Birthday Butterfly

Hi Everyone! Another quickie post here for the birthday cards I was making.

I'll be dropping these off in the morning - the big dinner for this family is tomorrow night :0)

I was initially uncertain about the Berry Sorbet/Avocado/Spring Moss mix - but loved the blend in the end! :0)

Thanks for popping on by! I'm a horrible blogging friend right now - and hope to be up and at it again soon!!! (I haven't even been on the forum for a few days - aaaaaaagh! Withdrawl!!)

:0)

Embellish Magazine CHALLENGE!!

Sniff ... sniff - anyone else smell burning shoe leather? Another dash to a challenge deadline ....??

That would be right :0)! Embellish Magazine put up this eye candy for our delight on the 16th:

There is a wonderful line in the book "Anne of Green Gables" where Anne asks Marilla - "Don't you just love poetry that gives you that crinkley feeling up and down your back..." ? These pics did that for me - they're so Mediterranean! I particularly loved the way the white building contrasted with the blue sky... and although white wasn't part of the challenge decided that it needed to be in there in a large dose ...

O.K. I know this is my second really white card in two days - please just chart it down to a brain that has been feverish with activity that needs a place to slow down and rest :0) Heee!

I decided to use Terracotta Tile, not Orange Zest for the orange component of this ... it just seemed so fitting with the picture inspiration we were given. The flower centres have been dabbed with Glossy Accents to give them some shine and the leaves behind my flower were cut from brown felt (it photographed dark, sorry to say!) The kraft has been incorporated in the "Dotty Biscotti" paper (still LOVE that name!)

So there we have it ... now for me to run along and pop this in. I noticed that the Embellish blog has the MOST AWESOME pics of CHA on it today - you may want to peek in and see all that eye candy! Woooo!

And peeps ... this is my 100th post on the ole blogaroo! Don't people usually celebrate that in a big way?

I'll have to put some thoughts into that one!

:0)

**000**

Materials - All Papertrey Ink, Except - Embossing Folder and Flower Dies - Provo Craft; Glossy Accents - Ranger; Ribbon - Michaels; Corner Chomper

Embossed Birthday Card

Hellooooooooo Peeps! Sorry I'm MIA at the moment - both for visiting and for posting! I'm busy planning my school curriculum for next year - trying to order a few more books/materials before the rush ... and it's taking much longer than I had anticipated!!

Here is another birthday card I made for the family re-union I mentioned in the Sweet Pea post :0) I used the sketch at 2S4Y this week - Laura's 57th!

I will also be popping this card in at Caardvarks before their current challenge ends - it's a birthday theme after all :0)!

I don't think this one needs a lot of explanation! Heeee, heeee!

One more shot -

The little dots are french knots - but I THINK you kinda knew that one already :0)!

Thanks for popping in!

Best Wishes to you!!

:0)

**000**

Materials: Cardstock, Ink, Stamps, Ribbon, Die - Papertrey Ink; Embossing Folder - Provo Craft; Pearls - Kaiserkraft

Papertrey July Blog Hop Challenge!

Hi Everyone! If you're here for the Papertrey Blog Hop, you already know that our challenge this month was to use office supplies on our cards ...

Hmmmmmm. Tags, Staples, Library and Filing cards .... sounds like a masculine card to me!

I used Heather Nichols' downloadable library card for this project (and can't wait for my stamp to ship after CHA!!) I thought Dawn's Top 10 set would make a fun addition ....

As you can see, Heart Prints also put in a guest appearance :0) The bottom paper clip is holding the strips and heart in place ...

I'm keeping this short - the hops just get LOOOOOOONGER AND LOOOOOOOOONGER - so you need to keep moving I'm guessing!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a GREAT evening!

:0)!

**000**

Materials: Cardstock, Ink, Heart Prints; Top 10 & Additions; Text Style Stamps, Twine, Tea Dye Duo - Papertrey Ink, Old Writing Stamp - Hero Arts; Stipple Stamp - All Night Media; Circular Stamp - Technique Tuesday; Label Punch - McGill; Eyelets - Making Memories

A Sweet Birthday Wish ...

