Embellish Challenge: quirky, cutesy, clean

OOF-DA!

it's friday! :D

i am so happy for today for a few reasons: i have homemade bread in my kitchen for toast (breakfast/ lunch/ dinner... doesn't matter. heck, i even eat the stuff after i brush my teeth! :D), i get to see Paulina for the 2nd time in 2 weeks and i get to STAMP with her!!!, PLUS >> i have another challenge card for you!

this one comes from Embellish Magazine, and the inspiration is amazing... check it out:

and the challenge also has a twist... you have to make your project quirky, cutesy, or clean!

so here's what i came up with when i matched the colors to the challenge...

what do you think? i'm pretty sure that i've used this cupcake stamp, ohhhh, a BAJILLION times since i bought it (seriously one of the best investments i've ever made), and doesn't it look so awesome with all that dimension and glitter and those BUTTONS for a cherry!???! hehe. *pats self on back*

i like it, but i'd love to hear what you think... please leave a comment for me to smile about :D

i hope you have a wonderful friday, friends... and that your weekend is AMAZING too!

cosmo cricket LOVE :D

today i bring you more cards from the stamp night at Impress last weekend... (i mentioned it in THIS POST) while i was there i made a set of similar cards from some of Cosmo Cricket's Early Bird line... i just matted the patterned paper, rounded some corners, attached pompoms and buttons, and did some simple stamping for all the sentiments.

i started out with a HUGE polka dot stamp that i found lying around, and i stamped it on different Bazzill papers in different/ matching colors. you can really see the texture on some of these, which i think is really cool...

after stamping the circle/ polka dot in white, i used some VersaFine ink in black to stamp the various sentiments.

from there i just used a Fiskars scalloped 2" circle punch and popped them all up onto some foam for dimension.

i love that i found some colored twine to thread the buttons up with...

i used green, cream, and blue twine for the button threading depending on the main colors of the patterned paper on each card.

you saw one of the cards from this set already the other day that i gave to my assistant coach in water polo, Gordon. he needed something with blue/ green :D

anyway, i love how these turned out and how they're all really similar but could be given away separately.

you know one of my favorite parts of this card set? the different sizes of trim that i used... i had SUPER mini pompoms on some, and then...

bigger ones on others! :D

well, thanks for looking and leaving your comments--it means a lot! have a wonderful thursday... i know i will! i'm heading off to take a nap before i go play some water polo on my pick up team. thursday and sunday nights are fast becoming a key part of the week for me, i look forward to playing water polo so much. do you do something like that for yourself once or twice a week that you really look forward to? let me know, i'd love to hear about it :)

thanks again, we'll chat soon!

water polo 'thanks' + w00t!

tonight i have the last official meeting of the 2010 girls water polo season... it's the awards banquet tonight, and since i'm the head coach, i have a big role in the awards--i usually say something about every one of the girls, and it's nice to hear from the parents what they thought of the season, and how they thought their girls improved... generally a great time for all! tonight should be extra special seeing as this season was the first time since i've started coaching that we've made it to state, and we not only MADE it, but we placed FOURTH out of 8 teams when we'd started from the #8 slot! :D

so yeah, lots of fun to be had tonight.

anyway, here's a card i made (one of the 32 created at stamp night) for my assistant coach, Gordon. he's awesome. i've been blessed by his help and steadiness this season. also, as a fellow teacher, he really keeps me sane. i coached his daughter my first year of everything, and it was a good thing for everyone that we keep doing things together. i generally let him do the 'detail talking' like administrative paper-worky things, and i do the yelling, correcting, and teaching of the game :D basically, the fun part!

so every year i give him a little thank you gift just to remind him that it means a lot to have his help, and this is what i came up with to go along with the gift:

i made about 8 cards at stamp night that follow the same layout... i used a HUGE polka dot on some Bazzill textured solid paper, for this card, the paper was green, and i stamped the circle in white chalk ink. then i layered my sentiment over the top of the white, in this case, 'thanks.' then i punched out the whole thing with a 2" fiskars scalloped circle... it's pretty simple, but that's exactly what i needed for Gordon. after all, he's a guy. i might be pushing it a little on the 'masculine' card with the pom poms, but i figure that the October Afternoon Early Bird paper in blue/ green makes up for it, right? :D

anyway, i just wanted to show you another creation, and ALSO to share some fun news! remember the MFW Tuesday Trigger card i created over HERE the other day? well...

it was chosen as a MFW Tuesday Target along with some fabulous other creations!!!

