all shapes and sizes

still posting some of the older projects from my computer. today's comes from an afternoon when i made some zuchinni bread and muffins to share with other teachers at school. this tag was for the cheerleading coach and the home ec teacher... (and it was actually in the shape of a triangle flag--a leftover that i had from a banner project for school.)

this little baggie was for my co-teacher, and it housed three of the muffins i made. i used a group of papers from my 'red scrap' pile. since i've been in love with banners lately, i thought that one would be cute to put on this bag with some bling in between.

oh, and another thing, i'm in love with doilies. like, hardcore in love. so much it's almost sick. i love how this doily looks with the Cosmo Cricket "hey there cookie" panel. i just do.

and that's that for the zucchini bread. i love making bread. especially banana bread. i have some bananas waiting to be transformed that i've been saving in my freezer... maybe i'll dig up some free time this weekend to work on a loaf or two :D

thanks for stopping by, and also for leaving your encouraging comments! they mean a lot to me. btw, i think that you'll like some of the projects i have coming up. at least, i hope you will! ta ta, have a lovely day!

August PTI Blog Hop ::Brown Bags!::

hi there! thanks for stopping by and participating in PTI's blog hop :D should be tons of fun to see all the inspiration... i know i'm excited!

first up, though, before my brown bag is something that could go INTO my bag if i hadn't gobbled it up last night...

doesn't all that yummy frosting make you want to drool? hehe... i know i was slobbering a bit after i made them last night. but not for long. that cupcake settled quite nicely into my tummy.

okay, onto the challenge...

we were asked to dress up a typical 'brown bag' like you used to put your lunches in.

wanna hear something funny?

i HONESTLY did not even know that this was the blog hop challenge until this morning. yesterday, i was making these exact bags for 'fun' with my friend Helene...

yeah. talk about weird! so i figured i'd share them tonight (i was going to share them sometime!) and here we are:

i chopped off the tops of both these bags with a decorative border punch or scissors.

i added a flower, some die cuts (the butterfly from PTI was thanks to Paulina from when we crafted a week ago... well, really, all those die cuts were hers :D) and a brad... then there's the PTI Signature Greetings stamps too!

i love the doily and polka dots on this one... makes me smile!

thanks for stopping by, i love reading your comments! :D

...hello! (2S4Y + Denami)

happy thursday. i wanted to share with you some 'everyday' things that have been happening with me...

first off is the delicious looking bagel sandwich in the photo above. i made it. it was dinner on monday. it was AMAZING. (aka: NOM NOM x10!) it's piled high with lots of stuff, which explains its open face. so from the bottom up: mayo, spicy mustard, co-jack cheese, turkey, ham, cucumbers, red peppers, bacon, and avocado slices (sprinkled with salt). DE-lish! *you jealous yet?*

hehe... anyway, up next is a combo challenge card: 2sketches4you Laura's #58...

plus another entry into the Denami Product Challenge (inspired by the technique that Wendy used on the card featured over at the blog today)...

and here's the card:

featuring Webster's Pages, felt flowers, a border punch, DeNami Glitter and 'hello' sentiment, and some Polka Dot Basics II, and some pearls and buttons!

there's still time to enter both challenges, so hop on over there to get some serious inspiration as well as a shot at snagging a top spot!

thanks for stopping by... i'm off to play some water polo tonight and hopefully not get injured in the process (i'm wearing my mouthguard now to prevent any more chipped teeth! :D *toothy grin... hehehe, j/k about the toothy grin part**)

TA!

summer play & birthday blessings!

well, i know that back to school is coming up fast... eek! don't let me think about it too much. i've already been into my classroom several times this summer, and it's creeping up too quickly for my liking.

one way to prolong the vacation days is to make summery cards! here i have a few that are similar to the one i made last week... lots of layered goodies (brads, buttons, chippies, flowers, etc) that make it a happy fun project :D

this first one with 'play' as the sentiment has some of my new fav. ribbon on it... May Arts :D such fun stuff in the perfect color combo too!!

and then here comes a different color scheme... but the paper still comes from WeRMemoryKeepers (the patterned paper from above and below) and most of the embellishments come from the same companies i used for the 1st card. spy that fabby ribbon again? :D

the 'blessings, you're so sweet' card went postal to my brother Lincoln who just turned 22 last week... he's over in PA, and i miss him a lot sometimes. back last year he was in a video production class and he acted in this music video that CRACKS me UP! every time i watch it. so check it out HERE if you're interested :D

and this last card has basically the same stuff, except i must have had a flower fetish at the time because i LOADED this baby up with tonnnns! of the petaled variety :D

well, it's a quick one... thanks for stopping by, and for all your lovely comments. i love hearing even what your favorite colors were in my cards (i aim to please!) xoxox and take care!

