A Couple More Challenge Cards

Here are a couple more cards.  This first one is for The Shabby Tea Room - Winter Wonderland.  I used the this sketch, added some distressing to the edges of the papers and did some quick stitching.  For the snowflakes cut craft foam with a Cuttlebug die and then covered them with chunky glitter.  The image is from Magic Moonlight.

Shabby Tea Room - Winter Wonderland
Paper Sundaes #53 - Distressing
Sunday Sketch and Stamp - Sketch
Tuesday Throwdown - Distressing
Crafty Purple Frog - Distressing

Stamps:  Verve Winter Wonder. Image from Magic Moonlight.
Paper:  MME Christmas Glitter, HOTP, Paper Studio
Ink:  Distress Inks
Accessories:  Cuttlebug, glitter, Spellbinders Labels Trio, sewing machine

A friend asked me to make a car for her boyfriend.  I used my Cricut to cut out the couple silhouette and the base.  I stamped the black heart with glue on Stampin Up French Flair background then sprinkled with glitter.  The red heart is attached on foam tape.  The base card is a 5.5" square easle card.  HOTP DP covers the card, which was inked around the edges and cut with deckle scissors.  Used an Inkadinkado stamp under the heart.  JustRite sentiment and border, cut out with Spellbinders.  Spellbinders Renaissance Hearts border, with some pearls on the bottom panel.

JustRite Friday Challenge - Love is in the air
Craft Your Days Away - Love

Stamps:  JustRite Romantic Sentiments and Just A Note border, Inkadinkado Garden Delight, Stampin Up French Flair
Paper:  The Paper Studio, HOTP.
Ink:  Colorbox Queues.
Accessories:  Cricut, glitter, foam tape, pearls, Spellbinders

Flutterby Mojo & Sailing Away

Here's another all white except for the main image card, this time for the Flutterby Wednesday challenge.  I used copper EP on the butterfly, cut out between some of the design, then curled the wings and attached it.  I really like how this turned out.  Lots of pretty shimmer without being over-the-top.

Flutterby Wednesday:  All white except for main image.
MojoMonday175:  Sketch.
Sweet Stampin:  Brown and one other color.

Stamps:  Inkadinkado Mindscapes.
Paper:  The Paper Studio, unknown glittery CS.
Ink:  Versamar
Accessories:  Spellbinders circle, Cuttlebug lattice dies, Sizzix embossing folders, embossing powder, homemade flowers, rhinestones, Glimmer Mist.

My second card today is a card I made for Father's Day.  My dad has been gone for 20 years (he's actually my step-dad but the only father I ever knew), but he was my hero and I still miss him terribly.  There are times when his passing seems so much more recent.  Every year on his birthday, Father's day, Christmas I take flowers and a card to his gravesight at Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetary.  He was a Korean War and Vietnam Vet.  He loved sailing, so this set is perfect.

I used Flourishes stamps, colored a bit on the ship with Prismacolor pencils and added Stickles to the waves.  Cut out image with Spellbinders deckled oval, sponged Distress Ink around the ship. Used a corner punch on the base CS and DP.  Flourishes challenge is to use hardware.  I have had these anchor buttons for many years.  I snipped off the back, gave them a "patina" with a Copic marker and attached them.  The ship's wheel is a Tim Holtz gear.  I had some flower stamens and I colored them with a Copic marker and attached them to the back of the gear, then attached it with a brad.  Looks like a wheel to me. : )

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday 102 - Use hardware.
Papertake Weekly - Sketch
Stamp With Fun - Blue and Brown

Stamps: Flourishes Antique Map and Guiding Light.

Paper: HOTP, The Paper Studio, Neenah Solar White,
Ink: Copic marker, Memento, Colorbox Queues.
Accessories: Spellbinders die, corner punch, Stickles, foam tape, button, Tim Holtz gear, flower stamens, brad.