Hi Peeps! Someone in town asked me if I'd be prepared to make some birthday cards for their family reunion - they're celebrating two 50th's, two 60th's and a 75th!! It's going to be a big day!

So here is one of the ladies' cards for the occasion. I thought it would be great to pop this in at the Caardvarks challenge too - where the focus is birthday cards to celebrate "My Favorite Things" fourth birthday this month! I have never played along there before ... so this will be a first :0)!

I used PTI's Sweet Peas for the focal image here ... and their Pretty Pastels DP as the background. I embossed the focal image with PTI's Canvas and Linen embossing plate after colouring it in ...

I used a dash of glitter on the flower centres to add some feminine sparkle ... and some seam binding for the bow.

I will be adding this to the challenge at the Moxie Fab World too - in their Shabby and Vintage catagory. This is my creativity threshold for Vintage and Shabby - I just can't seem to feel comfortable when I 'relax' it more than this!

So there it is :0)

Thank you for stopping by!

Smiles :0)!

**000**

Materials: Cardstock; Ink; Stamps; Designer Paper; Button, Twine, Tea Dye Duo, Embossing Plate - Papertrey Ink; Punch - Martha Stewart; Rhinestones - KaiserKraft; Corner Chomper; Chalks - Craf-T Products; Pencils - Prismacolor; Foam Dots - EK Success; Other - Thread and Seam Binding

Moxie Fab - Clean and Graphic

Hi Peeps - my second post of the day :-0!! Sorry to do that to you! This one is for the Moxie Fab World's "Clean and Graphic" challenge .... somehow going through ideas for this challenge in my mind "Clean and Graphic" = "Bright and Bold" :0) Heeee!

I was looking at the combination of Orange Zest and Raspberry Fizz (unheard of for me ... ) and thought - "Why not??" and really peeps - I LOVE IT!

No shrinking violets here - this is a shrieking moment of happiness :0)

This card is now off to say a REAL thank you in the REAL WORLD ... for these ...

My dear Hunkadorus and I had our Wedding Anniversary yesterday - and these were delivered to us by a sweet friend :0)

I know the card doesn't look a lot like the flowers - but the flowers made me so happy - and the card is just a happy thing too!

Thank you soooooooo much for popping in to visit me!

Have a wonderful, happy day!!

:0)

**000**

Materials: Cardstock, Orange DP, Dot, Flower and Leaf Stamps, Pink, Dark Green and Black Ink, Button and Twine - Papertrey Ink; Light Green and Orange Inks - Ranger, Sentiment Stamp - Hero Arts; Rhinestones - KaiserKraft, 3D Dots - EK Success

A Few Challenges In One :0)

Hi Peeps! Do you ever visit other people's blogs and see a colour combination that makes your little heart flutter? This happens to me every so often .... and when I saw these colours on Heather Pulvirenti's blog,  I was a lost woman!

And then this sketch from 2S4Y ....

So after a lot of inspiration from people and flipping and mirroring the sketch, it ended up here ...

I saw a link to a You Tube Video in this post on Maile Belles blog, for making these flowers ....

I added a little Versmark and Gold Embossing powder to the edges of things to try and make the embellishments look more sumptuous and Baroque :0)

Thank you to WPlus9 and 2S4Y for the opportunity to play along with them - and for all of the lovely inspiration!

Blessings!!

**000**

Materials: Cardstock, Ink, Stamps, Scallop Die, Tea Dye Duo -  Papertrey Ink; Stipple Stamp - All Night Media; Versmark Ink; Embossing Powder - Stampendous; Pearls - KaiserKraft; Dew Drops - The Robins Nest; Glossy Accents - Ranger

ETA: A HUGE *THANK YOU* to 2S4Y for placing this card in the "Fab 10" this week. What a wonderful honour!