Denami Product Challenge #3

WOW! >> two posts in one day?? :D hehehe... i'm getting greedy i think!

but hooray and yay, another challenge post! i love these opportunities to stretch myself or jog my creativity... it's a good thing :D

this time i'm participating in the DeNami Design Product Challenge (#3!) that involves using produced by the company... and this time, it's...

GLITTER :D hehe... love this stuff... i only have two of the colors shown above (yellow and pink), but DeNami also offers some awesome gold and red glitter (perfect for holiday cards + projects!) that i have and love love love.

so, for the challenge, you're asked to also use a DeNami image... so i pulled out a fun little sentiment that's perfect for anyone, and based my color scheme off of the butterfly image i was going to use, and also the glitter colors i had available! :D

so here we go! i think that this card is a little bit on the classy side of what i've been making lately... it's not super fussy or layered... just some fancy flourishes stamped with the glue pad and then covered with the 'citrine' glitter, the butterfly image popped up, Kaiser bling, May Arts ribbon, Polka Dot Basics II, and of course, the DeNami sentiment 'miss you.'

well? what do you think? i love reading your comments... you're ever the kindest :D hope you have a great day, and if you haven't checked out my other challenge card for 2s4y, you should hop over HERE and do that :D

thanks for stopping by!!

2S4Y Kazan's #58

happy saturday to you all! it's going to be a relaxing one for me... maybe visit a friend or two... we'll see :D definitely sleeping in!

i thought it was high time i jumped in a played with a 2sketches4you sketch! it's been a while, and Kazan had a great one posted this week:

usually i make cards for 'whatever' and end up not having enough of any kind that i 'need', but for THIS one, i had someone specific in mind...

my grandma, or 'Nana,' as i call her, hasn't had a handwritten note from me in forever, so i thought it was about time to send her something sweet.

i used a lot of goodies on this one, but when i showed it to Paulina (like a pre-screening of a movie... hehe!) she thought it was great and not too busy! (thanks for that bit of encouragement hon!) btw, we got to have a lovely evening together... saw a movie, grabbed dinner, and totally caught up on so many things (who knows, we may have even talked about you ;) hehe!) such a fun way to spend a friday night!

here's a close up of some of the goodies up top... Sassafras brad, yellow mini-clothespin, a white rosette, some flora and fauna stickers layered on graphic 45 paper and a Sassafras chippie frame, on top of a cream doily shabbied up with some yellow ink, and then of course the pink crinkle ribbon, Colorbok epoxy button w/ PTI button and the pink rhinestone. you can also see a bit of the yellow polka dots from PTI's Polka Dot Basics II poking up from the top and bottom of the distressed patterned paper.

for the sentiment i used PTI's Big and Bold Wishes, the flourish, and some little flower buds from Delightful Dahlia (colored in with some pink markers and a white gel pen... and some glitter from DeNami Design).

oh, and i couldn't resist decorating the back too... so more graphic 45 paper, a bit of a border punch, and brad/ button/ clothespin from the same as above.

so what do you think? i know Nana will love it (don't grandma's have a lovely habit of always loving anything handmade? :D) thanks for leaving your comments... they're always appreciated, and usually they totally make my day :D (and by usually i mean ALWAYS.)

go have some weekend fun! xoxo

sweet smile :D and blog award!

hey there!

happy friday to everyone... hope you're planning on having some fun this weekend.