Mousy Note And a Whiff of Joy COTW

I haven't done a House Mouse card in ages, and I have a ton of the little critters.  I used the Tim Holtz brick wall folder on the background.  Other DP are scraps from my stash.  Mouse was colored with Copics, my first attempt - still needs lots of practice.  Cut out image with Spellbinders die, chalked around image while still in the die.  The little XO on his note and the sentiment are from Crafty Secrets, and the heart is from Rubber Stamp Tapestery set.

House Mouse challenge - Embossing.
Splitcoast Stampers - Sketch 317
Crafty Secrets SCS Forum - Have a heart
Craft Your Days Away - Love

Stamps: House Mouse "Maxwell's Note", Crafty Secrets "Glamour  Girls" and "Bonjour Merci".
Paper:  Kraft CS, stash scraps, Neenah Solar White
Ink: Copics, Memento, Colorbox Queues
Accessories:  Spellbinders, embossing folder



This next card follows the Midnight Madness sketch and also the Whiff of Joy color scheme of chocolate, teal and cream.  I had meant to use Distress Inks to color the image, but used the wrong ink to stamp it.  When the lines started to smear a bit I switched to Prismacolor pencils blended with baby oil.  Not the end result I wanted, but I still like it.  The snowflakes were cut from craft foam with a Cuttlebug die and glittered with ivory chunky glitter.  This card will be my personal quota for my Christmas card of the week (COTW)

Midnight Madness - Sketch

Whiff of Joy - Chocolate, teal and cream. 

Stamps:  Whiff of Joy Willow With Lantern.
Paper:  GCD Studio "Scent of Christmas" and "Ella Blue", stash scrap, watercolor paper.
Ink:  Colorbox Queues.
Accessories:  Spellbinders Labels Six, glitter, craft foam, charms, Stickles.

Color Challenged Tag

Here's my next tag for Joan's weekly tag challenge.  My order from Joan arrived yesterday, and included this gorgeous die, so and I decided to use that as the base for my tag.  Our Creative Corner is having a color challenge, to use an analogous color scheme.  I searched the web for a color wheel with more colors then went with the paler hues.  I cut the base from an old greeting card (has some shimmer), embossed and used a Copic marker to stencil the embossed areas while still in the die.  The lady silhouette is from a Marianne D die.  I made the flowers, they look so pretty IRL.  I highlighted/edged them with a Copic marker then sprayed the layers with Glimmer Mist before assembling them.  They have a pretty shimmer.  Leaves are Martha Stewart punch.  Strung some beads on some eyepins and attached behind the flower.  The picture is not the greatest, I seem to have issues with lighting that I can't overcome.

Challenges:
Joan's Weekly Tag Challenge
Our Creative Corner - Analogous color scheme

Stamps:  None.
Paper:  The Paper Studio, sacrificed greeting card.
Ink:  Copic markers
Accessories:  Heartfelt Creations Decorative Window Scene Die, homemade flowers, Marianne D die, pearl, beads, MS leaf punch, Stickles.

CSSC155 Birthday Wishes

The challenge on the Crafty Secrets Forum Challenge is to do a ONE LAYER creation using Crafty Secrets products. You can stamp the card base, add texture to it or punch it, but you can only add one image layer to the base.

I did this simple birthday card to have one hand, and I love how it turned out. The picture doesn't do it justice - I just can't seem to get good lighting for my photos.  I embossed the base with a CB folder.  Then I used a piece from Crafty Secrets Earthy paper pack and ran it through the same folder, then tore the edges.  I used the sentiment from Crafty Secrets Fairyland set, embossed it with copper EP.  I inked the edges of the base card and the layer with Vintage Photo Distress Ink, then attached the layer.  Added a little copper Stickles. 

Stamps:  Crafty Secrets Fairyland.
Paper:  SU! Sage Shadow, Crafty Secrets Earthy paper pack.
Ink:  Versamark, Distress Ink.
Accessories:  Cuttlebug folder, embossing powder, Stickles.