(BIG smile!)

you can read about it here... i'm so excited! it's the first time i've been featured by Cath over there at the Moxie Fab World blog :D thanks Cath!

hope you have a wonderful mid-week, and be sure to pop by later for more prettiness! :)

flavorful notepads and stickies

i think i'm making up for lost time here. either that or i have a lot of projects from wayyy back to show you.

this one is from over a month ago when i made some bridal shower party favors for my sister who was the maid of honor in her college roomie's wedding. i got to use some artistic license because i knew the friend, and the colors... so i was basically given free reign to make the 'right choices' in regards to patterns, layout, etc.

here's a stack of notepads i covered. my main focal point has Coredinations cardstock as the scalloped circle and base of the pad... i really LOVED working with that cardstock--super sturdy!

and oh, how i love pom poms :D

down here you can kind of see the spread of what i did... smaller 3x3 post-it pads, notebooks for jotting things down, etc. i coordinated everything, and i used some SEI papers along with a sheet or two from DCWV. i absolutely LOVE how all of them turned out, but they never would have happened without some ideas from Dawn McVey and Paulina. they are the ones who displayed how to do some of these tricks :D

thanks for stopping by again. my advice to those of you stuck in a card-making rut... go make something else! i know that making these 40 items (20 each) was so much fun for me :)

spring card + cleaning

thanks to everyone who visited yesterday during the PTI blog hop... i love reading all your sweet comments!

i love looking at everyone's perspectives, and blog hopping gives me lots of inspiration... if you participated and i didn't stop by your blog, i'd love for you to leave me a link in the comments section.

today is a beautiful day (again) in Washington after some rainy days, and i'm a huge fan of fun and bright colors... i thought it was a good day to share a spring-ish card with you.

i made this one while a friend of mine was over--she brought some lovely MME paper, and i used some ribbon from my stash as well as a few flowers (Prima, Making Memories, and BoBunny). no sentiment on this card... it can be an 'anything' card...

i've got a whole bunch of things to do this weekend, i only have one more week until my spring break for teaching... totally looking forward to it.

but before i start my break, there's a few things that i'll be doing--i'll be cleaning a little, vacuuming out my car, doing taxes (1st time by myself--yikes!), baking more bread and cookies (yummy), and i'll also be trying a pork tortilla recipe for the crock pot. also, i've been wanting potato salad and egg salad sandwiches (i think it's the advent of Easter that is provokin my desire for boiled egss... i love coloring eggs) so i'll probably make some of that too. i have almost all of my pictures/ posters hung up, but that's my last project of 'moving in' that i have. here's a picture of one of my wall frame groupings...


i'm also going to be hanging these tissue paper pom poms from the ceiling in a few of my rooms... it'll be awesome when i'm done. i'll share pictures, don't worry :D


hope your plans for the weekend are fun... and that you get to fit in some creating!

'hi baby' denami color challenge #1

happy sunny saturday!

i'm so excited for the sunshine we're getting here in WA--it's absolutely GORGEOUS out when we have days like this. i can even see a little bit of Mt. Rainier when i look out my apartment window.

well, i'm making this a short post because i'm going to be crafting with a friend, Helene, today... i can't wait to share my new craft studio with a crafty friend!

the challenge comes from Nami of DeNami Design. it's a fabulous color challenge, and i'm loving seeing all the entries--you have a little more time, maybe you want to make something too? if not, then there's always next time.

anyway, i used my Cricut for the baby safety pin, and then a DeNami stamp, 'baby.' i love the color combo--it's so bright and fun!

thanks for looking :D and have a sunny day!

i LOVE you Christmas!