I would also like to Thank the ladies at W Plus9 for the honour of having this card highlighted on their blog for this challenge! I'm so grateful - Thank you so much!

Fun and Cute :0)

Hi Everyone! As most of you are probably aware, the Moxie Fab World is hosting a 'Card Style' Challenge in four catagories. This is my entry for the "Fun and Cute" challenge ... the idea being whimsy, uncomplicated, a fun sentiment, simple images ... a bit of a a fun pattern ...  ;0)

And here is my offering ....

LOL! I tried to think 'outside the jar' for this one :0) Don't you just LOVE googly eyes??

Thanks for popping in and seeing me today ... I hope to be around again soon (nasty little virus bug permitting :0(!!

HUGS! (Actually maybe right now you wouldn't want one!) Heee!

:0)

**000**

Materials: Cardstock, Ink, Jar Stamp, Buttons, Twine - Papertrey Ink; Frog and Sentiment Stamps - Hero Arts; Grass Stamps - Flourishes; Versamark Ink; Embossing Powder - Stampendous; Stickles and Glossy Accents - Ranger;Chalks - Craf-T Products; Pencils - Prismacolor; Ribbon - Offray; Googly Eyes - Unknown

Guidelines and an Epiphany ...

Hi Peeps!!

I took some of my stamping supplies with me when we went away last week - (love the way PTI stamps are so compact in their little CD cases!) and had very little mojo while we were gone. The one time I can craft completely undisturbed by the cares of life, my mojo departed - go figure!! It seems like having NO time to think is best for this sort of thing ....

Anyway, I digress. I love playing with my guidelines stamps. Numbers 1 and 2, but have a REALLY hard time turning my doodling into a card that I love.

So it suddenly dawned on me that what these stamps create is simply PATTERNED PAPER. Not a central focal image, and the paper should be treated that way. (Sorry if you all got there a few years before I did - but this was new to me ....)

I needed a birthday card for a friend's 79th birthday ... and was playing with the Guidelines II and Beautiful Blooms II when this thought struck me ... and here is where it ended up ....

The Blooming Button Bits, just seemed to fit with the slightly graphic feel of the paper, so I went with that as my focal point ...

I was quite pleased with the final result - and felt that it suited the recipient well.

Hopefully this new understanding will be the start of a new way of looking at these stamp sets for me. I LOVE doodling with them. It would be great if there was real card potential in the final product, rather than just a relaxing way of passing the time ;0)!!

Heeee!

Thanks for popping in!

:0)!

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Materials: Papertrey Ink

Moxie Fab Challenge

Hi Peeps!! Home again and my little eyes are closing on me as I type! We were stuck on the highway for over 2 hours today behind an accident. No one was hurt, but there was damage to their goods. I do feel so sorry for them!

I quickly wanted to post this and pop it in at the Moxie Fab world - for their "Finding Inspiration in a Layout" Challenge ... here is the layout we got to work with:

A few things appealed to me about this one ... the white border around the layout with the ribbon strip crossing over all of the layers ... and the circles, circles, circles ....

I turned the concept of the circles into a flower.... the blue leaves on the right hand side of the page found their way onto the card .... the pattern on the lowest strip of green paper reminded me of this egg and dart pattern ... and the buttons are represented ....

and some machine stitching :0)

This is a "Quirky" card! The colours really make me happy - they're so fresh!

I find the Moxie challenges a really great stretch!

Thanks for the chance to play along!

And thank you to all of YOU for leaving me so much encouragement and love while I was away! I haven't even had a chance to read all of the lovely comments you've given me! THANK YOU what a *great* surprise to come home to!

HUGS!

:0)!

Materials: Cardstock, Stamps, Ink, Button, Twine - Papertrey Ink; Designer Paper - October Afternoon; Rhinestones - Kaiser

Random Card (Scheduled Post)

Hi Peeps!! Another scheduled post up today - last one! I will be dying to get back to visiting with you all by the time this one goes up. I will have missed the release party too. Boohooooooo!!

