World Card Making Day!!

I love making cards :) I love everything about cardmaking--I love designing it, putting it together, and I especially love that something I enjoy doing can bring someone else some joy by doing what I LOVE so much :) SO, that's why I thinkWorld Card Making Day is so fun! A whole day dedicated  to making cards :)

And sharing the fun of cardmaking with others all over the globe.There is even a whole site dedicated to World Card Making Day. If you  came to my blog for World Card Making Day from the Moxie Fab site, WELCOME!!! I'm so glad you stopped by :)(if you haven't yet, you should definitely check out the WCMD site here.) There are tons of fun things to check out, including some gorgeous cards made by lots of very talented ladies. So much inspiration :) World Card Making Day is actually Oct. 3rd. But each day leading up to it, there will be new cards going up on the site for you to check out, along with links to cardmakers all over the world. If you create a card for World Card Making Day, you can upload it to the  gallery  there for a chance to win a prize :) SO, do you have any plans for World Card Making Day? Making cards at home? with a friend? Leave me a comment and let me know what your plans are! (or just say hi!) and it will give you a  chance to win a huge prize too :) Also, go check out the Moxie Fab site!! You'll find another card by me :), along with a bunch of other talented ladies, AND if you leave a comment there, it will give you another chance at winning the fabulous prize, full of products from DarkRoom Door, Spanish Memories and Basic Grey. It's worth $330! wow :)

Here are some cards I made to celebrate World Card Making Day:) Since its NEVER too early to start on Christmas cards:

Simple, but I just love those little trees :) (these stamps are from Papertrey Ink, the die cut trees are from Quickutz)

And this one because I always have so many things to be thankful for:

Isn't this little bug so cute? I love how he looks with his rosey cheeks:) (buggie is Bosskutz, flower stamps are fancy pants.)

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I'm always glad to share my love of creating with others! I hope you were inspired to create a card to celebrate World Card Making Day:)

fall...

Well, it finally feels like fall. And it is officially fall, right? Yay!! I am definitely ready for some cooler weather :) Although, I have to admit I do like the summers a lot more than I used to. Now that I have all my cuties :) there are so many fun things to do with them in the summer :)

Miss Emma is 4 months old now!! I honestly cannot believe how fast time has flown by!! I want her to stay small...*sniff* She also got her first vaccination on Friday. That was not fun :( But she did well :) Isn't she so cute ?! She looks alot like Leah :) The outfit she's wearing here was Leah's :) She also had her 4 month check up too ( or as Levi likes to call it, her "ketchup" lol). She's doing great, but she's also alot smaller than all 3 of the others. Dr. just says she's petite :)

And I did some more scrapping :) yay me :) If I get into a groove of making cards, sometimes I forget just how much I like making layouts. I really like how this one came out. It has some of my favorite pictures on it :) It is a two pager. Seriously, if you had told me a few months ago that I would get into making 2 page layouts, I wouldn't have believed you lol. But I love the extra room to play with.

    

Sorry the pictures are a little wonky... I just couldn't get this layout to photograph well. I hand stitched the circle. Lots of my favorite goodies on here too--Fancy Pants papers and felt, verve stamps, and Quickutz letters :)

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to enjoy these fun fall-ish days. I intend to :)

supplies:

cardstock: die cuts with a view

pattern paper: fany pants

felt shapes: fancy pants

stamps: verve

letters: quickutz

label die: spellbinders

buttons: autumn leaves

the last one!

I did it! I did all 7 sketches for Caardvarks' Sketchfest  :) I was afraid I really wouldn't get to do today's, even though it was the last one because we were out ALL day. But I did :) This one actually took me the shortest time of all the sketches to make... not sure why lol! here it is:

This card has a whole bunch of Fancy Pants goodies on it. I love just about everything Fancy Pants :)

Ok, that's it for today--here in Japan it is after midnight, and I have to get at least a little bit of sleep tonight :)

Thanks for stopping by!!

supplies:

cardstock: papertrey ink

pattern paper: fancy pants

felt shape: fancy pants

stamp: verve

buttons: autumn leaves

gems: hero arts

sketchfest continued...

