the white background cut from the Just Cards cart over a green polkadot paper and sponged the edges with pink Distress Ink.  Then I added the word Mom from the Cursive 101 cart and cut out the beautiful spring tree with the Heritage cart.  I used Flower Soft for some beautiful spring flowers and added a pretty polkadot green ribbon to the bottom of the tree.  I love how the Flower Soft turned out, even though I did feel like I was getting carpal tunnel squeezing that glue! Did I not cut the end back far enough??

Hope all you moms have a fantastic Mothers' Day next weekend!

Be sure to check out my coordinating journal post :)

Fantabulous Cricut 57 - Mum's The Word

We're nearing Mother's Day very quickly! With Easter so late it seems weird that Mother's Day is almost here.  I'm grateful for the FCCB challenge this week to make a special project for a mother and include the word mom, mum, mother, etc, so I can get my mother in law's parcel mailed out!

I have had a hard cover dollar store journal for quite a few years in my 'stash that I always knew I'd eventually use and that's why I'm keeping it'. (please tell me you all have one of them :) So, I pulled it out and covered it with some Brenda Watson paper and my trusty glue gun. For the cover, I cut the white background with the Just Cards cart and sponged the edges with pink Distress Ink. I added the word Mom from the Cursive 101 cart and stamped My Mind's Eye stamps on the background along with a cute border stamp I picked up for $1.50! from Michaels.  I used the Heritage cart for the bird cut out and covered it with flocking.  This was the first time I've used flocking and I was pleased with the results!

I added a line of stickles in the cutouts of the white background and added a ribbon bookmark in the back, inside cover (below).

Hope all you moms out there have a wonderfully happy Mothers' Day next weekend!

Be sure to check out my coordinating card :)

Scrapbooker's Paradise Toonie Thursday

I love Toonie Thursday :) Amie, my youngest, has just begun preschool Thursday afternoons, which leaves me free to go to Scrapbooker's Paradise for their Toonie Thursday! (even though I have taken her with me many times and she is well behaved) It is nice to have a bit of free time though and enjoy some retail therapy at the same time.

Another beautiful card this week... The girls at Scrapbooker's put so much time into preparing a lovely card, all for only $2, and you get a 5% coupon (10% if you're a member). What's not to love?!

I needed something to pick me up after waking to this in Calgary! I my goodness, will Spring every be here?!

Birthday Sundaes Challenge 6 - Special BDay Challenge & Crafty Cardmakers 44 - A Royal Wedding

Well, the Royal Wedding is very close, and so over at the Crafty Cardmakers site the challenge is to make a card using red, white and blue and/or a wedding theme.  I went with the red, white and blue color scheme and made a birthday theme to coincide with the Birthday Sundaes challenge, which was to NOT make a card, but rather make birthday themed projects such as invitations, cupcake toppers, etc.  It was fun to think outside the box this time and come up with some fun party accessories! 

I used the Just Cards and the Once Upon a Princess Cricut cartridges to make an invitation, a butterfly cupcake topper, a crown party favor, and a purse placecard.

On the backside of the placecard I cut out Birthday Party and added Stickles and a gem.

I used Inkadinkado stamps to make the invite and a banner stamp (from Michaels for $1.50!) across the top. I added some Glossy Accents to the edges of the ticket stubs after cutting with 'postage' cut scissors.

Drunken Stampers Challenge 64 - Farm Animals & TSG Sketch Challenge 104

The Drunken Stampers have another great challenge this week; to create a card featuring farm animals! I don't have many farm animal stamps, so I was stumped at first, but then as I was surfing I saw someone posting about digital stamps. Ah-ha! I found a cute little chicken at Little Musings blog which was a freebie! She has lots of amazing digi stamps on her site, so head over to have a look.  I colored this little guy with Prisma colored pencils and used some farm paper for the background.  I covered the word 'country' with Glossy Accents and used foam tape to attach it.