Here is a card I made a while ago and didn't share. The idea behind it was a French Toile pattern. My favourites are usually blue, but they have been available in red and green also. I decided to make mine Raspberry Fizz :0)!

I added some simple green leaves and tiny flowers with Raspberry Fizz rhinestone centres, a dash of solid colour and some ribbon - and called it done :0)

I thought it was very girly and quite fresh - despite the hot pink!

Thank you so much for coming on by!

Best wishes to you for a gloriously good day!

:0)

**000**

Materials: Dogwood Stamp - Hero Arts; Rhinestones - Kaiserkraft; Embossing Folder - Provo Craft; All other materials - Papertrey Ink

Magazine Inspiration (Scheduled Post)

Hi Peeps! I won't be here when this one goes up :0( my hubby has had a really stiff work schedule for a couple of weeks and needed to head for the hills for a few days! (No internet!)

I was playing around recently with another interior decorating magazine. This one was called "Decor" and was subtitled "The Most Elegant Rooms Ever"

I found this one and the wheels started turning ...

I was really drawn to the the wallpaper - by Cole and Sons ... the green curtains ... the raised panels on the woodwork, the crystal chandelier above it all....

And interpreted it like this. The strap leaves on the Lily of the Valley seemed to blend well with the inspiration piece ... I embossed over the image with the new "Linen and Canvas" impression plate from PTI - as good quality wallpapers often have a texture to them.

The white raised panels were interpreted with the white embossed strip, the chandelier with the silver heat embossed sentiment and rhinestones, the curtains are in the avocado card base.

Fun!

Thanks for stopping in and visiting with me ... one more scheduled post before I can play live again!

Best wishes to you all!

:0)

**000**

Materials: All PTI, except - Versamark Ink, Silver Embossing Powder - Stampendous; Lined Embossing folder - Quickutz; Rhinestones - Kaiserkraft

La Provence!

Hellooooo Peeps! I hope you're having a happy weekend!!

I wanted to play along with The Play Date Cafe again this week. The challenge is part of a "World Tour" - the theme this week being Provence!!

The greatest challenge for me with this one, is that it was a COLOUR challenge, not a CONCEPT challenge :0) Doesn't the word "Provence" bring up all sorts of images for you? Weathered wood, terracotta pots, lavender, lemons, beautiful fabric prints - mmmmmm!

Here is my card interpretation - which hopefully manages to incorporate a little of both ideas into it!

Without a doubt my two favourite paper lines which have been released to date - are "Urban Prairie" by Basic Grey and "Thrift Shop" by October Afternoon. Both of them found a spot on this one!

Here is a glimpse at some of the Provencal influences I incorporated - my sentiment (smile :0), the weathered wood background, the patina of old writing, the "cafe curtains" in my card design and the lemons - which are an important source of revenue for the region!

So there it is. I loved making this one, and loved the challenge. Thank you so much for the opportunity to play along!

Blessings to you all!

:0)

**000**

Materials: Wood Pattern, Old  Writing, Sentiment Stamp - Hero Arts; Lemon Stamp - Flourishes; Buttons, Twine, Cardstock , Ink; Distress Ink - Papertrey Ink; Designer Papers - Basic Grey and October Afternoon; Labels Die - Spellbinders; Ribbon - Michaels

Anniversary Card

Hi Everyone!! Hand's up - who *ISN'T* playing along at CARDS Magazine's Monochromatic Challenge??? No hands up from the PTI forum? I didn't think so LOL! :0)

I thought we had until tomorrow to submit - but according to the chatter, today's the day - screeeeeeeeeeech! That would be me making a mad dash for the submission deadline! I have been thinking about this card most of this week, but suddenly lost a few hours to execute it!!

Apart from yellows (such a close relative to my scheme anyway) this has to be my favourite monochromatic palette ever - white and cream!

I used a floral embossing folder from Provo Craft for the background and gave it some extra love with a shower of Gold Glimmer Mist . The embossed panel is cut from "Rustic White" paper, the card form behind it, is cream.

