Papertrey Ink April Blog Hop Challenge

 Yes, I am definitely cutting it close. I actually made 3 cards for the challenge last night, but I really couldn't get any good photos till this morning. And then after I took them, I didn't like any of the cards I made....so, I made another one. While it took a lot less time to create than the ones I made last night, I like it much better :)

Anyway, here is the inspiration photo for this month:

Lots of fun patterns and colors. Right away I thought of Damask Designs and Rosie Posie. (Didn't everyone? lol)  Here is what I came up with:

I wanted to work in the polka dots too, but it just didn't go with what I was picturing. I used Raspberry Fizz and Hawaiian shores inks. I added just a touch of dark chocolate to kind of ground it all.

And that's it :) I'd better wrap this up to I can link it up to the hop.

Thanks SO much for stopping by!!!

CR84FN~again

So since I really liked these colors, I actually made a few different cards with this week's CR84FN combo:

I wasn't sure how I like all of them, but I thought I would go ahead and post another one of them anyway. Hopefully I'm worst critic, right?

This is mostly lavender, with a just a pop of gray and chartreuse. I'm actually really bad at fussy cutting, but I wanted tiny butterflies, so I did the best I could lol. I stamped the flowers in lavender and then colored them in with copics. I thought it had a much softer look than when I stamped then in black. All stamps are from Papertrey.

Thanks for stopping by today! I am *so* ready for the weekend :)

I did it :)

Yay!  I actually am participating in a CR8T4FN challenge twice in a row. I loved this week's colors even more than last time's.

See, so pretty! But for some reason I actually had a harder time coming up with what I wanted to make.
In the end this is what I came up with:

I think I like it lol. I surprised myself and only used a tiny bit of the lavender, even though it was my favorite color out of the three.

The pretty butterfly is from Clear Dollar stamps--I love the matching dies. The sentiment is from Papertrey's Gracious Vases. Oh, and the background text is from Hero Arts ( use it entirely way too much lol).

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I'm off to check out all the other lovely creations submitted for the challenge this time :) And then I'm going to enjoy this great weather we have here today and take my peeps out for a walk.

CR84FN challenge

I haven't participated in any challenges yet this year. But I *really* had been wanting to, hopefully this will be the start of good things:) Here is the inspiration photo for this week's CR84FN challenge.

I really liked the colors this time. I pretty knew right away that I would have to add a little kraft too, and I was right.

I know it is mostly red, but it really does have all 3 colors :) I stamped and colored the little birdies from Taylored Expressions. Added a little kraft and some twine from Jillibean Soup.

Simple, but cute :) Might be the Valentine I give my dh this year :)

Thanks SO much for stopping by today! I hope you are having a terrific week!!

sketch time

Waltzingmouse sketch time :) I've been completely missing all of the sketches lately. I really wanted to get back into it this week, but to be honest I almost decided not to when I saw the sketch. I was really stumped. But I thought was kind of the whole point of a "challenge", and decided to go for it. Here is the sketch that was so tricky for me :

 I really just didn't know where to go with it.... Anyway, after a couple of tries, this is what I came up with :

I surprised myself by liking the end result more than I expected lol. Also when I was looking through my stamps trying to see what I wanted to use, I remembered how much I liked these Wild Roses. I suppose some might think that might be a sign that I have too many stamps...but I'm pretty sure it just means I need some more time to USE my stamps :) I used some of my favorite colors, but I don't usually use all four of them together-- kraft, lavender, pale yellow and pale green. Glad they seem to go together well :)

Alright, kind of short and sweet today. So glad you stopped by!!

CR84FN color challenge :)

I'm so proud of me :) I decided to try to use the time have in the morning since I have to get up at 5 to get Tomio off. And with Miss Emma sleeping a little bit better in the morning, I have from an hour to an 90 min. in the morning to work on cards :) Heehee :) And that is with me doing the laundry and dishes too. So today I used this  time to make a card for Cr84 Fun Color challenge. Here is the inspiration for the colors red, aqua, and white.