i just got my hair cut (it's the same way i normally do it, just... shorter!) and i tried to re-create the salon look that my hairdresser did for me yesterday. does anyone else have the problem where it doesn't look quite like it did when you left? haha... i tried really hard, i really did :D but anyway, i'm planning to have some fun this weekend. i'm going to see "The Other Guys" with my friend Paulina (seems like we haven't met up in FOREVER!) and i'm ready to have some laughs :D

tomorrow is an 'open day' for me which is good because i won't have many more of those left before school starts. let me just tell you... teachers don't want summer to end!! *le sigh*

but there is some more fun planned... at church on Sunday night i'm going to be going to an ice cream feed... who doesn't love ice cream??? :D

and here i am to share with you some sweetness... i love this paper from DCWV Sweet Stack, and it's perfect for these girly shabby chic cards :) yummy enough to eat, right? hehe :D

there's some lovely lace layered on top of a Fiskars apron lace border punch strip... then there are some roses and May Arts ribbon with PTI buttons, Colorbok sentiment circles, MS punched butterflies topped with rhinestones, and then some Colorbok strawberry buttons on top of MM white glitter flowers. and don't forget the doilies! i cut them in half and layered them behind the middle portion--you can see them peeking out from the sides. i also used PTI's Big and Bold set for the pink scroll image stamped up at the top of the card.

essentially, both of these chock full of goodness! such fun to make, and i'm so happy to share this yumminess with you. hope you enjoy! (calorie free... hehe!)

so a while back (actually a month ago) the sweet Amy gave me a blog award! Amy has a super unique and lovely style that inspires me every time i visit... she has truly mastered the art of using her Cricut to add something special to just about every project she makes (you've made me jealous of your savvy Amy!!) go check out her blog and leave her some love...

and now... i would like to pass this blog award on to the following 5 people for their fabulous blogs that always inspire me... (there are seriously so many more blogs out there that i frequent like a stalker :D hehe! but for this i'm just passing it on to five lovelies!)

Paulina of PrettyPinkPosh

Heidi of VanLaar Designs

Amy of Tsuruta Designs

Andrea of Creative Paper Trail

and Karen Baker of The Bald Dragonfly

(and an honorable mention/ shout-out goes to my sister Cecelia of Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia... but she doesn't fully count for this blog award since she doesn't paper craft :D unless you count devouring hundreds of books in a short amount of time--hehe!)

so that's a wrap... you would be doing YOURSELF a favor by dropping by these blogs to check out their latest and greatest... serious eye candy happening at every single one :D

thanks for stopping by and checking everything out. now go out and enjoy your weekend! XOXO

vintage one layer 'thank you'

so just a quick post today.

i'm so glad it's Friday, but i'm also really tired... it's been a long week for me telling stories at VBA and acting in the skits as well. it really wears me out, so it's a good thing i've been able to take naps every day.

here i wanted to show you some vintage one layer cards i made a while back. these are from the Impress Stamp Night.

i think that what makes these pretty (for me, at least) is the layering of the pinks, and then the cool script in the 'thank you' sentiment.

well, like i said, it's going to be a short one... i'm going to see Despicable Me tonight with some friends, so it's a great start to my weekend... hoping you have a great one too!

thanks for you comments and for stopping by :D

ROY G. and mustard?

happy wednesday! it's soo nice outside today--mid-80's in Washington, and the Mt. is out, and i had breakfast at a fav. place... omygosh, it's gonna be a good day.

PLUS, i get to have a crafty friend over (the one that was supposed to come Monday and then before that was supposed to come last week... but 3rd time's the charm, right? ;) hehe)

okay, so you may be wondering about the blog title... remember how you were taught in kindergarten what all the colors were? ROY G. BIV, like a guy's name? stood for red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet? yeah, well, my tags today don't go all the way through the rainbow, but they sure are pretty :D

so the first set is a maroon bunch... i like them, but really, i was stretching myself in an effort to create something with this color... but i think the end result is pretty cool. i used some SU! flower stickers, buttons, and even a few MM die cut shapes (the guitars and POW! and "sweet" sentiments).

next up is the orange... geez, a whole smattering of stuff slobbered on here :D mostly leftovers. SEI ribbon and paper, Impress stamp, Graphic 45 die cuts, buttons, a MM travel dog tag, a poofy flower, and even a PTI sentiment thrown in there.

it almost reminds me of "I Spy" books... like: can you find the clothespin? hehe :D

oooh! YELLOW!