Flourishes FTTC101

Dee jackson is hosting the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge this week.  She wants us to make a big card...5x7 or larger.  This one is 5x7.  I followed this week's sketch over on SCS used Flourishes "Santa, I Believe" set for the main image and the sentiment, cut/embossed with Spellbinders Labels Seventeen, inked in the die.  The CS is from MME Christmas Glitter pack.  I embossed the upper right portion of the base with Cuttlebug Allegro folder.  Edges of all pieces were inked with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink.  This also fills my personal challenge quota of a Christmas card a week.  : )

Stamps:  Flourishes "Santa, I Believe"
Paper:  MME Christmas Glitter Pack, Paper Studio CS
Ink:  Memories Sepia, Ranger Distress Ink
Accessories:  Foam tape, Dew Drops, Spellbinders

Joan's Gardens Weekly Challenge #3

As I was going onto Joan's blog to post my tag link (below this post), I saw that this week's Thursday Weekly challenge #3 is:

1.Make a box...any kind of box will work.....even an alter box (how about a box for your tags)
2. A flourish
3. A butterfly
4. Make a flower (alright...if you can't make one use one you have purchased).

I made this little trinket box.  It is 2 1/8" square.  I used cardboard backing from a paper pack to make box and covered it with paper from my stash, I have no idea what company.  The box closes with the ribbon...I put a tiny flat magnet under the brown paper and wrapped within the end of the ribbon.  The flower was made with several sizes of punches, misted with water, wadded and then the layers put together.  The butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch and the flourish is a Spellbinders die. Will also include in this week's Flutterby Wednesday Challenge - anything goes.

Joan's Tuesday Tag Challenge #3

I love tags, but for some reason haven't made many.  Joan over at Joan's Gardens started another challenge to create a tag a week, any occasion, so we'll have tags on hand when we need them.  So for her  Tuesday Tag Challenge #3 I made this tag.

The base of the tag was already embossed, a pale pearly green CS, that I got at Joann's.  The image is from Magic Moonlight, cut and embossed with Spellbinders die, sponged with Distress Ink while still in the die.  The edges of the base tag were also sponged with two different Distress Inks.  The flowers I made, and the branches are a Martha Stewart punch.

Where I've Been, Where I Plan To Be (long post)

I've had a long absence from the craft blog world, though not intentional.  Long story short...My son painted the family room for me.  I painted the kitchen, put Venetian plaster on the walls in the breakfast room, as a backsplash behind the stove, over the tile around the fireplace, and a different color in the powder room to replace the wallpaper that was in there.  Then Chuck and I pulled up all the carpet downstairs and spent two entire days on our hands and knees sanding and scraping the plaster and paint that the contractors figured would never be seen.  After all that, we stained the concrete and applied several layers of sealer.  It's gorgeous! Then I was suddenly and unexpectly laid off  from my job on October 4.  Was hired November 29 by a law firm and I'm still trying to fit in there.  I've always worked in the medical field in one capacity or another since I was 15, so a law firm is definitely a stretch for me!

Here are the house pix, should be able to click on them to make them bigger if you'd like. 

Breakfast room (before) Girls night in. :)  Can see where I'm in process of removing wallpaper, the vertical blinds and mini blinds we replaced. 



Living/Dining room. This was after we had been sanding for more than 12 hours

   

Family room. Gray tile around fireplace I covered with venetian plaster, you'll see in after shot



Breakfast area all put together. New French doors, valances I made, new window blinds

Powder room with Venetian Plaster

Family room. Venetian plaster over the gray tile around fireplace, valances up.

     

Living/dining room, from the front door

 

As far as crafting goes, here is a listing and pictures of what I have been up to.

Military Ball invitations for the JROTC program at my son's high school.  He is no longer in the program, but I have made the invitations for the last four years, they liked how I did them and they asked me to do them again.  This is my fifth and last year.  Their colors were purple and gold, theme was "Roman", so this is what I came up with.  I made 125 of these.

Beaded ornament covers. I did four different designs, five of each design in different colors. We had a Christmas party and I let the guests choose which ornament they wanted from the tree. They loved them!