The Waltzingmouse labels 5 image is embossed with gold embossing powder ...

And the floral embellishment is a mixture of a Prima Flower base with a home created vellum flower - using Papertrey's Beautiful Blooms II dies, layered over the top.

The edges of the card are inked with Papertrey's Tea Dye Duo and the bottom edge is finished with an embossed strip from the "Distressed Stripes" stamp set.

And this card is headed off to send lots of love to 2 dear friends on the 25th of this month :0) 40 years on!!! I truly do wish them well - and a *VERY* happy day!!

I am also entering this card at "The Shabby Tea Room" this week - where the focus is on embossing!!

Thank you to the ladies who work so hard for these challenges! It's always *so* appreciated!

Thanks for popping in and visiting me! We almost made 100 degrees here today!?!!! I hope things are manageable in your part of the world!

:0)!!

**000**

Materials: Labels 5 Stamp - Waltzingmouse, Cardstock, Sentiment and Stripe Stamp, Scallop Die, Flower Dies, Distress Ink and Brown Ink - Papertrey Ink; Glimmer Mist - Tattered Angels; Pearls - Kaiserkraft, Labels Die - Spellbinders, Versamark Ink; Embossing Powder - Stampendous

Boho Bling!

Hi Everyone! Here is the inspiration pic, served up by Cath Edvalson for the Tuesday Trigger this week. When I saw it I almost fell off my chair. Peeps, for me ... this one is a CHALLENGE!! (The Challenge is called "Poppin' off the Page")

Then I remembered some old Sandylion stamps I had sitting around - which never seemed to work for me, no matter what I tried ... I pried those babies off their acetate sheet and set to work....flowers, flowers and more flowers ....

Twinkling H20's, my DMC floss, some rhinestones, some sequins ... beads .... "Are we there yet???"

Hmmmm, a little inking, some October Afternoon Paper - a delicious serving of gingham ribbon ....

And it's a case of Boho Bling! :0)

I used the sketch at 2S4Y for the layout of this one - the centre panel is popped up on 3D dots - as is the bottom right hand flower....

Our last group challenge for the Peeps was to try something out of our comfort zone ... this was so far out of my comfort zone - I entered the twilight zone! :0) LOL!!

Thank you so much for popping in. I had soooooo much fun making this card. It was a real brain tickler and I enjoyed trying to solve the challenge!

Have a completely wonderful day! Thanks for popping in to visit me!

:0)!!

**000**

Materials: Cardstock, Ink, Small flower images, Sentiment Label Die and Stamp - Papertrey Ink, Designer Paper - October Afternoon (Thrift Shop) Floral Stamps - Sandylion; Rhinestones - Kaiserkraft; Ribbon - No Time To Stamp; Twinkling H20's - Luminarte; Floss - DMC; Sequins, Beads - Unknown

So **SWEET** of You :0)

Hi Peeps!! Yesterday I was over visiting Diane Jaquay who was playing along with "The Play Date Cafe". Diane said she had been visiting a number of blogs, seen cards for this challenge and was "digging this combination of colours" ... well I dug Diane's card AND these colours and wanted to play along too :0)!

Gorgeous .... Sigh.

These colours really reminded me of valentine candy - all those red and pink hearts ... so I made a jar of valentine gumballs (only 6 months early :0)

You'll notice that there is no focal point sentiment on the front. (Although the background is stamped with a multiple 'Thank You' image .... inside I have used the "So Sweet of You" sentiment from Papertrey's Signature Greetings ....

I added details in silver - as a neutral to my card for a bit of fun bling and to keep the overall appearance very light. There is also a bit of White Gold Glitter on the Jar topper and some Crystal Glitter added to the gumballs and 'jar shine' for some extra reflection :0)

Thanks Diane for being such a great source of inspiration! You rock!! And thank you to The Play Date Cafe for a chance to play along with them this week!