I decided to use the sketch from the TSG Sketch Challenge and made a top folding card with rounded bottom edges.  I thought the orange gingham would go with the country chicken theme and chose orange papers and ribbon for the vertical stripe.

Now we should head out to our local farm attraction to see all those new farm animals :)

Playing in Paradise Sketch Challenge 12

Over at Scrapbooker's Paradise blog the challenge this week is a sketch. I bought the cutest paper, a new collection I saw on Scrapbooker's website, Hometown by Pink Paislee.  It is so retro summer! I used the Sunnyside Lane paper on the front of the card and the coordinating backside of the paper as the half-circle on the top.  I cut out the cute little kids from the Summer Fun paper. I added some Glossy Accents to some of the numbers and a bright yellow button to the bottom strip.

I can't wait to use this collection in some scrapbooking! It totally makes me feel like summer is coming.... :)

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 114 & Drunken Stampers Challenge 64

For the Sweet Sunday Challenge this week I used a new Penny Johnson stamp I picked up last week.  It is so springy and cute with the little lamb!  I watercolored the image with Tombow markers on watercolor paper and embossed the flowers with a Cuttlebug embossing folder on Coordinations paper.  I used a white Gelly Roll pen to make the stitch marks around the flowers.  I used a strip of tissue paper and folded it onto a strip of adhesive across the bottom of the card and added a silk flower.

Drunken Stampers challenge this week is to use a farm animal in your project, so even though I did make a card for their challenge I wanted to share this one too.

Sketchy Thursday - 4.21 Challenge - My Day!

Well, it is almost Mothers' Day again, and since I'm a tiny bit behind in my scrapbooking, I thought I'd use the Sketchy Thursdays' challenge this week to work on last year's Mothers' Day pics :)

I used the Pink Paislee Sweetness Collection. The papers are so beautiful, it was hard to pick what to use! I used the round sticker in the middle instead of using 3 small pics and used the coordinating stickers for the title {my day}.  I did some computer journalling and shaded the edge of the paper with Distress Ink after printing it off.

I am definitely blessed to have two wonderful daughters! xo

Be sure to stop by Sketchy Thursdays blog to see all the fantastic challenge entries!

Cricut Expression 2 Giveaway!

Pop over to Everyday Cricut to enter to win a new Cricut Expression 2 machine!! Draw is Monday April 25th at 8:05 pm central.  Good Luck!

Also, lots more yummy giveaways to be awarded!

Scrapbooker's Paradise Toonie Thursday

Each Thursday in their stores Scrapbooker's Paradise has a $2 card to make which uses different products! This week the North store featured Flower Soft.  I've never used this before, so I thought I'd try it out.  It is so neat!  For this card we simply cut pieces of wire, dipped them in the Flower Soft glue and rolled them into the Flower Soft and then let them dry.  After drying we stuck them onto a large glue dot on the card, added some curled pieces of thinly cut vellum, and placed a vase over the bottom, securing it to the card with some Glossy Accents.  The flowers can then be adjusted to lie however you want.  I've also seen the Flower Soft used with a hedgehog stamp, so that's my next project :)

Birthday Sundaes Challenge 5 - Anything Goes!

Over at Birthday Sundaes this week there is an Anything Goes challenge, where the only rule was to make sure you had a birthday sentiment on the front.  Who doesn't need an excuse to make up a supply of birthday cards! This is a fun site with lots of birthday card inspiration!

I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks and sponged them on a tag, then spritzed with Shimmer Spray and added a little water for effect.  I then stamped over the tag with a cool Mind's Eye chandelier stamp, border and saying, and added Happy Birthday with foam dots.  For the card base I stamped all over, alternating blue and red Distress Ink and then blended it with some Walnut Stain and added a little Shimmer Spray all over. For the finishing touch I added a white paper flower, which I sponged with blue distress ink and added a fabric covered brad.

Happy Easter everyone!