I really liked these colors :) Here is what I made:

Yes, very CAS again. I really just can't help it. So I decied just to go with it and admit that I just don't do other styles well. So clean and simple it will continue to be :) I just got PTI's Embellishments set that I used here. Really loving this set. I actually made another card for this challenge with it, but I was afraid it had too much kraft in it, so I made this one instead. It was actually kind of hard for me to make card without using kraft. When I looked at the last 10 or so cards I made, ALL of them had some kind of kraft in them lol.

Thanks SO much for stopping by today! I hope you are having a great week :)

Waltzing Mouse sketch :)

yay :) I missed last week's challenge, and I was afraid I might miss this one too. But I didn't.I liked this week's simple sketch. I was little stumped at first though.... I just don't usually make "mini" cards. But they came together super easily with some of  my new Waltzingmouse stamps :)

 Aren't these little guys just too cute?! I loved all the fun sentiments too.

 They would be fun to color in too, but I love how they look cute just like that though :)

That's all for me today though. I've got a lot of school things to do for the kids today, and I'm trying to organize a bunch of things in my house (!!) Thanks for popping by!!

CR84FN

I noticed this challenge a while ago and kept it in my favorites, but I hadn't gotten to actually participate yet. But I saw the pretty colors this time, and I thought I would jump in!! Here are the colors:

Plum, lavender and green---fun colors!

This is what I made:

I fiddled with this quite awhile, trying adding other stuff, but it just wasn't right. So I kept it simple. I love these butterflies, I'm afraid I use them entirely too much lol. I really love the music background from Impression Obsession. Oh, and see the gorgeous texture on the middle? It's called "Distressed" and it's from Sizzix. It's not new or anything, but I just got it. I love it! It actually comes in a set of 6 patterns and they are all great.

Thanks for stopping by! I had lots of fun joining in with everyone this time :)

time for a sketch :)

I was really, really glad to get some time to make something for this week's Walztingmouse sketch. It just felt so nice to make something :) That said, I have hard time with circle cards, actually just about any "shaped" cards.

 This is really my second attempt at this card. After trying a more CAS one, I went with a "more is best" card. :) And for the first time, I actually think I like it. I love butterflies :) Also love cupcakes and several other of the  "overly trendy" things lol. So I'll use them till I get tired of them, which will probably not happen any time soon. This time most of the stamps I used are from PTI, except for the text background. That is from Hero Arts.

  The white doily is from Joann's. I finished off with some gems and stitching. I like stitching around circles. I I'm always proud of myself for being able to do it well lol:)

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you have a super day!

Mouse-y sketch :)

 Yes, it's time for my Waltzing Mouse Sketch card.This is a couple days later than I had planned, but that's ok :) I went back to what I am much more comfortable this week--I think I tried too hard with last week's "vintage" card....
ANYWAY :) this was the sketch this time:


                                        

I like this sketch. I thought of several really clever ways to inerpret it.... but none of them actually looked good . So this is what I made:

  

 I will admit that it did take longer than first appears. I usually spend just as much time sitting staring at or adjusting each thing before I actually adhere it. And then of course I had to take at least 6 breaks to either change diapers, clean up messes or find a missing Batman....but I like how it came out :) I distressed the edges of the top layer after I stitched it. The "Love you" is from Teeny Trees. The pattern paper for the hearts is from K & Co. The kraft is from Papertrey.

Happy Hump Day!! Thanks for popping in today :)

Right the first time...

Time for another Waltzing Mouse sketch. Actually I'm a little later joining than I had planned, but hey it's better than not at all :) Here is this week's sketch:

Now, I pretty much always interpret sketches very literally. That's just me~lol. But I couldn't with this one. Right off, I didn't have a anything to use for the star. So that kind of threw me since I couldn't exactly follow it. Maybe it was good for me?! Anyway....this is what I came up with:

                                                      

                  

So....is it too different from the sketch?! I decided to use a heart instead of the star. I embossed it with my swiss dots folder and inked it a little with Spun Sugar distress ink. I don't think you can see it very well, but I stamped some little circles from Nutcracker Sweet randomly on the kraft panel with some Antique linen ink before stitching it down. The "with love" is from Vintage Ornaments. I tried for a more shabby/vintage look for this card. I've tried it a couple of other times, but never really liked the results. It turned out better than my last attempt, but I think I was right the first time. I'll just stick with more CAS.....lol. But it's always good to stretch yourself, right? Oh, the pattern paper is some really old Prima Marketing paper I had in my stash.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you have a super day :)