Fleece jackets.  I made four of these, this is one for my daughter.  The other designs were Dallas Cowboys, Texas A&M and Black Watch plaid.

Mass Christmas Cards.  My mother and some of my friends depleted my stash of Christmas cards.  I never got around to making cards in time to send out to friends at Christmas but I did need a few for my family.  Also, a friend wanted quite a few clean and simple cards, so I did a mass production of these, there were 40 in the varied designs and colors

Christmas card I made for my mom.  Not a mistake on lower part of card, I forgot to take a picture before I signed it, so I "airbrushed" the words off the picture

 

Birthday card for my daughter, Shelbie

Birthday card for my niece

My daughter asked me to make a card for a friend of hers who got married New Years Eve.  She loved this card I made previously and asked that I make similar one in her friend's colors.

A friend of mine is a great salesperson but can't sew, so she asked if I would make microwave potato bags and she would sell them.  Pretty boring so I didn't include a picture...rectangular bag with patterned cotton exterior, layer of cotton batting, and white cotton inner layer.  I made 96 of them and she sold every one of them!  Then she asked me to design a wine tote bag that she could sell to the ladies in her bunco group.  They went over very well so she asked me to make more.  The pics above are what I designed. They have a little pocket for the corkscrew.  I also made some tags from shrink plastic on which I used a stamp from Crafty Secrets.  I attached some jump rings to a lobster claw which clips over the drawstring cord.  I made 72 wine bags and she sold all of those too!

So my plans for this year crafting wise are to participate in more card challenges, my first one being below.  Plan to re-start my personal challenge of making a Christmas card a week so I have enough cards by Christmas, and more varied designs.  Perhaps just a few 'mass' batches. :)  Also plan to do more beadwork in the form of ornaments and necklaces.  I have one major sewing project to finish by spring break, and I will post that when I can put it on my daughter to model. :)

If you're still reading this, thanks for hanging in there with me.  So now take a look at my first challenge this year in the post below.

Sweet Pea Mojo174

This is my first card challenge this year, and I managed to get this one to fit three challenges. 

1)  MojoMonday174. I turned the sketch on its side then flipped it.
2)  Sweet Pea Stampers: All white apart from the image.
3)  In a Sweet Pea Dream: "Under the Sea"...Use a mermaid or sea creature image.
4)  Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog:  Bingo.  I used punches/dies, embossing, and ribbon (bottom row).

All of the white CS is Neenah Solar White. I used two different Cuttlebug embossing folders. The image is ching-chou kuik's Coral Immersion from Sweet Pea Stamps.  I've kind of become addicted to these georgeous fairy/fantasy style stamps! She is colored with Prismacolor pencils, with Stickles added.  The edges of the image and both embossed panels have been glittered.  The flowers are from a couple of Martha Stewart punches.



This is a close-up of the colored image.

A Very Merry Christmas to You All!

I know I've been absent for a while on my blog, but it's been more of a time issue than not doing any crafting or otherwise staying busy.  Most of my crafty projects I didn't think to take pictures of so I could post them, but I'll get some up here after Christmas. 

We want to wish everyone out there a very Merry Christmas, and safe travels if you're on the road.  Love and enjoy your family and your time together!  I leave you with the latest snap of my beautiful kiddos, Tyler-17 and Shelbie-20.

Whiff of Joy Flutter

It has been far too long since I made a card using a Whiff of Joy image, and I have a bunch of them! I saw Jane's great sketch on the WOJ challenge blog so decided to play along.  Definitely need to ink these images up more often again!  For this card I used Musing Melinda, putting her on the mushroom from the Fall 2009 set.  Colored image with Prismacolors. Added Stickles to her wings and Liquid Pearls in her hair on around the scallops.  Spellbinders large scallop circle used to cut/emboss image, shaded in with distress ink and chalks.  The DP is a gorgeous linen texture paper from GCD Studios.  Used JustRite sentiment, some flowers from my stash after I used Glimmer Mist on them.  Pearls in the corners and a calla lilly charm.  I am also using this card for this week's Flutter By Wednesday challenge. 

