I'm Dreaming of a Blue Christmas??

The sketch inspiration for this card comes from Card Positioning Systems and I'm playing along with Crafty Creatsoins where the challenge is BLUE! I just went with Christmas when I pulled out this card kit from Jane over at Card Maker Card Swap...thanks Jane, I really had fun with this kit! The sentiment comes from Stampin' Up's Holiday Wishes set.

A Sweet & Yummy Kid's Birthday Card

When that kid is my niece and she's all "cuteness", this color combo is the yummiest and the sketch is the sweetest!


I used the OCC Color Challenge (lt. pink, hot pink, white & chocolate chip) to put together my card for the Corrosive Challenge (Kids Birthday) this week. The square of patterned paper and the flower came to me in a card kit from Jane from one of the swaps over at the CardMaker magazine Card Swaps message board. Cosmo Cricket made the "with love" & "cuteness" stickers, from their Honey Pie line. Oh, and let's not forget the sketch that inspired me was the Sweet Sunday Sketch #36. What a fun sketch this was to work with!!

Poka Dot Punches in a Recipe

This is another one of those sketches that I've been staring at for almost a week...it comes from The Corrosive Challenge and I originally created my card with the "ribbon" running down the left side, but when I went to photograph is I just liked the top opening view better! Strange how sometimes things work out like that...


Then I took Ann's advice to Think Pink & Black over at her Creative Nook. I'm faking it with the Papertake Weekly Challenge, the "ribbon" is obviously not ribbon but a sticker strip whose manufacturer I can't recall right now but I got in an order from PeachyCheap.com. And I cooked this all up using the recipe over at Simon Says ! The recipe said to use 3 embellishments, 2 papers, and 1 image on your creation. My embellishments are the fake ribbon, the flower punches (part of a card kit from Jane over at the CardMaker magazine Card Swaps message board), and that very adorable pink brad which has swirlies on it. The brad is from Queen & Co. and I got it when I went to the convention in Tulsa. The two papers I used are from Bo Bunny's Alissa line, Kissable & Love You. And my one image is from Stampin Up's Polka Dot Punches!

Whoo Says Fall is in the Air!?!

An Autumn theme is the subject of several challenges out there, and I'm loving owls on my cards these days so I thought I'd use this little guy on a card and knock out three challenges! You may or may not have missed me the past few days...I just had no mojo. *sniff* But I had several sketches sitting here and got busy this morning, so I'm actually ready to do a marathon of posting in order to get these cards in to some challenges.

Anyway, back to Mr. Owl (who came to me in a package of card candy from Margaret, over on the CardMaker magazine Card Swaps message board)...I just put him on a brown base and added a couple of scalloped edges of Fancy Pants Delight in the Potpourri pattern. He's going to be entering two Fall challenges, first A Spoonful of Sugar #69 Fall Into Autumn and also Belli #74. I got my sketch from CPS, where their challenge #133 is being sponsored by Zva Creative.

One Stop Craft Challenge 46 - Let It Snow

Snowflakes...Let it Snow...that's the challenge over at One Stop Craft Challenge this week. I borrowed this snowflake stamp from a friend and originally worked this card up for a challenge during the Christmas in July crop over at the CardMaker magazine Card Swaps message board.

Jazzy Inspirations #19 & Card Positioning Systems #132

Happy Labor Day! I hope the most labor any of you have to do is create a card. Ella & Dizzy inspired this week's color challenge over at Jazzy Inspirtaions, the colors of that poster are light blue, purple & white. My sketch inspiration comes from Card Positioning Systems. I was glad to have an opporunity to use up more of that Elegant Eggplant cardstock left over from wedding projects! I punched two hearts out of some patterned paper from a kit from Lora swapped at CardMaker magazine Card Swaps message board. The stamped sentiment came from another swap on the message board and is from Terrie. I added some Elegant Eggplant and some Bashful Blue with my blender pen (since I'm still too cheap to buy markers), along with a dot of Crytal Effects in the center of the flowers to make the image fit the color challenge.

One Stop Craft Challenge #45

I had so much fun making this card! It's based on Nikki's sketch over at One Stop Craft Challenge. Probably the reason the card was so much fun is because it's a shower card for my TAC Angel, who is anxiously awaiting Baby Lily's arrival! I bet you can't guess what Lily's room look like...brown & pink with a bird painted on the wall. I always love it when I have the perfect stamp set for someone's card! I used two Stampin' Up sets, A Little Birdie Told Me and Baby Talk. For the background flowers I used a fun TAC set called Blooming Builders. Other supplies I used include the pink patterned papers & dotted ribbon, which came from Jane in a CardMaker magazine Card Swaps message board kit swap. And probably my favorite element is the pink, flocked flower ribbon from Prima. I don't normally choose flocked stuff, but this was in a bargain package and when I got to thinking about this card for Lily I figured "what the heck"...and lo & behold, I fell in love with it!!

Simon Says...Back to School

What an appropriate theme the team over at Simon Says came up with this week! It was back to school for me this week. A time I look forward to for the simple fact that I love new school supplies! And it's fun to get the year started with a new group of Smarties, tho' that part of this time of year is rather exhausting...I always forget what "babies" they are when they start Kindergarten. So, I altered this tin as a part of a swap/challenge during the Christmas in July Crop over at CardMaker magazine Card Swaps message board. Lora enticed us to sign up for the swap...then announced the theme, which was to alter a tin to depict our favorite childhood toy. Well, I loved to play school and I had to have school supplies for that. *grin* These three views of my tin show the top, front side & inside (the goodies displayed with the tin were included for my partner in the swap...and I went with the snowflake theme for them since not everyone is as nuts about school supplies as I am)! The paper I used to alter my tin is from Stampin' Up's Summer Picnic DSP.