Sketch fun :)

I've been absolutely loving my Waltzing Mouse stamps! They are so pretty and easy to use. Since I've been loving them so much, I thought it might be fun to join in on the sketch challenge they have going on each week.
Here is this week's sketch:

 I really loved this sketch. I decided to follow it pretty literally. It worked really well for a CAS card :)

 Like I said,really simple :) But I like how it turned out.  I stamped the open roses in versamark on the pink panel. I colored the bud with my copics, and yeah, that's about it lol. Oh, and I finished off with a few gems.

I really like rustic cream for the base. Kind of like a kraft-y version of white :)

Thanks so much for stopping by! I'm so glad I got join in this time. I'm thinking I need to get some more sets so  I can even more choices for next time. Don't you think? I thought so :)

Favorite Papertrey

I'm really excited about Papertrey's anniversary celebrations :) I'm looking forward to lots of inspiration and fun new products :) The challenge for today was to post your favorite Papertrey card from this past year....kind of hard to choose. Usually there's a little something I like about one card, and then something else I like about another. But this is definitely one of my faves for sure.  Kinds of different from what I usually make.

It uses two of my all time favorite sets too. Butterfly Dreams and  and Turning a New Leaf . I use these sets all the time :) I love how you can color in these butterflies and give them such a different look. I colored some of the pearls with copics too so they would match. I also stamped the sentiment directly on my card, which I am often too chicken to do lol.
Thanks so much for stopping by. Hope you are having a fun weekend. I am :)

Papertrey Blog Hop

I really didn't expect to get to participate this time around. After Tomio and Leah finally got over the flue, I ended up with it. But I was SO happy that I got better in time to actually make something. The problem for me is, I don't have any sets that haven't seen ink yet. And while I DO have couple of sets that are collecting

 dust(!), there is a reason for that....I have couple of sets that I haven't ever gotten to work well for me. One of those was Heart Prints. So I challenged myself to use it. And this what I made:

I also used some scarlet jewel, which I really haven't used in ages either. I did use my go-to woodgrain background, but that's ok since I combined it with my "dusty" set, right? I also finally got my sewing machine to cooperate again :) yay!

Thanks so much stopping by! I hope you are enjoying the "hop" :) I'm just glad I got to create something this week :)

Papertrey October Blog Hop Challenge

I'm SOOOO excited to get to participate again! I've only managed to actually participate a couple of other times. I LOVE this snowman stamp, so I am happy for any chance I have to use it :)

But, the first thing I decided I wanted to do for this card was the pattern paper I stamped. I started out with the sweet blush and stamped it with Tsukineko Opera Pink. Then I randomly stamped the snowflakes (well,  not really randomly, I actually thought about where to stampe each one, but you know what I mean :)) Then I heat embossed them with white sparkly embossing powder. For the snowman, I stamped him in versmark too, but I embossed him with ultra-thick white embossing powder. Then I stamped his face and arms with timber brown stazon.

The brackets are from 7 gypsies and I have had them in my stash for awhile lol.  I stitched some Bo Bunny double dot cardstock pieces on the sides to finish it off.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you are enjoying the Papertrey blog hop :)

too much internet?

My kids LOVE *love* getting books from the library. Leah reads books like nobody's business --really just about anything:) Rhys likes reading 2nd grade level ones, while Levi likes to have me read him lots of picture books. His current favorites are this one:

and this one:                                    

  

He'll tell me which one he wants me to read by the title. He'll either say "Let's read Click Clack Moo!" OR, "Let's read GOOGLE, GOOGLE, quack". :) And no matter how many times I read it the proper way or Rhys tells him, he never says "giggle". Now I'm pretty sure when I was little, the word giggle was alot more familiar to me than the word "google". And I'm also pretty sure I can thank the internet for that....:)

ANYWAY :), I have a card for the challenge at Embellish magazine today. The challenge is to use the colors red, pink, yellow, and brown. And to use felt. Here is what I came up with:

I honestly just don't use alot of red. I noticed I don't even own much read cardstock at all. But I really like the way the red looks stamped on the pink cardstock. The music stamp is from Cornish Heritage Farms. I stamped the label with Polkdot Basics 2 in Old Paper distress ink. The pink flourish is from Turning a New Leaf. For the flowers I used Papertrey Ink felt (yum!) that I diecut with a Quickutz flower. But instead of using the centers that came with it, I used some Fancy Pants felt buttons. I finished them off with some red baker's twine. Oh, and the sentiment is from Verve. I love all their wonderful Scripture Plain Janes.

