Princess shaped card

Last week I could no longer resist the "Dreams Come True" bundle from Lettering Delights and used the last bit of my monthly scrapping allowance to finally buy this awesome bundle of princesses, princes, villians, and accessories.  I am still playing around with my Silhouette software, learning how to do things, and I thought it would be a fun time to learn how to make a shaped card.  I watched a few YouTube tutorials, but it was really so easy!  You just do an offset, mirror it above, move them so they're touching, and then weld them together. 

I picked this princess and may have hummed a few lines of a song sung by a princess who looks an awful lot like her while I was putting the layers together- which was super easy too, by the way.  I decided to give her brown hair, but the rest of the colors I went with what LD suggested.  I added a little sparkle to her flowers with some Crystal stickles.

I have no kids, I have no nieces, I have no little girls who love princesses in my life- but I'm not going to lie, I'm very tempted to make the whole princess line up just because they're so cute and I like them so much.  If you like princesses or have someone who does, I would definitely recommend these files.  It's a $35 bundle that is currently discounted to $12, and if you've purchased anything from LD in the past month (even a freebie) they include a 25% off coupon code in the email confirmation...so I got the entire bundle for $9.  You can't beat that!

I'm entering this into the "Shaped Cards" challenge at Die Cuttin Divas.

Dog-gone good birthday

How is it Wednesday already?  The week sure goes by quickly after a holiday weekend!  Today I had some time to get back into my craft room and whip up a little birthday card to add to my stash. 

I started with this stamp from SP & Company.  I stamped it on tan cardstock and colored in the nose with a bic marker and the eyes with a gel pen.  Then I stamped it again on white paper, colored in the flower with a marker, and then covered the flower with Turquoise stickles for a little sparkle.

The sentiment is from my very favorite Jaded Blossom set, "Puppy Love."  I bent the stamp just a little to make it fit onto my green smashbook flag.  Our Meijer had them on clearance for a dollar and I just couldn't resist!

I put the dog and the sentiment centered on a piece of paper from MME, rounded the edges, and then put that onto some black cardstock.  Clean, simple, and ready for our next birthday!

This card is being entered into the following challenges:

Pumpkin Spice Blog- Anything Goes

CAS-ology- Furry                                

Red Carpet Studio Challenges- Sixteen Candles (birthday card)                            

Simon Says Stamp Challenge- Anything Goes                           

All That Stickles- Turquoise

Love you a Latte

Hello again!  It's time for another challenge at Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenges!  This time, our challenge is to use Foam Tape on your project!

 I made a 4x4 card for this challenge using the Love you a Latte cartridge.  Instead of cutting the base layer of the image, I just cut out a 4x4 card.  Then I cut the other three layers at 4 inches.  I used some of my thickest foam tape to pop up the image, and then some smaller foam tape to pop up the heart even more! 

I put some glossy accents on the heart to make it shine and put a pink button from my stash on the bottom with a bow tied with some Trendy Twine. 

I thought I'd add a side view, just so you could see some of the dimension.

This is going to be a fun one- remember, you can combine our challenge with other challenges.  Why don't you head over to Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenges and check out what the rest of the DT made, and then pull out your foam tape and play along!

Bike Card

Happy Friday crafty friends!  Today I have a card that I made using my trusty Cricut and the Sweethearts cartridge.  I have this super cute bicycle paper from a MME stack that I wanted to use as the background on the bottom, and I have plain cardstock as the background on the top.  I used some blue washi tape from Doodlebug for the join between the papers.  I put two layers on top of each other to make it less transparent. 

For the flowers in the bike's basket, I hand cut some flowers from a different pattern in the same MME stack.  Some I glued down directly on the page, and some I put on foam dots.  If you look carefully, those same flowers are in the basket on the background paper.  :)

This card is being entered into the following challenge:

Die Cuttin Divas- Going for a bike ride

Just a Note

Good morning, bloggy friends!  Today's card is one I made to send as "just a note."  I started out with some kraft cardstock and this cute pink patterned paper from MME.  Then I stamped and colored the cute dog from the "Birthday4Cookie" stamp set by the Stamps of Life.   I colored her to look like Sophie.  :)

I stamped the polaroid on another sheet of paper from the same MME pad and cut it out by hand.  My polaroid stamp is from Lilybee Design, but I know there are a ton of them out there right now.  The sentiment is from the "List2Write" stamp set from Stamps of Life. 

I put the pink ribbon across the paper, and decided it needed a little something more.  The List2Write stamp set has this great flower in it that includes the outline, a filled in version, and the filled in center, so I stamped those out in my pink inks and added it to the corner of the frame and over the ribbon.  For a finishing touch I added some gems in the bottom corner.  It's definitely a note card to send a girl...what can I say, I love pink!