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge - #32

I'm back...had to take a little break to get geared up for the first day of school, but things are underway now and I had a little bit of time for card making last night. Here's what I came up with for the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #32.

This was a challenge for me because circles are not my thing...I don't have circle punches, so it's difficult for me to get excited about circles (even halves of them)! I'm also using this for Lori's color challenge which is this week's challenge over at CardMaker magazine Card Swaps message board. When I read "green, red & black"...I told myself I would not do Christmas, so I've got a fun late summer card instead. The gingham circle and the watermelon border are both out of a package of goodies I got out of the Target $1 bin!

Good Tuesday morning! Today is my last official day of summer vacation, but like yesterday I'll be in my classroom working on tasks that should've been completed long ago. yikes!

Here's a pretty purple card I put together recently. I had these So Precious rub-ons from Cosmo Cricket in my stash and they were just begging to be used. The patterned paper came from Lora, part of a card kit swap over at CardMaker magazine Card Swaps message board.

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #31

Karen has a fun sketch for us over at her blog, the sweetest thing! I completed it with layers of Bo Bunny patterned paper from the Alissa line. The black layer is called Twirls and the other two layers are the reverse sides of Kissable. I also managed to use some card candy from Rainy B. over at CardMaker magazine Card Swaps message board.

PPA2 - Simple Sketch

Have y'all seen the fun stuff happening over at PPA (Pals Paper Arts)? I have been following the blogs of the girls on the design team for several months and let me tell you they are all awesome!! So, I was very excited when they announced their PPA Challenge site. I didn't get to play along last week because it was a color challenge using the new Stampin ' Up In Colors, which I currently don't own. *sniffle* So, I was happy to see that this week's challenge is a simple sketch and I was excited to whip up this fun birthday card. The only SU products I managed to use were the Happy Birthday sentiment from Something to Celebrate using Bashful Blue ink. My patterned paper is from Making Memories...I love this doublesided Flower Patch series! The butterfly is cut out of the reverse side of the pattern the sentiment is mounted on. Oh, and I can't forget to mention a couple of goodies I used from a CardMaker magazine Card Swaps message board kit swap...the pretty flower is from Ellie & the yellow ribbon is from Teresa. Thanks girls!

And that concludes my marathon of posting, I'll let you get back to your regularly scheduled lives!!

Simon Says...Buttons and Ribbons

Yes, I could've submitted the previous card for both that challenge and the Simon Says buttons & ribbons challenge this week, but there's a method to my madness (which shall be revealed later...*grin*). For a girl who really does not like green...I have to say, I love this card. I wouldn't have been able to do it without Lori & Lora over at CardMaker magazine Card Swaps message board! The green dragonfly was a part of Lori's swap of card candy and the green buttons came out of a tin of goodies from Lora. The paper is from Stampin' Up's Rainbow Sherbet, my all time favorite DSP. And that darling little gingham ribbon is from TAC's Lily Anna set!

Crafty Creations Challenge #27

Prepare yourselves for a marthon of posting today...I've got four challenges completed and I'm leaving for Tucson tomorrow, so they all have to go up today!! And without further ado, let's talk about Deena's challenge to use buttons on a project over at Crafty Creations. My sentiment for this card came from Jeanette B. in a sentiment swap over at the CardMaker magazine Card Swaps message board. The patterned paper is from Fancy Pants...their Delight series, the flowered paper is Potpourri & the striped is called Spice.

Just Christmas and Brithday Cards #41

What a fun sketch Kristen has over at Just Christmas and Birthday Cards! I got to use a sentiment from a swap and some of Jeanette B's card candy on this fun card. The sentiment & card candy both came from swaps over at CardMaker magazine Card Swaps message board. And see that cute gingham border around the sentiment...out of a summer package of goodies from Target's $1 bin. Don't you just love a bargain??

Card Positioning Systems #127

Here's my idea for the Card Positioning Systems #127 challenge. The beautiful image came from a card candy swap over at CardMaker magazine Card Swaps message board.

Card Folder

Last week one of the challenges on the CardMaker magazine Card Swaps message board Christmas in July crop was to create a card holder to give someone a gift of cards. I accepted that challenge and created just the folder to enter the challenge. I spent yesterday afternoon creating a set of six cards, with lined envelopes to coordinate with the folder. I created the cards especially with my sister and her oldest daughter in mind. Bryanna will be leaving for college in just a few short weeks, and my sister is slightly freaking out. I remember this feeling, and the fact that I spent a small fortune on cards when both my girls left for college...I tried to send them a card about once a week, with a little "care package" from home. So, in order to help my sister out with that I made her this set of cards and now when Bry gets a little something from home, she'll also know that Aunt June is thinking about her too!!

Happy News!

I had a pleasant surprise when I logged in to the CardMaker magazine Card Swaps message board this morning! This is a great group of ladies I discovered quite by accident back in April, at that time they were in the middle of a fun crop and I jumped right in and haven't looked back! We just finished another crop, the much acclaimed Christmas in July Crop, last week. It was tons of fun and I have never seen so many amazing projects...it was just an awesome week! Anyway, back to that happy news I discovered this morning...I logged on and found out that I was a random winner of the Joy to the World challenge hosted by Tracy! So, I wanted to share that card with you today. It was a new style card for me called the joy fold...very easy to do, but not something I'd have just up and done on my own. So, I really appreciate the challenges on the message board since I tend to stick in my top fold/side fold 4 1/4" by 5 1/2" rut if I don't have someone "pushing" me to branch out...so thanks to Tracy, I'm a winner and a brancher!! The photo on top shows the card closed and the photo on the bottom shows the card partically open. Oh, and I should probably mention that the stamped image and ribbon I used on this card came from card kits I received in a card swap at the message board. There's just always something fun and exciting happening with the gang at Card Swaps!