Drunken Stampers Challenge 63 - Technology Sucks!

Ok, I don't really think technology sucks :) but we do rely on it too much sometimes! My daughter, who is 4, can't believe we really didn't have cell phones or play on the computer when we were small! This week Drunken Stampers challenge was to create something that did not use electricity or batteries.  I had just got the Winter issue of Stamp It Magazine, which by the way has some great techniques in it, and saw a cool card stamped with a multicolor ink pad.  I think sometimes I overlook the simple cards, but they end up looking so good! 

Stamp: Stampendous - Loopy Blooms

Hope you all have a Happy Easter!

Fantabulous Cricut - Do The Bunny Hop, Challenge 56

This week Fantabulous Cricut has another fun challenge - make a project using a bunny or chick! I used the Paper Doll cart and put a really cute little bunny costume on the girl and added a basket and bunny cut with the Stretch Your Imagination cart.  I used some Stampin' Up paper for the outfit and bunny/basket and added some sweet flower brads to the basket. I stamped the face with Peachy Keen stamps (their service was awesome for shipping!)  I just love the little bunny slippers!

Hope you all have a Happy Easter!

Karla

Tag - You're It - Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge 11

For this week's fun challenge from Die Cuttin' Divas I've made a cute Easter card using the Stretch Your Imagination cart for the bunny and the Heritage cart for the tag.  I love looking through the cartridge books to find things I normally wouldn't have used.  (Thanks Divas!) I found so many really nice tags in the Heritage book.

I used some Stampin' Up paper to cut out the bunny and egg die cut and added some stickles and popped the tag and bunny with foam tape.  I used my Fiskars border punch for the green striped paper (I've gotten a lot of use from this punch), added a flower eyelet and pink ribbon to the top of the tag, and put a couple cute flower brads in the corners.

I also got my March prize package in the mail this week from the Divas, and I'm very excited to dive into it! Thanks again :)

Happy Easter!

Karla

Here Comes Peter Cottontail!

I found a great site, Bee Crafty with a really cute free digital stamp! I've never used a digital stamp before, but it was so easy to save to my computer and then print out and color.  I used markers and colored pencils - my Prisma pencils are awesome for blending :) Bee Crafty is having a challenge to use any digital image on an Easter project and link to their site by May 1.

I used the Sweet Sunday Challenge for my layout, where you can always find awesome sketches!

I added buttons on my card to go along with the Scrapbooker's Paradise Playing in Paradise 'Get Creative with Buttons' challenge.  I used a die cut button with floss tied on and I attached the 3 little buttons at the bottom with Glossy Accents.

I love this Topstitch paper from CTMH! I rounded the corners of my image instead of using a circle, and added some Stickles (of course!).

Thanks for joining me, and for all the inspiration to create great Easter cards!!

Happy Easter :)

Heart 2 Heart Bunny Hop!!

It's time for the Heart 2 Heart Bunny Hop, and I have chosen to create some fun Easter cards! I used the CTMH Flower Pot stamp on a tag I cut from green cardstock and colored the flowers in with Metalic Gelly Roll gel pens.  I stamped the pot on purple patterned paper and cut it out and applied it to the cardstock.  The paper and cardstock are from a CTMH paper pack I used for a crop a while ago and had a bunch of leftovers from.  I wanted to make several cards, and since I didn't have quite enough paper to completely cover the card front, I pieced the fronts together! I love using the paper packs since everything coordinates and the papers look so beautiful together. I stamped CTMH Make My Day stamp in the corner, and used foam dots to put the tag on.

Each of the cards are just a little bit diferent.

 Hop on over to Heart 2 Heart to check out their blog and the list of everyone participating so you can see lots of amazing work!  You can even link your project up too... but only for today!

 Happy Easter everyone and thanks for visiting!!