This card is being entered into the "Take a Picture" challenge at Simon Says Stamp Challenges.  

Birthday Cupcake

Hi friends!  Today I've combined a few challenges that I was interested in to make a fun birthday card.  The cupcake is from SVG Cutting files, cut with my Cameo.  The file (called Valentine Cupcake) has a cute face, but I didn't include the eye layers or cheeks because I wanted it to just be a cute cupcake.  I used Cotton Candy stickles all over the frosting of the cupcake for some sparkle.

I used plain pink cardstock for the card base and kraft cardstock to layer on top of it.  The twine across the kraft cardstock is Cherry Cupcake trendy twine.  I stamped the sentiment from My Craft Spot's "Birthday Wishes" and then added the few little pearls as a finishing touch.

This card is being entered into the following challenges: 
SVG Cutting Files- Anything Goes                                                                                                  

All That Stickles- Cotton Candy                                                                                       

Trendy Twine- Get Krafty                                                  

My Craft Spot- Ribbon and Twine

Thanks flower

Hi friends!  I hope you're all ready for a fun weekend!  Today I've got an A2 card that I made with a free file from SVG Cuts and my Cameo.  

The card has a dark blue background and some patterned paper from My Minds Eye.  I cut the Chrysanthemum free file from SVG Cuts and then realized that the yellow outline was going to blend in too much to the patterned paper that I had picked.  My face looked like this :( for a few minutes because I had already put my Cameo away and didn't want to pull it back out again, and then I decided to put a piece of pink cardstock under the flower and I felt much better.  I added the pink button at the bottom as an embellishment and stamped the "Thanks" from Pink by Design's "Big Thoughts" stamp set in dark blue ink.

This card is being entered into the following challenges:
Pink by Design Stamps- Thank You
Paper Playtime- Buttons or Brads

Simon Says Stamp Challenges- Flower Power
Silhouette Challenges- Anything Goes

My temporary crafting space

Tara at Craftin Desert Divas is having a "Show your Craft Space" linky party.  We all know how crafters love to be inspired by each other's spaces, so I thought this was a genius idea!  Even though I'm in my temporary craft space and have to share it with our "home office" as well, I thought I'd show you all where I'll be creating for the summer.  Once we're moved into our future home, I will probably do a series on the craft room since I'll have it all to myself (and since one of our criteria in houses is a big crafting space, I know I'll have some fun organizing it).

This is the view of the room from the doorway.  I've left out the office furniture on the other side of the room.  You'll see I have a glass top table- I love it because when it gets adhesive all over it I can just Windex it clean- which was actually my dining room table when I was living the single life.  The other two chairs are hidden away in a closet because of my lack of space.  :)

This is the main wall of my crafting space.  I have a 9 cube organizer with Martha Stewart bins from Home Depot.  They store punches, adhesive, tools, stamps, embossing folders, twine- just about everything!  On top of the 9 drawer organizer is my baby wipes container for cleaning stamps and a coaster- I need my Coke Zero when I craft, but I can't risk it getting on whatever I'm creating!! Hanging above it is where I keep my ribbon in jars from the Dollar Tree.  Next to that are some old sterilite drawer units that I use for more storage and then next to that is a shelf where I keep my Cricuts.  The bottom shelf holds some binders and my 12x12 paper storage.  On top of the shelving unit are two ribbon carousels that I use to store my Washi tape in.  I also have a cork board and the dry erase board that I made here.

This is the back corner.  For now, that brown shelf is just storing things but it's usually used for Cricut cartridges, like here.  Because I knew I was going to be tight on space, I put the Cricut boxes in our storage unit for now and am just keeping the cartridges, handbooks, and overlays in some small bins.  I have a memo board where I keep some odds and ends, a spinning organizer I got from Michaels, a spice rack with brads and buttons, and an old microwave stand that's also a carryover from my single days.  There's my Cameo in a place of honor, and in the cupboard I keep my paper stacks.  Next to that is a brand new rolling organizer that I just bought, and I LOVE it.  I keep projects that are long term- like my "favorite things" Smash book- in those drawers so I can just pull them out when I want to work on them.

Last but not least, is Sophie's corner of the craft room.  I bought this bed so that she would have a comfy place to sleep while I craft, and it took her awhile to get used to it but now it's her favorite bed in the house (she has three).  The blanket was a Christmas present from her aunt (my sister). 

"did you seriously wake me up from my nap just to flash that bright light in my eyes, mom?"

So there you have it.  My apartment craft room.  Compact, but functional.  :)

Happy Mother's Day cards

It's Monday, and you know what that means- time for a challenge at Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenges!  Our theme this time is: Happy ________.  That's right, any project that has to do with happy anything will work!  I chose to make Happy Mother's Day cards for my mom and mother-in-law (and had to wait until after Mother's Day to post them!)