After I had gotten 5 of the sketches done so far, I was really hoping I would get a chance to try out sketch #6 at Caardvark's sketchfest. And I did :) My cuties played really hard with their cousins today and were all tuckered out, which means they went to bed early. Early bed for them means scrappy time for me :)

When I first saw this sketch I thought it would come together really quickly, but for some reason it took me awhile to find what I wanted to do. And it took me forever to decide on the colors... but in the end I think it turned out ok :) and..... I did the inside again!! he he:) Can you tell I'm proud of myself? lol

I only have one more sketch to go-- I hope I get a chance to do one tomorrow too!!! Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check out the Caardvark's site and see what all the other ladies have been making :)

supplies:
cardstock: core'dinations
pattern paper: inque boutique
stamps: verve
ink: papertrey ink
ribbon: papertrey ink
button: autumn leaves
other: gems

#5 at caardvarks

Well, I REALLY didn't think I would make it this far!! But here I am, finished with sketch #5 at caardvark's sketchfest I had a hard time with this sketch... the big circle just wasn't working for me.... Here is what I came up with though:

It's a 4x4 card. I actually started with a 5x5 card and tried 2 hand cut a big circle.It was not a pretty sight lol. So I made a smaller card that went well with my scallop circle :) I absolutlely LOVE this stamp from Papertrey. I t comes in a set with lots of fun garden images.And, I did the inside of this one too!! Yay me! :)

It's really simple, but still adds a fun touch I think.

Thanks for stopping by!!

supplies:

cardstock: from my stash

pattern paper: fancy pants

stamps: papertrey ink

ink: colorbox

button: papertrey ink

gems: hero arts

accessories: nestabilities, twine

more caardvarks fun!!

Can you believe it?! I did it :) I made a card for Wednesday's sketch at Caardvark's.

This sketch didn't seem quite as intimidating as yesterday's did lol. I *heart* these papers from K&Co--espcecially the pale purple one. Isn't it so pretty? :) And I even decorated the inside of this one:

I have been trying to pretty up the insides of all my cards lately :) I haven't gotten so that I do all of them yet, but maybe half? Not a bad start, right?! The white cardstock for this card is from PTI. I had heard lots of people rave about it, so I thought I should try it :) And wow, it really is nice and thick. I love it, but unfortunately that means I want to hoard it...lol

Thanks for stopping by again! I hope you've been enjoying the Sketchfest as much I have :)

supplies:

cardstock: papertreyink

pattern paper: k&co

stamps: verve

other: ek success butterfly punch, circle punch, gems

on a roll :)

I'm really surprised that I have gotten all 3 of the sketches done so far!! But I have been having fun :) I'm sure part of the reason I have gotten them all done so far is that my hubby Tomio has been out of town for the past 2 days. We'll see if I have time to get the rest done after he comes back tomorrow :) Anyway, here is what I made for Tuesday's sketch at Caardvark's for the Sketchfest going on all week:

I struggled with this one a little bit at first. But I like what I came up with in the end :)

supplies:

cardstock: core'dinations, papertrey ink

pattern paper: k & co

stamps: verve

buttons: autumn leaves

By the way, am I the last one to find out about "blogger draft?"  I discovered it when I was figuring out how to schedule a post for later. Wow, it is so much easier to add pictures, links or do just about anything! I'm sure I'm probably the last one to discover this, but it still made me happy :)

ANYWAY :), thanks for stopping by! I hope you liked  the card!!

Number 2!!

I did it!! I got the second Caardvarks sketch done :) woohoo :)

I LOVE this coffee set from Papertrey Ink. It has the cutest coffee images ever :) I don't use it nearly enough. And what color combo could be yummier than pink, light blue and brown?! I actuaally started out with just the brown and light blue, but I felt like it was missing something. Once I added the pink it was much more interesting to look at :) I didn't add a sentiment to this one and just left it all-occasion. Thanks for stopping by! I have enjoyed participating in the Caardvarks Sketchfest! Hopefully I will get 5 more done this week :)

supplies:
cardstock: pti dark chocolate, and K& Co
stamps: pti warm happiness, butterfly kisses
ribbon: pit dark chocolate twill
scallop border: quickutz
buttons: pit dark chocolate & spring rain, autumn leaves pink

caardvarks

This is my first time trying a Caardvarks sketch. But after having my week or so of not much crafting, I felt like trying to branch out some more :) I don't know if I will be able to make one for each of the 7 sketches they will have this week, but I will do as many as I can : )

So this is my take on the sketch :) I used alot from Papertrey on this card. I thought that Berry Sorbet and Ocean tides made for some fun Christmas colors :) I hope you like it!

Thanks for stopping by!

supplies:
cardstock: papertrey ink
stamps: papertrey ink merry & bright
ink: papertrey ink
flourish: quickutz
other: fiskars scallop border punch, nestabilities, pearls

cps sketch challenge

I've checked out the sketches before at the CPS site, but I had never participated in any. So when I saw this weeks sketch, I thought I should try it :) It looked fun and seemed easy to do. And I LOVED all the creations the design team had made!!! Just gorgeous.