Karla

Shelley Bean Stamps

Just a quick note to check out the cool site, Shelley Bean Stamps to pick up a free beautifiul digi stamp!

http://www.shelleybeanstamps.blogspot.com/

Thanks for dropping by :)

Karla

Sketchy Thursday - 4.14 Challenge

This is my first entry into Sketchy Thursday's challenges, and I'm excited! I went to a crop last night with my sister at a meetup for scrapbooking and met hostess, Michelle.  If you are in the NW of Calgary, definitely check out her meetup group http://www.meetup.com/Crafty-Creators-NW/members/14217372/ to be notified of scrapbooking get-togethers. Isn't that the best part of scrapbooking?! Her blog is http://www.chellescreativecorner.blogspot.com/ . It's so fun to meet new scrapbookers and see what others are doing!

Anyway, I completed this sketch layout for my niece's 10th birthday.  I loved the sketch!  I used CTMH Boom Di Ada paper and stickers and a stitch stamp on the pages. I used Distress Ink around the edges and a Cricut cut for the letters.  It is the first time I have actually cut a picture to carry across the page on a 2 page layout!

3 in 1 - using CC Designs!

I just love this little girl stamp holding the ice cream from CC Designs!  I started out doing the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #112 and picked out this little stamp I colored with markers and pencils.  I thought since she had a yellow dress this would also go along nicely with the Crafty Cardmakers blog challenge #43, which is to use yellow as a main color, and to use ribbon, stitching, and gems.  Then, I realized that it would also be in the theme of the Simon Says Stamp Challenge blog to create a card 'For a Child'.

I am not usually this coordinated when it comes to combining challenges, but these just seemed to flow together!

I layered the yellow embossed cardstock onto green polkadot paper, then I faux-stitched around it with a CTMH stitch stamp.  I included green ribbon on the left edge of the card, and gems in the center of the flowers at the bottom.

I think this turned out pretty cute :) and I'm sure a little girl would love to receive this as a birthday card!

Thanks for stopping by!

Die Cuttin' Divas - #10 Mix it up!

This week the Die Cuttin' Divas challenge is to use two different cartridge cuts.  So, I pulled out the Just Cards cart and cut a cute truck for a little boy's birthday card and added 'happy birthday' cut with the Simply Sweet cart.

I put black brads in the center of the tires and popped them up with foam dots, along with the birthday word.

 I had another chance to use the packaging that came with some Imaginesce stickers as a background.  I actually really like this wood grain... I may have to find a stamp or some paper..... :)

Spring Fling - FCCB Cricut Crawl and Challenge

Over at Fantabulous Cricut there is a very fun Spring Fling Cricut Crawl and Challenge going on this week! The Challenge is create a spring project using pink, yellow & green. Click on the link above to get in on the crawl and find lots of great blog prizes along with way!

I used Once Upon a Princess cart and embossed the edges of the yellow cardstock with Cuttlebug embossing folders and then highlighted them a bit with some Distress Ink sponged on.  I added some Stickles and glitter.

Since we woke up in here Calgary to close to a foot of snow, I'm going to surf all the spring projects and pretend it really is springy here :)

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - H2H Challenge

Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog has an Earth day challenge this week- to reuse/recycle something in your artwork.  This is a great challenge! I usually think of 10 different things I could do with something, but then throw it out because I don't want the clutter! Well, this way I actually was able to recycle without having it lay around to gather dust.

I had just recently bought a pack of chipboard stickers by Imaginesce.  They have this great wood grain piece of cardstock inside the package, so I cut it to the size I needed and added it to my card.  I used CMTH Topstich paper pack, Just blooms, and Find Your Style stamp set.  I stamped the bird with Versamark onto glossy cardstock, let it dry completely, and went over with a brayer rolled with Blue Breeze Kaleidacolor ink pad, then wiped the excess ink off the cardstock. I also used the brayer and same ink to roll over the flower and added a sticker from the Topstich Stickease pack.

Now, I've already put aside a few things to recycle for my next project!