hi again! i've been sadly absent from the blog, but here i am--back with some yummies all over again :D (this post will be sort of short though--so enjoy lots of pictures and not much "talk"!)

this time i'm featuring a new banner i made for Christmas. now, i know it spells "LOVE" and it may look pink, green, and white to you, but it's Christmas themed.


i am already done with another banner that says "JOY" and will be working on a "PEACE" banner shortly. so, you get the idea...

i really am creating for Christmas--love, joy, peace. and aren't these fun? embellishment heaven, i'd say. i have a whole big pile of fun things on my desk--all pink and green :D

this banner gave me an opportunity to emboss on vellum for the first time--so pretty, i think. definitely will be doing this more often...

and here's the finished product:

anyway, thanks for stopping by after my too long absence. hope you enjoy! i'll be back soon, hopefully (*crosses fingers*)

XOXO

have a great Friday!

jolly-ness (2S4U) and owls

hi! how are you? tonight, i am FANTASTIC. i feel so accomplished! why? you may be asking yourself... well... because i met my NaNoWriMo goal today! i was over 6,000 words behind schedule (you're supposed to write 1,667 words daily to stay on track in order to complete the 50,000 word goal for the novel by the end of the month), and i was a little upset... especially because my students ask me about my progress--which i asked them to do :D and i'm slightly competitive. so, anyway, since i had the day off, i knew i could spend some of it catching up. and i did!

as of 10:34pm PST, i am at 18,504 words! :D that's 37% of my goal completed :D oh, you don't know how happy i am. yes, i am crazy, yes, i am competitive, but most of all, i am HAPPY :D

so this card i made tonight (i know! i fit card making in as well!? amazing!) embodies all my joy--it says, "be jolly." no problem following directions tonight :D plus, i used some Cosmo Cricket with this cutie of a card--so really, how could i go wrong?

i followed Kazan's lovely sketch over at 2sketches4you for this one (see it at the top)--i haven't posted this early for a challenge in a while!

and check out the back here! i covered the inside with a panel from BG's Eskimo Kisses to cover up the extra ribbon, and then i thought it would be super cute to add a detail to the back of the card--you know, kind of like a little surprise. do you ever do that?

oh, and here's something else that makes me happy...

i just couldn't resist the Embellish Magazine color and owl challenge... so i made another card/ tag. i used some coral, green and brown, along with a cute Hero Arts owl/ sentiment. i love the chunkiness of all the ribbon i added to the top.

and that button with twine? DeNami Design goodness--oh, how i love their buttons!

and here's a picture of the whole thing. i added some fun fluff (via DeNami Design again) and the owl is embossed. the pompom trim comes from the CK shopping spree (yes, i know i bought a TON), and so is the new border punch from Fiskars. generally in love with this little tag--it's so cute. :D

what do you think? thanks so much for looking, and for leaving your comments--they're so sweet :D

also, just a reminder that my blog birthday is coming up in a couple of days--if you haven't entered my giveaway, you should! check it out HERE.

okay, have a lovely evening, and go be happy! :D

NaNoWriMo! + CPS #141

oh hey! well, i have something awesome to share with you today--it's my first banner EVER!

(also, if you haven't entered my blog-o-versary giveaway yet, then go HERE now!)

now, i had this idea in my head for school--i have a couple of students who are participating in NaNoWriMo with me (National Novel Writing Month--see more on it in my post HERE), and i wanted to do something special to encourage them...

so, with the help of my amazing Cricut, some new CK goodies, and the CPS Sketch #141 (and kind of a Caardvarks challenge, although this isn't a card [i'll make a circle card to post, i promise!]) i embarked on this journey of my first banner ever.

now, with 9 letters to create the word on the banner, i knew i wouldn't have any room for extra "in-between" spacer spots... so i decided i need my banners to be quite big to fit all the embellies i wanted to include.

so first i gathered all the supplies i needed, and broke out the blue card stock that i wanted to use as the foundation for my letters--i used the Simply Sweet Cricut cartridge to create the bases, as well as the letters (using white paper with the shadow feature, and then a *shiny* blue for real letter).