I always wonder how liberally I can follow a sketch for a challenge....does anyone else wonder about that? lol ! But for this one, I saw the design team members all had very different interpretations, so I thought pretty much any interpretation would be ok. :) Honestly, I'm not that happy with it....It's just not what I had imsgined it like in my head lol..But, since I DID make it for the challenge, I thought I would go ahead and post it. It's better than not posting anything, right? :) lol!!

Thanks for stopping by! hope you have a great weekend!

supplies:
cardstock: from stash
pattern paper: fancy pants
stamps: pti
felt shapes: fancy pants
other: misc. ribbon, gems

mojo monday

....on Thursday. Wow. I didn't realize how much I miss crafting when I don't get the chance to. Usually, I get a chance to work on a card or a layout at least a little bit each day. The longest I go without would maybe be a weekend. But this week, with my sister Eryn having her baby and us going to visit etc. I actually hadn't had a chance to do anything until today. I felt a little off or "cranky":), but didn't realize how much of that could be helped by me getting at least a little scrapping time :) So I was SO happy to get a chance to make a card for this week's Mojo Monday sketch. Here is my card:

It actually came together really quickly. I saw this pattern paper from Die Cuts with a View and thought it would look really nice. I love how the colors match Ocean Tides ink from PTI. I just could not get the 3 circles in the corner to look right, so I didn't add any. But I did add a little bling :) Hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by!

supplies:
cardstock: core'dinations
pattern paper: diecuts with a view
stamps: verve
ink: pti ocean tides, kodomo nokao cocoa
other: fiskars scallop punch, gems

a two page layout

Up until recently, I almost never made two page layouts. I don't know why, I just really didn't like them. Only every now and then when I had a lot of birthday pictures or something would I do one. They were hard to work out in my mind or something lol. But, when looking at othe people's layouts, especially Nichol Magouirk's, I really liked how they looked and thought it might be fun to try some. I was very surprised to find that I really did like them, and that more often then not, they came together more quickly than my 1 pagers. Now, lately I have made at least as many 2 pagers as 1 pagers. Who knew?! :)
Here are a couple of the 2 page layouts I have made lately:

I had several of these pictures I really liked of Leah and Levi together, so I thought this would be good way to get lots of them on a page. I used tons of Fancy Pants paper on this layout. And several Quickutz dies too.

This one is a birthday layout, so of course I had way more pictures than I needed.

This is pretty much all Little Yellow Bicycle papers. And Quickutz, of course :)

I had fun making these 2 pagers that were pretty different from what I normally make. How about you? Are you a 1pager or 2? Don't you LOVE the cake? Tomio decorated it :)
Thanks for stopping by!!

supplies:
Simply Sweet layout
cardstock: diecuts with a view
pattern paper: fancy pants
diecut letters and shapes: quickutz
felt accents: fancy pants

Yummy birthday layout
cardstock: bazzill
pattern paper: lttle yellow bicycle
diecut letters and flourishes: quickutz
button: doodlebug

some mojo fun

For some reason, I didn't get a chance to participate in last week's mojo monday.So I really wanted to be sure to make something for this week's sketch. It was a little tough for me though. This is actually my second attempt at this sketch. I just wasn't happy with the first one, so I made this instead:

I like this version :) I was so glad to get a chance to use my new Hearts on Fire stamps from Verve . And I loved how well this image fit in my new spellbinders label die:) (I'm not sure, I *think* it is "labels 4"?! maybe...) The tag at the bottm is hand cut. I love dark brown combined with any kind of aqua-ish color lately. And I really like PTI's hibiscus burst. I was afraid it would be too bright or PINK when I got it, but it just the right shade. Love it!!

And in case you were wondering what my first card looked like, here is a peek ~lol:):

It's...I don't know, something just wasn't right... lol. Not sure what exactly... not my typical style anyway, I guess that's why :)

Thanks for stopping by!! Hope you have a fun weekend :)
suppplies:
cardstock: papertrey ink dark chocolate, stampers select white
pattern paper: fancy pants
stamps: verve
ribbon: papertrey ink hibiscus burst
button: papertrey ink hibiscus burst
other: nestabilities, pearls

oatmeal cookies and layouts

wow, it was SO much cooler today!! I love cool fall evenings:) so much better than hot summer nights :)

Anyway, I made some oatmeal cookies the other day :) I am always wanting to find THE perfect oatmeal cookie recipe--moist, chewy, full of yummy spices...ahhh :) But I haven't yet... So I thought I should just start trying a few different recipes and go from there. This time I made some that are actually called "Cowboy cookies". But I didn't add the chips or raisins it calls for because I wanted to try them plain. It wasn't full of spices, but it was definitely yummy! The key is to not over cook them so they are still nice and chewy in the middle. The kids all loved them too. And since it made a nice big batch they actually lasted for a couple of days AND we were still able to eat some dough :) Don't they look heavenly yummy?