Stamp Simply 153 & MojoMonday 153

I saw Sharon's challenge earlier in the week, to use pleated ribbon on our card. I am so ribbon challenged I just kept putting it off. I had everything worked out for the card, decided to use this week's Mojo Monday sketch for this card, but could not get the ribbon to look presentable. Then I remembered this ribbon I bought probably 15 years ago that I used on a dress for my daughter, and decided to use it. Thankfully the color was right so I didn't have to change what I had already started on the card.

I used a 5x7 embossing folder on Kraft CS, inked and distressed the edges with a ruler. Stitched some sloppy lines around the edges, incorporating the ribbon in the stitching. Stamped the SU! image onto Neena Solar White paper, cut it into four panels, inked and distressed the edges as well, and attached to burgundy CS. Stamped the hummingbird from same SU! set with distress ink, cut it out and attached it to the ribbon. Attached embossed layer to SU! CS, added some Dew Drops.

Joan's Tag Challenge

This week over at Joan's Gardens, her challenge is to create a tag using something heavier than cardstock, use old and vintage looking colors, and add some stuff from our stash.  I got some Grunge Paper about a month ago and hadn't used it yet, so I pulled it out to play and ended up making two.  I cut the Grunge paper then sprayed them each with several different colors of Glimmer Mist.  After drying, embossed them using two different folders.  Added some flowers I made, some butterflies cut with MS punches, added the charms.  Made the tiny pockets from stash paper and inserted a little card into that for writing on later. 

It's Embossable at OCC, and a Mojo Sketch

Good day everyone!  This first card I made following the MojoMonday151 sketch.  I really liked this one.  I had this image sitting on my desk since I got back from Vermont in May.  I found the stamp at a scrapbook shop in Memphis.  I stamped it with dove gray Stazon onto glossy cardstock.  It doesn't show up well in the picture, but looks pretty IRL.  Cut out with Spellbinders Labels 11, as was the Kraft CS mat,  inked with Distress inks. Base card is SU! CS.  Background DP is from Mirabelle stack by The Paper Studio. Used Cuttlebug embossing folder on HOTP paper, running it through several times to get the "cracked" look from the paper breaking. MS Cornice edge punch, Spellbinders label for sentiment, which is from SU!

For this next card, a friend asked me to make her 30 thank-you cards, with specs being simple and earthy with a little glitz.  So here's my take on that.  I decided to use this card for this week's Our Creative Corner 
challenge...embossing, any kind of embossing.  This is a Quickutz  folder Shelbie picked out on our trip back from Vermont, from the same scrapbook shop in Memphis.  Embossed the paper, inked and distressed the edges, attached to base card.  Added yellow Stickles for the glitz.  Somehow I smudged some ink onto the CS, so it got covered with the tiny butterfly.  Thought it looked cute, so half the cards got butterflies. :)

Thank You Barb!

Funny how things come up. Back at the end of June, Barb, the wonderful blogger from Made for Keeps commented on a video I had posted on my Facebook page of me zip-lining in Jamaica.  Her comment was that they have two zip lines in Branson and that she wanted to try it.  So ~squeaks and squeals~ (the rusty gears started turning in my mind-haha!), a thought emerged, and I sent her a message that I would be taking my daughter back up to Norwich University in Vermont at the beginning of July, we could route our trip thru Branson, MO so we could try out one of the zip-lines there.  So plans were made.  Now, Barb and I had never met in person but we had communicated thru out blogs and e-mails, then on Facebook.  So, Shelbie and I got to Barb's house late in the evening, and I felt like I was coming to visit a friend I hadn't seen in a while, not like I was meeting someone for the first time.  Barb is a such a warm, sweet person, and her husband Jerry is a delight.  My daughter is contracted with the Navy, will commission as an officer when she graduates and Jerry is ex-Navy...so they had lots to talk about.  I fell in love with Barb's crafting cave.  Oh my, the goodies she has!