these tags are probably in my top favs. for the bunch. i used PTI stamps (tiny treats that i bought from Paulina, polka dot basics II), AC gingham orange ribbon, some ric-rac, and then DCWV grade school stack paper :D DUDE >> these are SOO cute :D

with sentiments and images to match, they'd be perfect for gift tags for little kids, boys, or just about anyone. i love the plane image with "love is in the air..." hehe!

okay, i know you may be sick of the green tags by now, but i cut out 3 different kinds of green tags, and i really liked playing with all the shade variations. again, it's a smorgasbord out there :D

some of the tags got a little bit more attention than others, and that's okay--sometimes less fuss is good.

and btw, i'm not even going to try to list off the supplies i used. EEK!

okay, lastly, i have MUSTARD tags for you. oh, these tags made me shudder a little, until i found some awesome paper from K&CO that i had stashed away (it's the floral in the fancy square punch shape), and then paired it with BG's Indian Summer 6x6 pad and some Bazzill card stock. super fun!

plus, those roses are perfect, and the AC ribbon is AWESOME, and the polka dots! like i said, i'm in LOVE.

so different and happy, and i never thought i'd say this, but i like the mustard tags :D

okay, so i don't want to prolong this too long... here are some cards i made for a special order from a teacher at school. they're ones she wanted 'copied' from previous cards she'd seen on the blog...

can never go wrong with owls, right? :D

ooh! then look at more colorful goodness! these are going to be used as a thank you set, i think, and i monogrammed them for her. don't they look awesome like this?

i used the fancy punch again, some pearl stickles things (i know they're not stickles, but can't remember...) different papers from all over to match the card stock colors, and then a 'C' from a Technique Tuesday set that i own.

well, what do you think? it's been fun sharing these tags with you, and i do have a few more to show, but i think i'll save that for later. i want to show you my scrapbook page (good guesses, btw, although i think it wasn't that hard to guess) tomorrow.

so, stay tuned. love to hear your comments! XOXO

floral woodgrain + tags galore

so yesterday i left you hanging with a sneak peek at some tags. well, i have to say, i'm going to leave you hanging again... although not as much (hehe--am i evil or what?)

no really, i just found that after loading and editing the tag photos, there were just too many to put in all one post. so you'll get to see them all spread out over the next couple of days. but today, never fear--you get to see tags AND some cards :D

yes, i'm good to you ;) i think i'm in a weird mood today. weird, but good. anyway, lets get back to the tags:

these first two are just a smattering of things i found in my scrap drawer and in the little containers i'd gathered for other projects. i always have little things left over that still go together in a great color scheme, but just weren't right for the project i was working on, you kwim?

i just love the oddness of these tags--i have some Amy Butler glitter paper in there, along with ric-rac, a cute flower, and some textured white specialty paper. (not to mention all the other goodies loaded on!)

ooh! check out this fun guy! the one above has a cool felt star that i just love. the one below has some green and blue ribbon thrown in there to mix things up, also featuring some felt--this time in the form of a blue crown. i grabbed that felt last year at the CK Bellevue Scrap Convention (4 laser cut sheets for $4... i couldn't resist). i've been using bits and pieces here and there in TONS of my projects. good deals, good deals.

more butterflies appearing all over the place here. these tags are all inked up on the edges with my tim holtz antique linen pad.

below you can see more in the series here... i made 8 in each color, and i think i used 8 different card stock colors :D

that huge button is from DeNami Design, and it looks perfect on this tag, don't you think? it's an awesome focal point.

the little felty butterfly here has a letter attached--a J from a KI Memories alpha chipboard pack. thought it looked good here, and i dotted the 'j' with a rhinestone from my stash :D

the fabulous striped flower is from a sweet pack of plastic-like embellies from Recollections--i grabbed them at Michael's. :D

and just to make sure you keep coming back... i have a sneak peek of what i'll be showing you tomorrow in regards to tags... these were some of my favorite of the bunch.

okay, phew! we're done with tags today, and we're on to the cards...

i made these at the Impress Stamp Night i mentioned in THIS blog post. those nights are pure awesomeness :D

i grabbed some limited supplies for these cards, but they came together so well... a woodgrain stamp (from Impress) along with that lovely vintage rose stamp. then i paired it with a strip of Basic Grey's lemonade paper from the 6x6 pack... perfect for this. add some crinkly pink seam binding, DeNami buttons again, a rhinestone, and VOILA! *sigh* i LOVE :D

thanks so much for coming by--i love reading your comments... do you like seeing these tags, or do you prefer the cards? let me know!