I haven't made a recipe card for them yet, but I definitely will be :)
I was noticing that I have been sharing alot more cards than layouts here. Which is actually interesting, since if I HAD to choose, I would say I prefer making layouts. And I do make them just as often really. SO, I thought I would try to share more layouts ( I think the main reason is probably just that cards are easier to take decent pictures of, so its quicker to upload them...)ANYWAY, here is a layout I did recently:

I love how it turned out. These were some of my favorite pictures of Leah and Emma that I have taken recently. It was fun to make such a girly layout :) I also really enjoyed using my stamps on a layout. I love my stamps, but I usually end up using them mainly for cards. Now I really want to try to use them on some more layouts:)

I have also been really into adding a little bling lately :) I love adding just a few gems or rhinestones here and there. Just a fun touch. The pattern paper here is some Fancy Pants paper I had kind of been hoarding :) It was just so cute he he, but I am glad I finally used it! There's not point in having it just to keep in my drawer, right?! ( I know I'm not the only hoarder out there though!! what do you hoard? buttons? ribbon? I'm definitely the worst about my pattern paper :))

I did the journaling on the computer--tons prettier than my hand writing will EVER be :)

Thanks for stopping by!!

supplies:
cardstock: bazzill basics
pattern paper: fancy pants
diecut letters: quickutz
label diecut: spellbinders
stamps: papertrey ink, verve
buttons: sei

good intentions...

I don't know about everyone else, but I am one who always has good intentions, but then I have trouble following through... sigh. Even if I really DO want to do it, I find it hard to see things through till the end. But this time I didn't let that happen. I don't know if you have heard about the card drive that is going on for Kate and her family. You can read all about it here. Once I heard about it, I knew I wanted to send some cards. I told Leah, Rhys and Levi about it and they all wanted to make cards too. They all made lots of cards and origami shapes for them. It was really nice to see. Levi kept saying "Kate might like this. It's pretty." And they are all sealed up and addressed and ready to send out. SO glad I didn't let them stop as just "good intentions" this time. Hopefully the cards we sent can help put a smile on their faces and let them know that there are people praying for them all over the world.

I didn't get any pictures of the cards we sent before I sealed them up :(. But I wanted to share something. This is a card I made for Tomio for Father's day this year. Simple but to the point :)

I always try to let him know just how much we appreciate what he does for us especially on Father's Day:) (Isn't this tree stamp ADORABLE?! It is from Stamping Bella . I use it all the time :) )

Anyway, thanks for stopping by! Try not let those good intentions you have stop there--follow through with something this week!! (if I can, ANYBODY can !) And if you do, leave me a comment and let me know what you did :) I love comments!!

last cute....

I think this is my last card for the Moxie Fab challenges. (I think!!) For some reason, I have been making some long, skinny cards lately :) I loved these little gingerbread people from Quickutz. Aren't they too cute?! I thought kraft was the perfect color for them.

This is another pretty simple card. I like it when a card comes together quickly AND I am happy with the results :)
Thanks for stopping by!

more cute

Here is my second "cute" Christmas card :) No good detail shots of this one :( But is pretty simple, so I'm sure you get the idea :) It went together pretty quickly. I really like this K& Co. Christmas paper :)

Thanks for stopping by!

supplies:

cardstock: worldwin

patteren paper: K & Co

ribbon: bazzill basics

other: gems

more moxie ~cute~

I got to make some more cards for the Moxie Fab "stretch your style" challenge. Unfortunately, I'm not a good judge of what category my cards should go in...I *think* they would probably all fit into the "cute" category, so that is where I will put them :) This is my first "cute" card:

I really like how it turned out :) No stamping on this card, which is unusual for me. Hope you like it!

Thanks for stopping by!

supplies:
cardstock: core'dinations
pattern paper: fancy pants
ribbon: papertrey ink
felt "joy": fancy pants
other: straight pins, fiskars scallop punch, twine