Thanks for popping in! I hope you gave a SUPER day :)



more pink and green

When I was making the card for the Embellish challenge, I actually ended up making 2 cards. Usually when I don't like the first version of a card, I just take it apart and use some part of it. But this time, I didn't not like the first one, just wasn't sure it was what I was going for. So I kept and just made another one, which is the one I shared before. I thought I might as well go ahead and show the first one too :) Here it is:

I figured I might as well go ahead enter it into the challenge too, right? :) I didn't use stamped birds for this, but some Quickutz birds I had. They have a totally different feel from my brown bird on my other card. I used 3 different pattern papers on this card, which is SO rare for me. I often don't even use any at all.

Anyway, thanks so much for stopping by!! Hope you are having a COOL weekend :)

embellish magazine~challenge~yay!

It seems like it has been forever since I participated in any challenges. I'm so glad I just sat down and MADE time to participate in Embellish Magazine's current challenge. The challenge was to use green, pink, brown, and birds. I think I've mentioned befoe that I can have a hard time using green. butI like what I ended up with this time.

For some reason the pink doesn't look as bright in the photo, but it PTI Hibiscus burst, so it's very PINK irl :) The background script stamp from CHF is stamped in versamark.. The bird and vine are PTI. I stamped the vine in versamark once and then embossed it with white embossing powder. Then I stamped it in versamark again, offsetting it. I stamped the bird in versamark too and then cut him out. I was kind of surprised at myself for only using brown for the bird when that is the color I am most comfortable with and use all the time. I had lots of fun and I hope this is the start of me getting back into doing some more challenges :)

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope you have a super day!!

how sweet it is...

I saw this sketch challenge at the Paper Crafts blog, and I thought it would be fun to try one. I don't know why, but as soon as I sat down to make something with this sketch, I immediately thought of using these stamps.

When I first got them, I only imagine using them mostly on recipe cards. But I actually have used them on cards and layouts. I really like how it turned out. I paper pieced the apron, pockets and hearts and all. I used embroidery floss for the apron strings :)  I used Basic Grey Nook and Pantry paper, it seemed so perfrect :) The stitching is kind of by machine, kind of by hand lol. I mad the holes with my sewing machine, but then I stitched it by hand.

Thanks so much for stopping by!! I hope your week is going well. Tomio is off tomorrow, which is fun :) I have a dentist appointment though... at least it will be nice to get it done with, right? lol.

supplies: cardstock: bazill basics, pattern paper: polka dot-bo bunny, all other-basic grey; stamps- images-hero arts, sentiment-papertrey ink;ink:tsukineko; other-stitching.

Moxie Fab~sketch~

I was glad when I noticed that this challenge was still going on! Definitely not a sketch I would normally try, but really fun :) I'd been wanting to use tghis tree image and do some paper piecing for awhile, so this was the perfect time to try it :

I used stamps from several different sets on this. The tree is from Verve. I just love it :) The speech bubble is from Pink Paislee. The bird is from Hero Arts. And the sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. I don't usually mix sets so much, but it was fun finding the different images to go with the picture in my head :) I used the negative frame from a nesties label 8 to make the ground and a tiny heart punch for the flowers. I paper pierced the stems. Very differentfrom what I usually make, but I had lots of fun.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope you are having a fabulous week!

supplies: cardstock- white-papertrey ink, kraft-bazzill, brown-bo bunny, pink-papertrey ink;pattern paper: green& yellow-fancy pants, blue polka dot-papertrey ink;stamps: tree-verve, speech bubble-pink paislee, sentiment-papertrey ink, bird-hero arts