oh, and one last thing... any guesses as to what i'll be sharing with you LATER in the week? i'm pretty freaking stoked to show you :D

have a WONDERFUL day, and don't forget to come back later to see more! :D

tons of tags...

hey there! hope you had a wonderful holiday if you were in the US. i sure did... i went to my parents house for some awesome food (the jambalaya and salad my mom made was AMAZING!), took a nap, watched a movie, and then went down the local pier to watch about 5 different fireworks displays. it was awesome... a little windy, but i could see really awesome fireworks all the way to Seattle! (and that's a ways away!) hopefully none of you burned off any hands or fingers--you'll need those for crafting + commenting on my post :D

well, yesterday i told you that i would be showing you some tags that i'd made. i'm up to #60 i think... so i've been busy! some of them are similar, but most of them are totally unique, like the one above with the 'K'. i made that tag for a friend who had a graduation party on saturday... she's an awesome baker and cook, and if you visit her BLOG, be forewarned that you'll walk away hungry and drooling :D anyway, Krista is an awesome girly, and i thought that this personalized tag would be fun for her.

you can see below that in order to create her card, i teamed it up with some Spring Moss card stock from PTI as well as some Polka Dot Basics II. i think that the polka dots may be my new favorite. i mean, seriously.
also, you can see in the corner a small little sentiment from Delightful Dahlia that says, "Congratulations." all in all, one of my favorite graduation cards.

well, i know i've only shown you one tag, but i want to leave you with a little sneak at what the others look like.

yes, i'm a tease, but i want to keep you coming back for more! :D

what do you think? which colors are catching your eyes? i seriously loved creating these, and i plan to be making about 30 more. i will probably post these in my Etsy shop before the end of the month (hey--i can't get too ambitious!)

i sure love reading your comments, and be sure to check back for more card and tag creations. have a happy monday! :D

February PTI Blog Hop!

it's time for my 2nd PTI Blog Hop! woohoo :D


here's the challenge from Nichole...

Since we just finished up our 3rd Anniversary Festivities, we thought we would do something extra special for this month's Blog Hop! Design Team Appreciation Day! Your challenge is to go through the Design Team gallery or any of the Design Team members' blogs and find a project that is especially inspirational to you! Then recreate the project with your own spin, making it unique! Be sure to share a link and photo of the original project that inspired you! And you can also use this opportunity to thank the team for all their contributions this past year! I know they inspire ME daily and I never seem to thank them enough! We look forward to seeing your projects!

well, i was SUPER excited to participate, because there are SO many awesome creations by the design team ALL THE TIME... i seem to visit the DT blogs at least once a day... i think i'm addicted :) i wish i could make a card based on everyone's creations, but i don't have the time :/

BUT, knowing i couldn't do that, i made do--i actually made 2 cards based of a compilation of DT cards (i couldn't pick just one!)

so the first card i made is based off of Dawn McVey's type of card--complete with polka dots, ribbon, and a simple style.

here are the cards i used as a starting point-->


and here is my recreation based off of the above cards... i used some polka dots, a scalloped felt edge, and a butterfly. then, because i love Dawn's handwriting (don't you? it's so FUN!) i thought that the sentiment would be perfect if i used her "So Sweet of you" stamp from the Signature Greetings set.

oh yes, and i made sure to use several shades of pink--something we all know Dawn loves, right? :D


my next card is based off a couple of cards created by Melissa Phillips... they're always so soft and feminine... so i used bits and pieces of each of the following-->

(the butterfly from this card...)

(the strips of patterned paper from this card, along with the Maya Road flowers...)

(and the purples, light green, and lace from this card...)

and here's mine:

i'm going to use this as a sympathy card, which i always thing are harder to make--i used a smattering of things from my stash (especially because not all my craft things are out because of my recent move) a vintage button, another butterfly plus one detail-cut from a DCWV paper pad, MM patterned paper, and more. this card features the Big and Bold Wishes set from PTI.

anyway, thanks for looking, and i hope you have a lovely time hopping along to see all the creations :D