I made these cards using Wild Card, and cut the blackout of the scallop card at 5 inches.  I really wanted the base image of the scallop card, but after wasting a TON of yellow cardstock with it ripping or not cutting all the way through as I tried to adjust various settings, I just went with the blackout because it cut better.  I still think the card works.

The kraft circle and pink image were cut at 4 inches from Storybook.  I adhered them onto the card base and then put little pink pearls that I got from the dollar bin at Michaels in the center of each flower.  To finish off the card, I made bows from some off-white ribbon and glued them to the top of the card with glossy accents.

The inside of the card is stamped with sentiments from Joy's Life Everyday Occasions and Holiday Occasions.

 What kind of happy crafts do you want to make?  Check out some inspiration from the rest of the DT at Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenges and then it's your turn!

I'm also entering these cards into the Fun Friday Mother's Day Challenge at Little Scrap Pieces.  

Polkadot butterfly

Today's card is CAS and small- sometimes I just need to have small cards that I can pop onto a gift, which was my motivation for this small 4x4 card.  I started out with the color palette from the Jaded Blossom monthly challenge- that's how I got my brown card base, teal background paper, and red color for the butterfly (also, my awesome JB "Happy Birthday" stamp from the Puppy Love set!)

I also wanted to include this card in the CAS-ual Friday's Tic Tac Toe challenge, so I chose the column of "polka dots/ square card/birthday."  If you know me, you know that I can't resist polka dots, so that was a no brainer!  When I saw the Simon Says Stamp Challenge to have something with wings is when the card finally came together.  Butterflies are super cute and can be pretty simple to put together, which is a plus when you're planning on making a bunch of a card.  I found this butterfly on the Baby Steps cartridge and only used the base layer and the body, and then drew a little face on with gel pens.  The butterfly was cut at 2 1/4 inches.

I seriously can't wait to have natural light to take my pictures in again!

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

CAS-ual Fridays- Tic Tac Toe                                                                                        

Jaded Blossom- Color Challenge                                                                  

Simon Says Stamp Challenge- Things with Wings

Mother's Day

Hi friends!  I hope you've all had some happy crafting.  I finally pulled my Cricut out- for the first time since our move- and did some creating.  I made an A2 card on off-white cardstock.  Then I layered on some MME chevron paper, then some Bo Bunny Double Dot paper on top of that.  I used an embossing folder to emboss some vellum- did you know you could do that?- and layered it on top.  Then I used more of the MME chevron paper to create some banners.

I cut the rose from Celebrate with Flourish.  I didn't use the top layer, instead I just drew on the swirls with my versapen.  The sentiment is on the branding strip from the MME paper, which I love because it's still got the chevron pattern but it has the off-white coloring, and I stamped it with a sentiment from AmyR stamps.  I added some gems in the four corners and it was finished!

This card is being entered into the following challenges: 
Fantabulous Cricut- Mother’s Day                                                                                                                  

Bitten by the Bug 2- Mom is the best                                                                                                              

Exploring Cricut- Mother’s Day                                                                                                                        

Paper Playtime- Emboss                                                                                                                                  

Die Cuttin Divas- Sketch                                                                                                                                   

Celebrate the Occasion- Happy Mother’s Day

Sophie in the snow

I hope you were able to have a fun National Scrapbook Day last Saturday!  I was able to devote the whole day to scrapbooking, and it was a really fun day for me!  I realized as I was scrapping that I am just so much more comfortable scrapping in 8x8 than any other size I've tried.  Both Sophie's book and the book I'm working on about my childhood right now are in 8x8, and I find myself enjoying it so much more than I do when I scrap in 12x12.  I think it's because I'm kind of a minimalist in terms of embellishments, and 8x8 is just the right size for the amount of embellishing I like.  When I have 12x12, I feel like I need to fill up the whole page and it stresses me out a little.

Anyway, here's a layout I made on NSD about Sophie at our old house, coming in from playing in the snow and how she always had snow all over her face and legs.  I used mostly Echo Park's "Woof" mini collection for the paper and embellishments and a dark blue piece of cardstock for the background.  I also used a Jenni Bowlin bingo card, some dog bone brads I picked up on clearance at Hobby Lobby, a tag from Max and Whiskers by BasicGrey, and the "adorable" chipboard piece from Bella Blvd.  There's not really much of a story to tell beyond the picture, so I decided not to journal this time.  I like having a mix of some pages without journaling and some with journaling in my albums.

This layout is being entered in the "use 4x6 photos" challenge at Shimelle.com.