We spent two nights and a day with Barb and Jerry before continuing on to Vermont.  During our day there, we did the zip-line from the 230-foot tower at Shepherd of the Hills.  It is about half-mile long, takes almost a minute to get to the bottom.  It was wonderful!  From left to right in the picture  is Barb, me, a charming young man who got stuck with us three ladies, and Shelbie.  Jerry took this picture from the top of the tower.  Such fun!  We spent the rest of the day wandering around Branson, with Barb and Jerry showing us different sights and attractions.  I felt  a wonderful kinship with Barb, and I hope we get to see her and Jerry again soon!

In the interim since getting back from Vermont, making this card and intending to send it, job issues came up, Tyler was in an a bad accident and things just seemed to get derailed and I've had a hard time getting back on track.  Tyler is doing well, seems back to normal though having some sleep problems (stress?).  We got the police report and learned that there were six vehicles involved, not four like we originally were told.  The person who caused the accident admitted he was distracted...saw a fast food restaurant and was thinking about getting a burger, when he looked straight again he didn't even have time to hit his brakes.  So a big delivery truck at 40 mph causes a lot of damage, injuries, [and a fatality] to five vehicles in front of it who are stopped at a red light.  I am so thankful Tyler is okay and doing well.  But I had forgotten to post this card, and I finally remembered last week that I hadn't even sent it to Barb!  Sorry!!

This card followed the Mojo Monday 146 sketch.  I used a Tim Holtz embossing folder for the base and the vellum oval, slathered them with distress ink.  The strips are from a DCWV pack, inked those edges as well.  Sentiment is from Inkadinkado, stamped with distress ink, cut out/embossed with Wavy Squares Spellbinders dies. 

Stamp Simply 151

Three cards in two days, hope that means the mojo is coming back!  I made this card for my mother, to give to my son for his birthday, which was yesterday.  Oops, Gramma forgot.  Tyler understands, considering his Gramma, my own sweet mother, forgets her own kids' birthdays.  Nothing pathological, she has just always been that way.  I saw Sharon's Stamp Simply challenge late last night, so I got up early this morning to make this card for my mom to give to Tyler.  The challenge is a one-layer card.  thankfully, can use some embellishments, so I added some brads to the Kraft CS I embossed with this Tim Holtz folder.  Added some distress ink to the embossing and used it for the sentiment.  Voila...quick and easy and done in less than 10 minutes!

Multiple Challenge Card

Hey, two posts in one day! :)  I spent some time during my lunch break today hopping around blogville and came across some challenges I wanted to try.  I ended up with one card to fit them all.  Challenges will be listed below.  The base card is SU! cardstock.  The image is from Magic Moonlight, printed on canvas.  Corner punches are Martha Stewart.  Stamped images are from Crafty Secrets Fairyland set.  Sentiment, which is a John Denver song title, was printed from my computer, cut and embossed with Spellbinders Fancy Label and attached on dimensionals.  The two flowers are made following Selma's vellum flower tutorial. I love how they turned out! 

Joan's Gardens Challenge #9 - Pink & white card, with four corners punched, preferrably with a Martha Stewart punch.
Crafty Secrets Forum Challenge on SCS - To use fabric on our project, along with a Crafty Secrets item.
Stamp Simply #149 - To use two of...something. 
Simon Says Stamp Challenge - To use a song we can't get out of our head in our project. 

Mojo Monday 150 Birthday

Today is my son Tyler's 17th birthday. Where did the time go? He is such a wonderful young man, and I love every minute I have with him! Crazy that three weeks ago today I got a phone call all parents dread. Tyler was involved in a serious auto accident in which the van he was riding in was struck from behind while they were stopped at a red light. Four vehicles involved, with the van being sandwiched between the car in front of them and the one behind them, which was hit by a commercial delivery truck. There was a fatality in the first vehicle hit, Tyler suffered a head laceration and concussion, Tyler's stepmother was in ICU for four days with serious injuries, and one of his friends was also injured in the accident. Everyone is home now and on the road to recovery. I still slip into Tyler's room at night to check on him. Everything can change in a flash.