Check out the H2H Blog for info on their Bunny Hop this Monday, April 18th.

Thank You Flower Card

Yay! Yesterday and today are definitely springlike! (we won't talk about the flurries in the weather for later this week) So, for now I'm going to get out and enjoy the sunshine :)

Heart 2 Heart Close To My Heart Challenge blog has an 'April Showers brings May Flowers' challenge to use Showers and/or Flowers in a card.

I used my CTMH Flower Pot stamp set and Stitches stamp set, along with the Cherry-O Paper Pack.  I sponged distress ink around the edges of the paper and cardstock and used Tombow markers to watercolor the flowers and window box, which I popped up with foam tape.

Happy Spring!

Ducky Umbrella - Challenge Me Monday #54

I thought I'd try another challenge this week too! Fantabulous Cricut's Monday Challenge #54 called for a die cut card with an umbrella or hat. (In my case I think winter boots might have been more appropriate for here in Calgary!)

I used the Just Cards cartridge for the duck, umbrella and sun and the Once Upon a Princess cart for the rainbow. The grass is from Everyday Paperdolls (and left over from a previous card).  I love looking through the cartridge books to find different ways to use the cuts I might not have even realized were there.

I used some glossy accents on the puddle and stickles for some lingering raindrops.



Circle Challenge - TSG 101

This week There She Goes Clear Stamps' challenge was Round and Around - to make a round or oval card without angles.

I used the Cricut to cut out the black round flower and green cut out circle and pasted them on top of a circle card base. I used a stencil and some distress inks on the green circle, and then I used CTMH stamps for the flower, leaf and sentiment. I crinkled the inner flower circle a bit and sponged on some brown distress ink, and I highlighted with some glossy accents and stickles!

I added some glossy accents to the mini flower buttons.

Mini Monster Birthday Card - Die Cuttin' Divas #9

Time for another Die Cuttin' Divas awesome challenge! This week they did a sketch challenge.  I used my Mini Monster cartridge that I'm loving! This was for a birthday card for a little boy.

http://diecuttindivas.blogspot.com/2011/04/challenge-9-sketch-challenge.html

  

I also used the Once Upon a Princess cart for the "Happy Birthday" and the Everyday Paper Dolls cart for the fence and stars.

Amie 'needed' me to take a picture of the card with her ponies!

Frankie - Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #111

My sister gave me a cute Frankenstein stamp by Penny Black last weekend, and he's just too adorable to save for halloween! I colored him with Sharpie markers and Prisma coloring pencils and used purples, blacks and oranges. (I've been finding I'm using a lot of purples lately!)

http://kgiron.blogspot.com/2011/04/sweet-sunday-sketch-challenge-111.html

I turned the sketch on it's side, and I embossed the circle with a Cuttlebug embossing folder, then swiped it with Versamark and added some Perfect Pearls powder. Of course, he had to have some Stickles sparkles added to his patches!

Get Well Soon Kitty

My sister gave me this really cute Penny Black Kitty stamp on the weekend. What a great sister! I used it to make a cute spring-feeling get well card for a friend.  The cute bird cardstock along the bottom is actually raised and feels soft! I cut 3 flowers from the Cricut and crumpled them and sponged on some distress ink and then put a shiny purple brad in the center. I colored the stamp with Sharpie markers and Prisma coloring pencils.

Die Cuttin Divas- Easter card Challenge

Love those Die Cuttin' Divas challenges! This week is an Easter card.  This little bunny was so cute :) I also die cut the grass and crumpled it, then sponged on some Distress Ink.

I also entered this card into the Oh My Crafts Easter Card Contest on their blog!

March Stamp of the Month

This weekend was a blog hop for Autism Awareness.  What an amazing cause. I am so delighted to have won the draw for the March Stamp of the Month by Pink By Design from the More Than Favors blog!

Grow March 2011

It is so cute, I can't wait to make some spring cards!