so here you can see the close-ups of each of the parts--i had sooo much fun making this, and even though it took a while (hey, i was watching Love Actually with my sister, Cecelia, too!) it was sooo worth it.

i have to tell you where i got some inspiration--Mish of PTI fame! she has been featuring some amazing mini-kits of office type paper supplies, and they've been so stinkin cute! :D and since this banner was going to hang in my classroom, i thought that things like paper clips, rulers, etc would be appropriate :D

i bought some October Afternoon goodies at CK, and one thing included the stamp set that has a ruler in it--had to use it here :D ooh, and that border punch that i've been eyeing for a while--it was a total deal at CK too!

you can see some of the bling i got at CK last weekend--i cut apart some of the pieces--they were way to huge to use on these banner bases, and i want to hoard them for a little while longer (good thing i got them in triplicate--hehe!)

see how shiny that blue letter is? it's from the DCWV Citrus Glitter stack, and i LOVE it! i wish i had a couple more pieces of that paper--it's fabulous.

and the felt, brads, and pencil paper are all buys from CK--couldn't wait to get home and use them. O.M.Gosh. can i just tell you that i am in love with Cosmo Cricket paper? it almost hurt me to use this stuff, but honestly, it fit the theme perfectly, so i de-hoarded :D the felt from CK came in packs of four 12x12 laser cut sheets with all these neat-O designs--i've already used some of the pink border for another card HERE.

these brads are velvety--i wanted to use a lot of texture on every single panel, and i think i love this "a" letter the best--or maybe not ;)

i think that the girls in my class loved these buttons the best--the yellow one is from DeNami Design, and the others are from my stash. here's another piece of the felt!

ooh, and here i'm using a yo-yo fabric circle (isn't that what they're called?) to embellish this second "n."

i don't think you can *EVER* go wrong with pompoms!

another close up--you can see some October Afternoon dictionary paper--it made some of my students do a double take :D

okay, so i got these little packs of pins that i'll be using more on cards--sticking them in ribbon, etc--aren't those little stars adorable?

another ruler on the "o" and some flowers--Bazzill and prima. more felt too :D

i really really love that ruler stamp--i can totally see myself using it over and over again.

okay... the "w" was the midpoint of the banner, and even though i didn't consciously plan this, i think it's my favorite panel of all. i grabbed a golf pencil out of our junk drawer at home and decided to use it here. then there's the bling...

and the felt/ ribbon keeping the pencil together...

and seriously--we're talking about NaNoWriMo here--WRITING! how perfect can you get? i would venture to say, you cannot!

some ric-rac, felt, brads, and a shiny heart cut with my Cricut (same cart.)

this is the "r." you might be wondering what i used to string this all up together--i used some thrift store bolt of trim--it had at least 7 yds of this white, and i thought--i can use this for somthing... right i was!

that flower, button, and felt heart pairing is just too cute, agreed?

ooh, here's the "i" where i used some bigger bling, a broken blue clothespin (w/ ribbon) and a chipboard piece :D

and omgosh--i tricked this next panel out with bling... cutie paper clip ($1 store!) and some more bling, Cosmo paper, and felt...

that crown is so top heavy--can you imagine if it was lifesize how expensive that crown would be? hehe :D

and last but not least, the "o."

i went slightly simpler--those buttons are just the perfect touch, i think.

here's a board-side view of the end of the banner...
when my students walked into class and saw this hanging on the whiteboard, they went up close and examined it--one of the girls asked me "Did you cut that out of a dictionary?!" regarding the October Afternoon paper (cause i'm an English teacher and cutting up a dictionary would obviously be sacrilege! :D hehe). the best part was when they asked me about it, and said, "Who made that?" and i got to reply, "I did." the look of awe on their faces was priceless :D and then there were a ton of girls who said, "Can you make me one?" hehe... they'll be papercrafters yet!

thanks for looking, and please let me know if you enjoyed this banner and whether you'd like to see more of them here on the blog.

hope you have a great day! XOXO