This summer has been busy and my mojo has definitely suffered. I have made several cards and some sets of cards for friends, but Chuck has been using the camera for his work so I haven't been able to take pictures of all of them, or wasn't able to get the pics off the camera disc before he had to use it again. Hard to believe it has been three months since I posted anything! The clinic where I work is being sold at the end of September, so I have started looking for another job. Still doing massage therapy after regular work hours and hoping to build clientele there to fill in when the clinic closes.

So in trying to get my mojo jump-started, I used this week's Mojo Monday 150 sketch for Tyler's birthday card. Happens to be the first one of the month so there's a contest too. Yay! Used SU! cardstock for the base card. DP is DCWV Rustic Collection; the smaller DP scraps are Hot Off the Press. Sentiment from JustRite, cut/emboss with Nestabilities. All ink is Distress Ink. The image is from Inkadinkado Horse set. Tyler loves horses, and I was trying to make this a masculine card without being too juvenile. I think I succeeded. :)

Fancy Fold Mother's Day Card

I am posting this card today so that my mother would not see it before Mother's Day. Today is her birthday, so will be posting her BD card tomorrow...again so she won't get a sneak peak at it. I'm using this card for Sharon's Stamp Simply #138...Mother's Day.

I was stalking Connie's blog a while back and saw this wonderful multi/fancy fold card she created (she has more too!) and followed the links she provided for tutorials. I love different folds for cards.

I used the new Spring Bouquet stamp set from Flourishes, which I really like. Love this gorgeous bouquet. I stamped it with Stazon and colored with Primacolor Pencils blended with baby oil, then chalked around the image. Traced around the inside of the 2nd largest Labels 10 Nesties and cut out the image by hand so I could have the flowers extending beyond the margins, then cut a mat from the largest die. Stamped around the edge of the mat using Perfect Medium on a Crafty Secrets Flourish stamp, then applied Perfect Pearls. Gave it a pretty Ole-timey frame look, I think. : )

Added the lavender flourished DP to one panel. The rest of the panels have either plain white CS or a mesh patterned CS from MME that I inked with Distress Inks and used another flourish from the Crafty Secrets Flourish set around the borders.
The sentiments are from Verve's Because of You and Flourishes Spring Bouquet set.

Added a couple MS punched butterflies, layering the one on the front with gold vellum and added Stickles. A few flat-backed pearls on the front and...voila'. A pretty Mom's day card!

I have a couple more creations to post this week, then I'll be on the road for about a week. I am flying up to Vermont Thursday to get my daughter. She can't leave her car on the college campus for the summer, so I'm going up there to drive back with her. We will head out Saturday after the graduation ceremony, so we can see one of her friends she went to high school with graduate from Norwich. We are going to do a week-long road trip coming back so we can do some sight seeing along the way. I have some friends in York, PA and Apex, North Carolina, so plan to make stops there to visit with them while we're on our way back. We both are really looking forward to the trip!

Birthday for Audrey

Today is my friend Audrey's birthday. A bunch of are getting together at Rio Rio Cantina on the Riverwalk to celebrate. I made this card and gift set for her. The card just happened to fit into two challanges: Whiff of Joy Challenge 77 to make a gift card, and Sharon's Stamp Simply Challenge to make a joy fold card.

I chose this WOJ image because Audrey loves to cook, and we got her a gift card from Williams Sonoma. I colored her with Prismacolor pencils blended with baby oil. Cut and embossed the image with Spellbinders Labels 8; chalked around her while still in the die, then inked the edges. Mounted that to brown CS cut on the fold with the largest Labels 8, and attached a smaller label to the inside to write on. All DP is Basic Grey LilyKate. Flowers cut and embossed with Nellie Snellen punches, sprayed with Glimmer Mist, and added some Dew Drops. Attached a little pocket inside to put the card in. Will also be including a one-hour maternity massage for Audrey.