Best wishes to you all for a totally fabulous day!

The sun is shining in my part of the world for the first time in a while. It's gorgeous!

:0)!!

**000**

Materials: Cardstock, Ink, Ribbon, Button, Twine, Jar, Sweets and Interior Sentiment Stamps, Impression Plate, Jar and Scallop Dies - Papertrey Ink; Thank You background Stamp - Hero Arts; Rhinestones - KaiserKraft; Versamark Ink; Embossing Powder and Crystal Glitter - Stampendous; White Gold Glitter - Martha Stewart; Glue Pen - Zig; Foam Dots - EK Success; Pencil Crayons - Prismacolor;  Felt and Pink DP - Unknown; Other - Thread

Happily Ever Challenged

Hi! Ted has invited everyone to participate in his 8th Challenge - "Old Glory".

Not living in the U.S.A. there isn't often a need for me to create in Red, White and Blue. So this was really something different. I decided to go for a patch from a pair of jeans as the blue - with flowers and ribbon for the red ....

.... and LOTS of white!!

I can't believe this is the 8th challenge Ted has hosted - and the FIRST I've played in. Ted, you come up with some really creative ways to keep us inspired! I've often laughed out loud, reading through your challenge requirements!! Thank you! :0)

Best wishes to peeps popping in!

Have a fabby kind of day today!

:0)!!

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Materials : Cardstock, Tea Dye; Button; Sentiment and Ink - Papertrey Ink; Embossing Folder - Provo Kraft; Flowers - Prima; Rhinestones - Kaiser and Walmart; Ribbon - Michaels

Papertrey Peeps Challenge #10

Hi everyone!! Two reasons for posting today - the first one is to wish everyone who is celebrating a

VERY HAPPY

FOURTH OF JULY!!

I hope you have a blessed and safe weekend!

My second reason for posting is to share my contribution to the Peeps 10th Challenge - which was hosted by our very awesome Heather Pulvirenti, who asked us to use White, Purple, Chartreuse, Turquoise and Grey together (enter into creative crisis right here .... !!!)

I have seen some people do beautiful things with this one - including Heather herself ... I just couldn't get out of thinking the project needed to be a bit funky - so that's the direction I headed in  :0)

Using this unexpected colour combination reminded me of the talents of  Heather and Dawn McVey - so I used Polka Dots and Damask Designs!

Blessings to you :0)

**000**

Materials - Cardstock, Ink, Rick Rack Die, DP, Stamps - Papertrey Ink; Alphabet Die Cut - Provo Craft; Green (leaves) - Unknown; Grey Copic Marker; Chalk - Craf-T Products; Ribbon - Michaels; Rhinestones - Kaiser

Thank You ...

'Tis summer and the season of gracious hospitality which means reciprocal Thank You's! Here is one I made for an older couple. (The new Thrift Store Paper reminds me of her so much - it's just a part of the era she grew up in ...)

I also used a little inspiration from this week's Trigger Tuesday - the picture on the right is called "Pleasing Palette" and is taken from Country Home.

I was inspired by the teacup (tea), the roses, and the beautiful fresh aqua/turquoise blue of the vase.

I wasn't quite comfortable with the orange/blue combination - so substituted Berry Sorbet with Aqua Mist.

The little roses came through as a silk embroidered flower on my teapot.

Thanks for popping in! And thanks to Cath Edvalson for the inspiration!

To those people who are celebrating today:

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!

:0)!!

Have a good one!

**000**

Materials: Cardstock, Button, Ribbon, Ink, Teapot and Sentiment Stamps, Scallop Die - Papertrey Ink; Labels Stamp - Waltzingmouse Stamps; Patterned Paper - October Afternoon; Pearls - Kaiser; Labels Die - Spellbinders; Other - Silk Ribbon and Thread

ETA: Many, many thanks for recognising this card as a Trigger Target! I am so grateful! There is such an abundance of talent in the blogging world - and it's always a huge surprise and blessing to be encouraged this way!!